Who is the best company to go with for financial planning?
My husband and I have our own business. I have been searching for the best company for financial planning and retirement for us. Any suggestions on who is the best?
Most of the "financial planning" companies have good honest representatives as well as honest yet stupid Representatives.
Interview several of them. There will be large differences within a company (as well as comparing companies to each other).
A good rule of thumb is to run away as quickly as possible if one of the first products they suggest is an annuity product. You can search the web on annuities (Money Mag., Forbes, Kilpinger’s and many more)……….. Except in rare cases, the only ones that benefit from these most expensive financial products are the sales representatives.
ALSO: Be very careful with the suggestions on Yahoo Answers…. you’ll never know the qualifications or motives of these people.
Recommended Reading
- Financial Retirement Planning, A First Look
- Financial planning 101
- Plan Your Future – Financial and Retirement Planning | Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston
- CFP Board’s Financial Planning Clinic – Boston, 2007
- Financial Planning : How to Calculate Retirement Income
- Succession Planning Blueprint (ebook)
depends on your preferences, you should definitely meet with the people to ensure you’re comfortable with them managing your money.
References :
Most of the "financial planning" companies have good honest representatives as well as honest yet stupid Representatives.
Interview several of them. There will be large differences within a company (as well as comparing companies to each other).
A good rule of thumb is to run away as quickly as possible if one of the first products they suggest is an annuity product. You can search the web on annuities (Money Mag., Forbes, Kilpinger’s and many more)……….. Except in rare cases, the only ones that benefit from these most expensive financial products are the sales representatives.
ALSO: Be very careful with the suggestions on Yahoo Answers…. you’ll never know the qualifications or motives of these people.
References :
Why trust someone else with your hard earned money? Your local bank can help you set up a SEP which will allow you tax defered savings of up to $42,000 per year. SEPS have no defined contribution so you can vary the amount saved as needed dependant on your cash flow at the time. If you and your husband are both employees of the business then with a SEP you could contribute $84,000, 42K each, tax defered. Your investment options can be self directed, meaning you decide where the money is invested. By simply choosing a few indexed funds you can easily diversify your portfolio and 9 time out of 10 beat the proffesional money managers. Look for indexed funds with the lowest cost, a good place to start is morningstar.com, they offer a variety of free fund evaluation tools to help you decide on an investment path. If you want to invest considerably more on a tax defered basis you can look into starting a KEOGH plan, they are more difficult to set up and require a defined contribution so you may need assistance beyond what your local bank could offer.
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I agree with common sense. Every financial company will have good planners & some not so good planners.
I would recommend that you use a Certified Financial Planner. At least these professionals have received some formal education and training.
You also want to make sure that your financial planner isn’t just some stock broker or insurance agent in disguise. They really should have a more well-rounded financial background.
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