Who is your favorite no-jokes-about-it financial planner? Any affordable ones to recommend?
Karen J. replied:
Geoff Koepp . Here's his site: http://www.myatlasplanner.com
Roosevelt H. replied:
https://www.facebook.com/johnny.lo.391/about...
Shawn A. replied:
Can't say enough good things about Nancy at Goddard Financial Planning. http://www.goddardfinancialplanning.com/ They are fee-only financial planners.
Ann C. replied:
We love Helene Robertson & Sanjay Das. They live in our hood, socially responsible investing. http://www.sri-investing.com/
Clover H. replied:
Paula Fedirchuk at Edward Jones on 15 th/John. Seriously. Love her http://www.yelp.com/biz/edward-jones-investments-seattle-4
Sara G. replied:
Sanjay Das and Helene Robertson are great, and local!
Roxanne J. replied:
They are not in our neighborhood, but I have been with Financial reserve for about 20 years, and have referred many people to them over the years, all of whom have been very happy. I am the only person I know whose retirement didn't take a bath in the dot-com bust around 2001. They have a holistic approach that takes your entire life and your values into consideration when they help you plan. I cannot say enough good things about them; their integrity is absolute. If you contact them, use my name as a referral (no, I don't get a kickback) my real life last name is Fonder Reeve. http://www.financialreserve.com/
Christine C. replied:
Helene Robertson was very good for our non-traditional family 25 years ago and still is helping many.
Can someone recommend a good financial planner? My SO and I are in our early 30s and in the process of getting engaged. For the past few years I have been job hunting,...
CloudZ1116 replied:
Congrats on the new job! No need to pay money for a financial planner, just read the sidebar on /r/personalfinance. Below are a few tips to get you started. Make sure both you and your SO are maxing out your respective employers' 401 k matching and stock options, if available. Pay down existing debt, if any. Put some money away each month for a house down payment or kids' college fund, depending on your long term goals. If you're feeling adventurous, buy some S&P500 index funds or open an robo-managed investment account such as Wealthfront. Never carry credit card debt; pay off your balance in full every month, your wallet will thank you for it. Reduce eating out as much as possible.
BenchPressCovfefe replied:
Check out the holy flowchart in /r/PersonalFinance
Anonymous replied:
Thirding the recs for /r/personalfinance. Don't bother with a financial planner unless you have a lot of money (5 million+, where estate tax planning becomes a thing you'll need to worry about).
itsbecomingathing replied:
May I recommend Stacy Ployhar with 2020 Financial Planning (she owns it). She is a certified financial planner and is not tied to a bank or financial center. My husband and I met with her during our engagement and it was one of the best forms of pre-marriage counseling haha! She did exactly what you are looking for, asking us what were our goals, what savings plan did we have in place, and asked us the difficult questions about retirement (do you see yourself living at a nursing home?). She also made us realize that when we have children we will have to figure out if we want to pay for daycare, or if I stay home. We met with her in a large office building on 7th downtown for 3 sessions. She gave us 'homework' we needed to complete before seeing her again. She looked over our 401Ks and investments and told us which ones were the strongest. It wasn't 'cheap' but if you have about 1-2K it's really worth it.
BBorNot replied:
I strongly recommend the [Bogleheads](https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6211) website. Personal finance for most of us is not very difficult and worth taking on yourself. If you do get a financial advisor, only go with one who charges a flat, hourly rate and has a fiduciary duty to you. If they try to sell you a bunch of front-loaded annuities, run away!
TortaCubana replied:
Based on your description (and the fact that you've already done something, namely, posted on Reddit), look for a fee-based financial planner. Most financial planners provide ongoing asset allocation advice and take a percentage of assets each year. While there can be situations where that makes sense, for most people, it doesn't. What most people would benefit from is a check-up every 3-5 years. That's what fee-based financial planners provide.
And… there's an organization for fee-only financial planners, with a search engine to find one: https://www.napfa.org/
Contact at least 3, if not more, and describe what you're looking for -- basically, email them what you wrote here.
Here's more about the difference: https://www.napfa.org/financial-planning/what-is-fee-only-advising. Fee-only advice nearly eliminates conflicts of interest, since the advisor's only source of revenue is your payment for hourly advice. It's relatively easy to see whether you're getting a good value.
I used Goddard Financial Planning (https://www.napfa.org/firm/2542 & https://goddardfinancialplanning.com/) but it was 10+ years ago, so it's hard to recommend them based on that. The conversation was exactly what you described, though, and I found them via NAPFA.
ceeBread replied:
I went with a guy named Doug Rough at New York life, he recently changed companies, and can’t remember who he’s with now, but he’s really helpful and down to earth when it comes to planninf
I am looking for financial planning classes for my teen. Nothing extensive, just the basics. It might sink in if it's not coming from mom. Anyone have any...
Paul P. replied:
I cannot think of any classes just now, but here's a great little easy-to-read book that is a good place to start: https://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Happened-Explanation-Economics-Investments/dp/0942617622
Karen P. replied:
I think Wells Fargo does a series for teens too. You might want to check w/ whoever you bank with, they might have some good suggestions.
Columbia City mindhive, looking for recos for a full-service financial planner? We need someone to help us budget for the future while allowing us to continue to live...