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Financial Gurus, Is it Hard to Find a Financial Investor Willing to Accept Fiduciary Responsibility?

Captain Adverse

Captain Adverse

Classical Liberal Sage
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I am getting on in years, coming within a reasonable distance of retirement at full Social Security pension benefits; albeit I am still healthy and fit as a racehorse. ;)

I also have a State government pension coming.

However, I can see that trying to live on a fixed income is less and less feasible thanks to yearly inflation, something most Seniors are dealing with to their detriment now.

Once upon a time I would have been confident that savings would fill the differential, but that was back when savings accounts paid 7.5% interest. Now they are worthless (0.001 - 0.003% interest rates).

I have a sizeable savings anyway, but by the time I find myself on a fixed income and thanks to my being so healthy (good living habits folks) I doubt they will last that long.

So my question is this, have any Forum members any experience with investment security via finding a successful money manager offering a truly Fiduciary obligation?

By that I mean they don't get paid unless YOUR financial goals are met and maintained first?

I don't want specific recommendations. I am simply asking about general experiences so I can determine the chances of finding an honest investment advisor, and the merits of placing my savings in their care.
 
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The closest that I am aware of are the no-load mutual funds. Any investment service is likely to have a management fee but at least that fee should be taken out of the investment's return (yield?) rather than be taken out of the initial investment capital itself.
 
Captain Adverse said:
I am getting on in years, coming within a reasonable distance of retirement at full Social Security pension benefits; albeit I am still healthy and fit as a racehorse. ;)

I also have a State government pension coming.

However, I can see that trying to live on a fixed income is less and less feasible thanks to yearly inflation, something most Seniors are dealing with to their detriment now.

Once upon a time I would have been confident that savings would fill the differential, but that was back when savings accounts paid 7.5% interest. Now they are worthless (0.001 - 0.003% interest rates).

I have a sizeable savings anyway, but by the time I find myself on a fixed income and thanks to my being so healthy (good living habits folks) I doubt they will last that long.

So my question is this, have any Forum members any experience with investment security via finding a successful money manager offering a truly Fiduciary obligation?

By that I mean they don't get paid unless YOUR financial goals are met and maintained first?

I don't want specific recommendations. I am simply asking about general experiences so I can determine the chances of finding an honest investment advisor, and the merits of placing my savings in their care.
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We use an advisor. Some are cheaper than others, but I couldn't find anyone reputable that didn't charge some fee based on a percentage of funds under management. And they get paid every year whether you win or lose.

Maybe you could try managing your own accounts with the help of an advisor you meet with yearly to go over things?

As to merits, the main thing I like is that I can feed them various scenarios and they can run a ton of simulations to predict likelihood of outcome. I bet there is commercial software that you could do something similar with, but my wife isn't comfortable with the DIY thing. I'll add that we've beaten the market over the term we've had this management setup, but not by a huge amount.
 
<alt>doxygen said:
We use an advisor. Some are cheaper than others, but I couldn't find anyone reputable that didn't charge some fee based on a percentage of funds under management. And they get paid every year whether you win or lose.

Maybe you could try managing your own accounts with the help of an advisor you meet with yearly to go over things?

As to merits, the main thing I like is that I can feed them various scenarios and they can run a ton of simulations to predict likelihood of outcome. I bet there is commercial software that you could do something similar with, but my wife isn't comfortable with the DIY thing. I'll add that we've beaten the market over the term we've had this management setup, but not by a huge amount.
Click to expand...

You don't have to 'beat the market' to get a higher yield than a savings account - even having bonds alone would do that.
 
Captain Adverse said:
I am getting on in years, coming within a reasonable distance of retirement at full Social Security pension benefits; albeit I am still healthy and fit as a racehorse. ;)

I also have a State government pension coming.

However, I can see that trying to live on a fixed income is less and less feasible thanks to yearly inflation, something most Seniors are dealing with to their detriment now.

Once upon a time I would have been confident that savings would fill the differential, but that was back when savings accounts paid 7.5% interest. Now they are worthless (0.001 - 0.003% interest rates).

I have a sizeable savings anyway, but by the time I find myself on a fixed income and thanks to my being so healthy (good living habits folks) I doubt they will last that long.

So my question is this, have any Forum members any experience with investment security via finding a successful money manager offering a truly Fiduciary obligation?

By that I mean they don't get paid unless YOUR financial goals are met and maintained first?

I don't want specific recommendations. I am simply asking about general experiences so I can determine the chances of finding an honest investment advisor, and the merits of placing my savings in their care.
Click to expand...

The only way I know to pick financial advisers is to talk to several of them, and IMO avoid those paid on commissions. Fee only advisers don't forfeit their fees in a down market or if your portfolio goes down, but at least their fees are tied to that portfolio and go up and down with the value of the portfolio, so their financial interests are aligned with yours at least, unlike a commissioned broker.

It's also been my experience that the people who provide the most 'conservative' (i.e. lowest) portfolio growth estimates are probably the more reliable advisers. It's better for the client to expect, say, 4% inflation adjusted returns, and base withdrawals on that, than expect 6-8% in a balanced portfolio, which isn't really realistic long term, and then be shocked when they have to course correct and take far lower withdrawals
 
ttwtt78640 said:
You don't have to 'beat the market' to get a higher yield than a savings account - even having bonds alone would do that.
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Oh, that goes w/o saying. I've never used savings accounts for anything except emergency funds that I needed to keep liquid.
 
Depending on location I would suggest rental properties. With a good down payment you should get enough money pet month to remain cash flow positive and see capital appreciation.
 
If not that then a market account and look for companies that provide yields 2% above the inflation rate and have done so for extended periods of time. Advisors to my understanding get paid regardless of how your investments do. If they are willing to risk not getting paid in a down market means they will want higher returns in up markets
 
JasperL said:
The only way I know to pick financial advisers is to talk to several of them, and IMO avoid those paid on commissions. Fee only advisers don't forfeit their fees in a down market or if your portfolio goes down, but at least their fees are tied to that portfolio and go up and down with the value of the portfolio, so their financial interests are aligned with yours at least, unlike a commissioned broker.

It's also been my experience that the people who provide the most 'conservative' (i.e. lowest) portfolio growth estimates are probably the more reliable advisers. It's better for the client to expect, say, 4% inflation adjusted returns, and base withdrawals on that, than expect 6-8% in a balanced portfolio, which isn't really realistic long term, and then be shocked when they have to course correct and take far lower withdrawals
Click to expand...

This pretty sums up what my grandfather has taught me. He found a good financial advisor and has stuck with him for 40 years. Apparently another good strategy is to invest in some stocks and forget about it for 20 years.
 
You can always go to the Dave Ramsey page and look at his "SmartVestor" guide.
 
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