Financial Planners



I used one a few years back. I wanted to plan for retirement and accomplish some saving goals. I went to a couple of sessions, but found that my own saving plan would get me where I wanted to be without the risk of the stock market. I let the planner slide and I'm glad I did, because the stock market lost so much. I would have been broke.

So, now I just use my own judgement: Save wisely, reduce risk and live simply.
 
I've been approached by a few of these cats...:lol: I have one with NY Life trying to assist me with my retirement. I've just never used one before and was wondering if it would be worth it. I'm not very stock savvy, so it may help me a tad bit.

Thanks for the tips, folks! :tup:
 
Actually, insurance is the foundation of savings. If you have a family, then making sure they have a comfortable financial transition once you die is very important and IMO the highest priority. Secondly priority is eliminating debt. It does not make good sense to risk gaining 8% on an investment while paying 19% interest on a debt.

Once life insurance is in place, debt is down, and there is a 3 to 6 months of savings equal to your living expenses, then investing for the long term should be simple. There are so many tools out there that you can use without the aid of a financial planner, however they are very good people to use. You usually don't pay them directly, they are paid commissions out of the products they put you into on the back end.
 
Da_Sperm said:
Actually, insurance is the foundation of savings. If you have a family, then making sure they have a comfortable financial transition once you die is very important and IMO the highest priority. Secondly priority is eliminating debt. It does not make good sense to risk gaining 8% on an investment while paying 19% interest on a debt.

Once life insurance is in place, debt is down, and there is a 3 to 6 months of savings equal to your living expenses, then investing for the long term should be simple. There are so many tools out there that you can use without the aid of a financial planner, however they are very good people to use. You usually don't pay them directly, they are paid commissions out of the products they put you into on the back end.
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ok, cool...thanks Sperm! :tup: I actually have life insurance already...I kept the family policies my husband and I had...it includes Devin also. I'm just trying to move some loot around in stocks/investments for retirement & savings.
 
Da_Sperm said:
Actually, insurance is the foundation of savings. If you have a family, then making sure they have a comfortable financial transition once you die is very important and IMO the highest priority. Secondly priority is eliminating debt. It does not make good sense to risk gaining 8% on an investment while paying 19% interest on a debt.

Once life insurance is in place, debt is down, and there is a 3 to 6 months of savings equal to your living expenses, then investing for the long term should be simple. There are so many tools out there that you can use without the aid of a financial planner, however they are very good people to use. You usually don't pay them directly, they are paid commissions out of the products they put you into on the back end.
Click to expand...

I'm talking in terms of using it to make money, ie whole life or variable life insurance. Those instrutments should not be considered as investment tools, they mainly benefit the person selling you the insurance(via commissions). Of course you should plan to take care of your family, Term life would be the way to go.
 
GSU4LIFE said:
I'm talking in terms of using it to make money, ie whole life or variable life insurance. Those instrutments should not be considered as investment tools, they mainly benefit the person selling you the insurance(via commissions). Of course you should plan to take care of your family, Term life would be the way to go.
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Term life policies is what I have...:tup:
 
GSU4LIFE said:
I'm talking in terms of using it to make money, ie whole life or variable life insurance. Those instrutments should not be considered as investment tools, they mainly benefit the person selling you the insurance(via commissions). Of course you should plan to take care of your family, Term life would be the way to go.
Click to expand...

GSU4LIFE is correct. Insurance is not an investment.

Also, someone with NY Life is not a financial planner. That's an insurance agent with a glorified title.
 
GSU4LIFE said:
I'm talking in terms of using it to make money, ie whole life or variable life insurance. Those instrutments should not be considered as investment tools, they mainly benefit the person selling you the insurance(via commissions). Of course you should plan to take care of your family, Term life would be the way to go.
Click to expand...

I agree. A life insurance policy is not an investment tool and should not be used as one. You should have a good policy in place now that will take care of your son, but for investments/retirement, get a Roth IRA, have an investment account, and have an emergency fund.

If I wouldn't have had those I would have been in serious trouble when I was out of work.
 
jag4life said:
I agree. A life insurance policy is not an investment tool and should not be used as one. You should have a good policy in place now that will take care of your son, but for investments/retirement, get a Roth IRA, have an investment account, and have an emergency fund.

If I wouldn't have had those I would have been in serious trouble when I was out of work.
Click to expand...
yes, me too...I have an IRA, don't believe it's a ROTH b/c it was a 401k from my last job and that too, is what helped me a lot while out of work. I have a mutual fund for my son along with savings, but I've gotta research more on this investment stuff b/c I'm just not savvy with it. My Mother actually opened the mutual fund account for him...I may need to combine that with something or switch it over to something else. That's kinda what I was looking to speak with a financial advisor about. I'm glad y'all told me about this NY Life guy though...thanks again for all the tips.
 
I've been with Ameriprise Financials since they converted over from American Express...at least 15 years.

There are good and bad things to consider such as your goals. Life insurance is key. Tired of broke mofo's begging to help with burials. Term Life is the way to go for young folks. You lock in that inexpensive premium rate for eons. The kicker is that once you get old, life insurance may not be the priority. Life insurance is to sustain immediate family life after you're gone. Unless you have a significant other who is well under you in years, then you should be freeing up that money since you'll be on a fixed income...and of course have something on the side that takes care of the final arrangements and any medical expenses, BUT the way the economy is heading that philosophy is changing.

I hired the financial planner because I battled her for an hour and found out her rationale for making decisions and questioned her every suggestion. We were similar in ideologies and I did NOT have the time to keep reviewing my portfolio at the time and wanted to switch to some viable mutual funds and engage in a retirement philosophy. Glad I did, because when the market dropped, I didn't lose much and re-gained most of it at the beginning of this year.

You don't need a planner unless you've got lofty goals, don't have time and refuse to do research. In that case, you'll get "took"...even if you had one.
 
I don't use financial planners because I observed that they don't know anymore than I do regarding investing and especially investing $$$MY MONEY $$$. I started saving and INVESTING in a MAJOR way when I was a senior in college.

I did not start out with a wheel barrow full of money. I got a hold to a book early in my early years in the work force entitled "A Portion of everything That I Earn Is Mine To Keep"; however I don't remember the author nor do I still have the book............obviously it had different techniques listed on (YOU) saving and investing your money for yourself.

I started out like most people my age with just a passbook savings account.......I had two of those.....one for emergencies and the other that I could not touch at all UNLESS I was buying land, Real Estate or some other cash rich or convertrable hard asset.

Before I knew it, there was 10 Grand in each of those accounts so I purchased CD's back when one could get 10% - 15% - 20% return on my investment. I started reading and understanding what I was doing and started investing for my retirement for myself. I don't need anyone to tell me what my goal is or should be......I know that for myself!!

My Motto is: I Don't Invest in Anything That I Don't Understand....Period! and.......
I don't invest in any HOT tip I heard about at work or through some other means......
I don't do brother-In-law or Sister-In-law investing....
I do not invest in "Gimmicks" (Earth Shoes, Glacier Water, diamond mines, gold or silver mines, pet rocks, gas or oil treatments that gets you 100 miles or more to the gallon.......none of that or any other bullsnit)

I have a Roth and a regular IRA and I participate in the companies saving program where they give me .75 cent for every dollar I save up to 15% of my salary.

I look for opportunities to invest in the stock market ESPECIALLY when everybody else but Warren Buffet and myself are looking to SELL or get out of the market during a serious downturn........I 'm looking for the opportunities to get in and make some nice duckies. At present I am holding Ford (purchase at $1.98).... Bank America - BAC (pur at $4) Boeing - BA
(pur at $29) and Southwest Gas - SWX (pur at $9). ALL of the above stocks were purchased when the market took some serious down turns.

You have to take ownership of your own investment strategey and you MUST stick to your guns once you jump out there and don't allow anyone to upset you with doom and gloom.........STAY THE COURSE.......Only sell when you're ready to sell and take your profit.

Hold onto your land.........they are not making anymore of it.
Sell your real estate if it's nothing but a $$moneypit$$ You'll forever be throwing good money after a bad
investment........you can write it off on you Taxes.

Don't put ALL of your "eggs" in one basket (spread your investment money around so that when one might area might be off a little....the other might be going great guns)

Thithe........
Be prudent, patient, wise and GENEROUS in your giving (especially to OUR HBCU's)

Good Luck.......
Say Your Prayers and
Stay Strong in spite of Adversity
 

STRAWDOG said:
I don't use financial planners because I observed that they don't know anymore than I do regarding investing and especially investing $$$MY MONEY $$$. I started saving and INVESTING in a MAJOR way when I was a senior in college.

I did not start out with a wheel barrow full of money. I got a hold to a book early in my early years in the work force entitled "A Portion of everything That I Earn Is Mine To Keep"; however I don't remember the author nor do I still have the book............obviously it had different techniques listed on (YOU) saving and investing your money for yourself.

I started out like most people my age with just a passbook savings account.......I had two of those.....one for emergencies and the other that I could not touch at all UNLESS I was buying land, Real Estate or some other cash rich or convertrable hard asset.

Before I knew it, there was 10 Grand in each of those accounts so I purchased CD's back when one could get 10% - 15% - 20% return on my investment. I started reading and understanding what I was doing and started investing for my retirement for myself. I don't need anyone to tell me what my goal is or should be......I know that for myself!!

My Motto is: I Don't Invest in Anything That I Don't Understand....Period! and.......
I don't invest in any HOT tip I heard about at work or through some other means......
I don't do brother-In-law or Sister-In-law investing....
I do not invest in "Gimmicks" (Earth Shoes, Glacier Water, diamond mines, gold or silver mines, pet rocks, gas or oil treatments that gets you 100 miles or more to the gallon.......none of that or any other bullsnit)

I have a Roth and a regular IRA and I participate in the companies saving program where they give me .75 cent for every dollar I save up to 15% of my salary.

I look for opportunities to invest in the stock market ESPECIALLY when everybody else but Warren Buffet and myself are looking to SELL or get out of the market during a serious downturn........I 'm looking for the opportunities to get in and make some nice duckies. At present I am holding Ford (purchase at $1.98).... Bank America - BAC (pur at $4) Boeing - BA
(pur at $29) and Southwest Gas - SWX (pur at $9). ALL of the above stocks were purchased when the market took some serious down turns.

You have to take ownership of your own investment strategey and you MUST stick to your guns once you jump out there and don't allow anyone to upset you with doom and gloom.........STAY THE COURSE.......Only sell when you're ready to sell and take your profit.

Hold onto your land.........they are not making anymore of it.
Sell your real estate if it's nothing but a $$moneypit$$ You'll forever be throwing good money after a bad
investment........you can write it off on you Taxes.

Don't put ALL of your "eggs" in one basket (spread your investment money around so that when one might area might be off a little....the other might be going great guns)

Thithe........
Be prudent, patient, wise and GENEROUS in your giving (especially to OUR HBCU's)

Good Luck.......
Say Your Prayers and
Stay Strong in spite of Adversity
Click to expand...
Awesome post...thank you very much. I really appreciate it! :tup:
 
Jaguar Diehard said:
I've been with Ameriprise Financials since they converted over from American Express...at least 15 years.

There are good and bad things to consider such as your goals. Life insurance is key. Tired of broke mofo's begging to help with burials. Term Life is the way to go for young folks. You lock in that inexpensive premium rate for eons. The kicker is that once you get old, life insurance may not be the priority. Life insurance is to sustain immediate family life after you're gone. Unless you have a significant other who is well under you in years, then you should be freeing up that money since you'll be on a fixed income...and of course have something on the side that takes care of the final arrangements and any medical expenses, BUT the way the economy is heading that philosophy is changing.

I hired the financial planner because I battled her for an hour and found out her rationale for making decisions and questioned her every suggestion. We were similar in ideologies and I did NOT have the time to keep reviewing my portfolio at the time and wanted to switch to some viable mutual funds and engage in a retirement philosophy. Glad I did, because when the market dropped, I didn't lose much and re-gained most of it at the beginning of this year.

You don't need a planner unless you've got lofty goals, don't have time and refuse to do research. In that case, you'll get "took"...even if you had one.
Click to expand...
Cool...thanks! :tup:
 
Be careful of:

Fees
Life Insurance as an investment - it is not and anytime anyone tries to sell you that lie - RUN!!!
Fees
Stock turnover - is the Planner getting rich from buying and selling?
Fees

Big fees, regardless of the return, can still cause you to lose money.


One final statement of advice:

1. Never fall in love with a stock - Bears make money, Bulls make money, PIGS get slaughtered.
 
Da_Sperm said:
Actually, insurance is the foundation of savings. If you have a family, then making sure they have a comfortable financial transition once you die is very important and IMO the highest priority. Secondly priority is eliminating debt. It does not make good sense to risk gaining 8% on an investment while paying 19% interest on a debt.

Once life insurance is in place, debt is down, and there is a 3 to 6 months of savings equal to your living expenses, then investing for the long term should be simple. There are so many tools out there that you can use without the aid of a financial planner, however they are very good people to use. You usually don't pay them directly, they are paid commissions out of the products they put you into on the back end.
Click to expand...

We used a financial planner a few years ago. She helped us eliminate 60% of debt in two years.
 
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