get a financial advisor

I don’t even know how to go about this, but I would love to have someone to guide my finances. Who do I go to? How much does it cost?

This is one of my goals this year. I know that I am not saving as much as I should and with my retirement goals and future business ventures, I know I need to get on the stick! lol

I’m not sure this is the right goal for me. I think what it might really be is to get my finances, especially savings, in order. Getting a financial advisor may be a small part of that, and while I have taken some classes and spoken with a few, this is one of those “harder than it looks” things. As in medicine, trust is very important.

to pay for a financial advisor… or to have one advise me about. I realize that if I had one, they may tell me how to have some for once, but this is a vicious circle I need to get out of for a few months. I may come back to this, but for now, i have to concede- I give up (for now).

I met with the advisor on Wednesday afternoon. He’s a very knowledgable fellow, and he has no hidden agendas. We talked for about an hour and a half. During that time, he showed me a calculation that demonstrates what appears to be a paradox. If you borrow money at 10% interest and invest it for a five percent return, you can actually make money. You lose initially, but as you pay down the loan, eventually the expense/income lines cross and you start making making a profit. Fascinating. But only useful if you have the ability to borrow/invest over a fairly long period of time (15-20 years). He also had some novel thoughts on mortgages (refinance often and pay interest only; reason: equity is never guaranteed) and 401(k) programs (don’t contribute more than your company’s match; reason: future taxes will be higher than if you pay them now and invest outside the sheltered fund).

Short-term, he’s going to quote me some whole life insurance, not universal life, which another advisor had been steering me toward. I want to get out of term life and be able to create cash value on my policy. The preliminary quotes appear to be within my means. I’m glad I met him and I’m sure he’s the guy I’ll be turning to with my future financial questions.

The woman I was talking to at Allstate changed companies. I’ve got an appointment to see her at her new office next Wednesday. The focus is still on life insurance as a first issue, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to discuss more than that. Apart from my 401(k) and a small but growing savings account, I don’t have an investment strategy for my retirement and I’m feeling the need to get started on it soon. I recently turned 55, and 65 is looking a whole lot closer. I want to put together a solid ten-year plan.

It turns out we have to turn in the stock certificates, but they would currently be in DH’s father’s custody. The stock issue belongs on a to-do list, not under this goal. So, I am declaring this goal complete!

I successfully set up my automatic deposit into the house savings account. All that’s left is to sell those shares of stock.

I tried to do this online, but it turns out I can’t. I can’t even find any information on how I’m supposed to sell it. So, I sent an email, to which I don’t expect a response until at least Monday.

But I’m almost there!

It’s kind of scary opening an investment account and channeling a large portion of your savings into it. But I just did it, and I’m sure the shock will fade with time :-)

1. Sell those 40 shares of random-why-do-I-even-have-this stock
2. Set up a regular contribution schedule (i.e. automatic direct deposit) to the house savings account.

1. Our current amount of withholding for our 403(b) seems fine.
2. The rest of our savings should be put away into higher-returns accounts (money market + index fund) as savings for a house down payment.
3. Start looking for a condo/house.

Number 3 is the big one – his point was that, even though we’re not really in a position to buy a house at this moment, we will relatively soon, and it’s important to know what’s out there. Just keeping an eye on the market will allow us potentially to uncover an “opportunity purchase.”

I’m going to handle #3 by resurrecting the ‘buy a house’ goal; so that leaves only #2 left to do before I close out this goal. So, I should be doing this within the next 2 weeks or so.