Back to all stories

What does an advisor do?

Original source

Years ago when I was getting started i spoke to a Schwab advisor. After speaking with him for an hour I still couldn’t figure out what a financial advisor does.

Do you pick stocks? “No, we allocate it to a few different index funds” which funds “funds you feel comfortable that suits your risk level” so I pick the funds?? “Yes” on so then what do you do??! “I advise you, and help you with your unique needs” my unique needs??? My need is for my money to grow as fast as possible.

Do some people have the unique need to lose money?? “….”

ISSUES
Poor Communication
Portfolio Management

Related Horror Stories

Is your financial advisor stealing from you?

Read full story

What are some signs that your financial advisor is stealing from you?

  • They don’t provide timely statements of activity on your account.
  • They give you excuses if you want to move money around.
  • They can’t explain withdrawals from your account.
  • They can’t provide third party account statements to support internally reported information.
Read more
ISSUES
Deceptive Practices
Portfolio Management

Escape While You Can: The Hidden Costs and High Fees of Edward Jones

Read full story

Run, don’t walk, away from Edward Jones. The damage is kind of done already, but they will inflict more unnecessary costs and will keep steering you to high load, big fee funds. It’s ridiculous in this day and age.

Read more
ISSUES
High Fees
Conflicts of Interest
Portfolio Management

Whole life insurance as an investment vehicle

Read full story

The one stands out and given by multiple of professional or so-called professional is to buy a "Whole Life Insurance" as an investment vehicle plus life insurance coverage vs. a "Term Life Insurance" policy.

Just do some calculations of the future value (Excel formula FV) in 20 years of the estimated monthly premium cost for a $1 million Whole Life Insurance vs. a 20 year Term Life Insurance (for the rate of return, you may assume 8%, in some estimates the long term retun of the stock market if you invest that money in Index Mutual Funds.) – you'll be SHOCKED!

Read more
ISSUES
High Fees
Incorrect Advice
Portfolio Management
Read more stories

Share Your Story

Have you had a negative experience with a human financial advisor or other human “financial expert”? Share your story to help others avoid similar issues. Together, we can shed light on the importance of reliable, unbiased financial advice - its been a big motivator for us to build PortfolioPilot.

Shield icon representing anonymity protection
Don't worry, stories are anonymous!
Thank you for adding your story - we'll review for compliance reasons and post it in the next few days!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.