Your investment adviser is an important partner in your life -- after all, who knows your intimate financial details better? It's an intensely personal, yet professional, relationship. But what happens when you discover that it's not an ideal marriage? When is it time to ask for a divorce?
It may be sooner than you think. In a recent survey by PNC Wealth Management of affluent individuals -- those with at least $500,000 in investible assets -- only 15% said their advisers, "really made a huge positive difference," or gave them an "A." Some 43% said they were looking for more attention from their financial advisers. If so many high-end clients are dissatisfied with the service they are getting, how well could advisers be treating their average Joe or Jane Investors?
Just as there are in matters of the heart, there are tell-tell signs that your adviser is "just not that into you" -- and vice versa.
• Annoyance. "You hate when they call and feel like they are always trying to sell you something. You get annoyed every time you get something in the mail. They sound annoyed whenever you call, and are frustrated by your questions," explains Susan Hirshman, author of
Does This Make My Assets Look Fat?
• We Never Talk Anymore. Maybe there was a time when you enjoyed chatting with your adviser, but now the conversation is all but dead. "Your phone calls or emails are not returned within 12 to 24 hours. You haven't had a detailed conversation about your goals and financial situation in more than a year. You haven't reviewed or discussed your tax return over the last 12 months," says certified financial planner Thomas Casey of Casey, Thomas & Associates.
If you find this happening, review your investment policy statement: What did you and your adviser agree to in terms of frequency of contact? Maybe your expectations have changed. "Make this clear to your adviser, and if necessary, update your policy statement. Communicate your concerns without being confrontational or overly emotional," advises Stephen Horan, head of professional education content and private wealth management at the CFA Institute, an association of investment professionals.
• A Sense of Selfishness. Who's getting best served in this relationship: you or your adviser? Take a good look at your account activity. "If you're paying your adviser via commissions and you are seeing a lot of activity, this may be a sign your adviser is more interested in improving their financial picture than yours," says Bonnie Kirchner, author of
Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need and Avoid Dishonest Advisers. On the flip side, if you're paying fees to have your assets managed and no adjustments are being made over time, you may not be getting what you are paying for.
John Graves, a financial planner with Renaissance Group, offers this simple test for when it's time to change advisers: "When he speaks more often than he listens. We often get caught up in our own importance, to our clients' disadvantage," says Graves.
• Confusion Is Rampant. Be leery if there's a lot of turnover at your adviser's office, if your adviser keeps changing firms or repeatedly makes careless mistakes like misspelling your name. This could be an indication of instability, points out Brian Patrick Kuhn, a certified financial planner with Retirement Planning Services. All this distraction could be costing you.
Confusion on the other side of the relationship is also a bad sign. If you've been with one adviser for a while, and you still don't understand your accounts or the overall plan, you should be concerned. "Sometimes people go with a planner's recommendations because it sounds good and they trust them, but they don't fully understand the recommendations," says Kuhn. "If a long period goes by and you're still unclear, the planner hasn't done their job, and the relationship can't go on forever without that clarity."
In the end, sometimes it just comes down to a personality mismatch. But while that might be tolerable, poor performance may be a deal-breaker. You should have a basic understanding of the types of investments you own, how they are tracking against the overall market and why they are under- or outperforming appropriate benchmarks, says Kirchner. If your portfolio is consistently and significantly under-performing, you may need to find someone with a better track record," she adds.
Analyze What Happened, and Move On
Much as you would try to figure out what went wrong with a marriage heading for a divorce, make sure you assess what happened in your financial relationship. "Most times it can be summed up in two words: communication and expectations," says Hirshman. "Advisers fail to communicate their process, client service model, fees and performance, clearly or accurately, for example. They don't do what they say, or they do what they say, but the client never understood it," she adds.
A new year often means lofty resolutions, especially when it comes to planning and maintaining a travel budget.
Though there are many personal-finance sites and software out there, this year I'm resolving to use Mint.com's free online tool. You can create plans for saving toward retirement and buying a house, but I'll be primarily using the site for its Travel Goals, which help you set -- and stick to -- realistic travel budgets.
And though the tool obviously doesn't do the hardest part (you still have to save the money), it does track how far or close you are to achieving your Travel Goal.
For example, say you want to go to Hawaii for a week this summer. Once you create a budget by filling in the estimates for airfare, hotel, meals, and other expenses, you can then specify how much you will contribute to that Travel Goal each month.
If you underestimate how much you'd need to save per month, the online tool points out: "Oh no! You aren't saving enough each month to reach your goal on time." The tool then offers you two ways to fix your Travel Goal: increase your monthly contribution in order to reach your desired travel date or postpone your planned date to fit your monthly contribution.
If you stay on track with saving the specified amount each month, Mint.com's budgeting tool highlights (and adjusts) the projected date of when you can afford to take the trip. Save more, and you could afford to take your trip a month or two earlier.
But if you slack on your monthly savings, the date will be pushed back -- a reality check and an instant motivator. Once you mentally equate an unnecessary clothing purchase or an impulse buy to the consequence of delaying your trip by a month, saving becomes a little more real.
Granted, most people will buy plane tickets and reserve hotels with a credit card several months before actually taking the trip; the tool helps track if you'll be able to easily pay it all off after your trip. After all, nothing ruins a vacation more than coming home to bills that you're not financially prepared to handle.
To fund my travels this year, I've linked my Mint.com account to an ING Savings Account labeled Travel Fund.
How do you stay on track with saving up for a vacation?[flickr image via epSoS.de]
Gallery: How to create a realistic travel budget
bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft company
Your investment adviser is an important partner in your life -- after all, who knows your intimate financial details better? It's an intensely personal, yet professional, relationship. But what happens when you discover that it's not an ideal marriage? When is it time to ask for a divorce?
It may be sooner than you think. In a recent survey by PNC Wealth Management of affluent individuals -- those with at least $500,000 in investible assets -- only 15% said their advisers, "really made a huge positive difference," or gave them an "A." Some 43% said they were looking for more attention from their financial advisers. If so many high-end clients are dissatisfied with the service they are getting, how well could advisers be treating their average Joe or Jane Investors?
Just as there are in matters of the heart, there are tell-tell signs that your adviser is "just not that into you" -- and vice versa.
• Annoyance. "You hate when they call and feel like they are always trying to sell you something. You get annoyed every time you get something in the mail. They sound annoyed whenever you call, and are frustrated by your questions," explains Susan Hirshman, author of
Does This Make My Assets Look Fat?
• We Never Talk Anymore. Maybe there was a time when you enjoyed chatting with your adviser, but now the conversation is all but dead. "Your phone calls or emails are not returned within 12 to 24 hours. You haven't had a detailed conversation about your goals and financial situation in more than a year. You haven't reviewed or discussed your tax return over the last 12 months," says certified financial planner Thomas Casey of Casey, Thomas & Associates.
If you find this happening, review your investment policy statement: What did you and your adviser agree to in terms of frequency of contact? Maybe your expectations have changed. "Make this clear to your adviser, and if necessary, update your policy statement. Communicate your concerns without being confrontational or overly emotional," advises Stephen Horan, head of professional education content and private wealth management at the CFA Institute, an association of investment professionals.
• A Sense of Selfishness. Who's getting best served in this relationship: you or your adviser? Take a good look at your account activity. "If you're paying your adviser via commissions and you are seeing a lot of activity, this may be a sign your adviser is more interested in improving their financial picture than yours," says Bonnie Kirchner, author of
Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need and Avoid Dishonest Advisers. On the flip side, if you're paying fees to have your assets managed and no adjustments are being made over time, you may not be getting what you are paying for.
John Graves, a financial planner with Renaissance Group, offers this simple test for when it's time to change advisers: "When he speaks more often than he listens. We often get caught up in our own importance, to our clients' disadvantage," says Graves.
• Confusion Is Rampant. Be leery if there's a lot of turnover at your adviser's office, if your adviser keeps changing firms or repeatedly makes careless mistakes like misspelling your name. This could be an indication of instability, points out Brian Patrick Kuhn, a certified financial planner with Retirement Planning Services. All this distraction could be costing you.
Confusion on the other side of the relationship is also a bad sign. If you've been with one adviser for a while, and you still don't understand your accounts or the overall plan, you should be concerned. "Sometimes people go with a planner's recommendations because it sounds good and they trust them, but they don't fully understand the recommendations," says Kuhn. "If a long period goes by and you're still unclear, the planner hasn't done their job, and the relationship can't go on forever without that clarity."
In the end, sometimes it just comes down to a personality mismatch. But while that might be tolerable, poor performance may be a deal-breaker. You should have a basic understanding of the types of investments you own, how they are tracking against the overall market and why they are under- or outperforming appropriate benchmarks, says Kirchner. If your portfolio is consistently and significantly under-performing, you may need to find someone with a better track record," she adds.
Analyze What Happened, and Move On
Much as you would try to figure out what went wrong with a marriage heading for a divorce, make sure you assess what happened in your financial relationship. "Most times it can be summed up in two words: communication and expectations," says Hirshman. "Advisers fail to communicate their process, client service model, fees and performance, clearly or accurately, for example. They don't do what they say, or they do what they say, but the client never understood it," she adds.
A new year often means lofty resolutions, especially when it comes to planning and maintaining a travel budget.
Though there are many personal-finance sites and software out there, this year I'm resolving to use Mint.com's free online tool. You can create plans for saving toward retirement and buying a house, but I'll be primarily using the site for its Travel Goals, which help you set -- and stick to -- realistic travel budgets.
And though the tool obviously doesn't do the hardest part (you still have to save the money), it does track how far or close you are to achieving your Travel Goal.
For example, say you want to go to Hawaii for a week this summer. Once you create a budget by filling in the estimates for airfare, hotel, meals, and other expenses, you can then specify how much you will contribute to that Travel Goal each month.
If you underestimate how much you'd need to save per month, the online tool points out: "Oh no! You aren't saving enough each month to reach your goal on time." The tool then offers you two ways to fix your Travel Goal: increase your monthly contribution in order to reach your desired travel date or postpone your planned date to fit your monthly contribution.
If you stay on track with saving the specified amount each month, Mint.com's budgeting tool highlights (and adjusts) the projected date of when you can afford to take the trip. Save more, and you could afford to take your trip a month or two earlier.
But if you slack on your monthly savings, the date will be pushed back -- a reality check and an instant motivator. Once you mentally equate an unnecessary clothing purchase or an impulse buy to the consequence of delaying your trip by a month, saving becomes a little more real.
Granted, most people will buy plane tickets and reserve hotels with a credit card several months before actually taking the trip; the tool helps track if you'll be able to easily pay it all off after your trip. After all, nothing ruins a vacation more than coming home to bills that you're not financially prepared to handle.
To fund my travels this year, I've linked my Mint.com account to an ING Savings Account labeled Travel Fund.
How do you stay on track with saving up for a vacation?[flickr image via epSoS.de]
Gallery: How to create a realistic travel budget
bench craft company>
On Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft company[reefeed]
bench craft company
bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft company
Your investment adviser is an important partner in your life -- after all, who knows your intimate financial details better? It's an intensely personal, yet professional, relationship. But what happens when you discover that it's not an ideal marriage? When is it time to ask for a divorce?
It may be sooner than you think. In a recent survey by PNC Wealth Management of affluent individuals -- those with at least $500,000 in investible assets -- only 15% said their advisers, "really made a huge positive difference," or gave them an "A." Some 43% said they were looking for more attention from their financial advisers. If so many high-end clients are dissatisfied with the service they are getting, how well could advisers be treating their average Joe or Jane Investors?
Just as there are in matters of the heart, there are tell-tell signs that your adviser is "just not that into you" -- and vice versa.
• Annoyance. "You hate when they call and feel like they are always trying to sell you something. You get annoyed every time you get something in the mail. They sound annoyed whenever you call, and are frustrated by your questions," explains Susan Hirshman, author of
Does This Make My Assets Look Fat?
• We Never Talk Anymore. Maybe there was a time when you enjoyed chatting with your adviser, but now the conversation is all but dead. "Your phone calls or emails are not returned within 12 to 24 hours. You haven't had a detailed conversation about your goals and financial situation in more than a year. You haven't reviewed or discussed your tax return over the last 12 months," says certified financial planner Thomas Casey of Casey, Thomas & Associates.
If you find this happening, review your investment policy statement: What did you and your adviser agree to in terms of frequency of contact? Maybe your expectations have changed. "Make this clear to your adviser, and if necessary, update your policy statement. Communicate your concerns without being confrontational or overly emotional," advises Stephen Horan, head of professional education content and private wealth management at the CFA Institute, an association of investment professionals.
• A Sense of Selfishness. Who's getting best served in this relationship: you or your adviser? Take a good look at your account activity. "If you're paying your adviser via commissions and you are seeing a lot of activity, this may be a sign your adviser is more interested in improving their financial picture than yours," says Bonnie Kirchner, author of
Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need and Avoid Dishonest Advisers. On the flip side, if you're paying fees to have your assets managed and no adjustments are being made over time, you may not be getting what you are paying for.
John Graves, a financial planner with Renaissance Group, offers this simple test for when it's time to change advisers: "When he speaks more often than he listens. We often get caught up in our own importance, to our clients' disadvantage," says Graves.
• Confusion Is Rampant. Be leery if there's a lot of turnover at your adviser's office, if your adviser keeps changing firms or repeatedly makes careless mistakes like misspelling your name. This could be an indication of instability, points out Brian Patrick Kuhn, a certified financial planner with Retirement Planning Services. All this distraction could be costing you.
Confusion on the other side of the relationship is also a bad sign. If you've been with one adviser for a while, and you still don't understand your accounts or the overall plan, you should be concerned. "Sometimes people go with a planner's recommendations because it sounds good and they trust them, but they don't fully understand the recommendations," says Kuhn. "If a long period goes by and you're still unclear, the planner hasn't done their job, and the relationship can't go on forever without that clarity."
In the end, sometimes it just comes down to a personality mismatch. But while that might be tolerable, poor performance may be a deal-breaker. You should have a basic understanding of the types of investments you own, how they are tracking against the overall market and why they are under- or outperforming appropriate benchmarks, says Kirchner. If your portfolio is consistently and significantly under-performing, you may need to find someone with a better track record," she adds.
Analyze What Happened, and Move On
Much as you would try to figure out what went wrong with a marriage heading for a divorce, make sure you assess what happened in your financial relationship. "Most times it can be summed up in two words: communication and expectations," says Hirshman. "Advisers fail to communicate their process, client service model, fees and performance, clearly or accurately, for example. They don't do what they say, or they do what they say, but the client never understood it," she adds.
A new year often means lofty resolutions, especially when it comes to planning and maintaining a travel budget.
Though there are many personal-finance sites and software out there, this year I'm resolving to use Mint.com's free online tool. You can create plans for saving toward retirement and buying a house, but I'll be primarily using the site for its Travel Goals, which help you set -- and stick to -- realistic travel budgets.
And though the tool obviously doesn't do the hardest part (you still have to save the money), it does track how far or close you are to achieving your Travel Goal.
For example, say you want to go to Hawaii for a week this summer. Once you create a budget by filling in the estimates for airfare, hotel, meals, and other expenses, you can then specify how much you will contribute to that Travel Goal each month.
If you underestimate how much you'd need to save per month, the online tool points out: "Oh no! You aren't saving enough each month to reach your goal on time." The tool then offers you two ways to fix your Travel Goal: increase your monthly contribution in order to reach your desired travel date or postpone your planned date to fit your monthly contribution.
If you stay on track with saving the specified amount each month, Mint.com's budgeting tool highlights (and adjusts) the projected date of when you can afford to take the trip. Save more, and you could afford to take your trip a month or two earlier.
But if you slack on your monthly savings, the date will be pushed back -- a reality check and an instant motivator. Once you mentally equate an unnecessary clothing purchase or an impulse buy to the consequence of delaying your trip by a month, saving becomes a little more real.
Granted, most people will buy plane tickets and reserve hotels with a credit card several months before actually taking the trip; the tool helps track if you'll be able to easily pay it all off after your trip. After all, nothing ruins a vacation more than coming home to bills that you're not financially prepared to handle.
To fund my travels this year, I've linked my Mint.com account to an ING Savings Account labeled Travel Fund.
How do you stay on track with saving up for a vacation?[flickr image via epSoS.de]
Gallery: How to create a realistic travel budget
bench craft company
bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft company
bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft company bench craft company bench craft company
bench craft company bench craft companyOn Sean Hannity's program Monday night, pollster Frank Luntz hosted a focus group of Iowa Republican caucus-goers, gauging their reaction of President Barack Obama's Sunday afternoon interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. ...
Fox News pundit claims that "increase in rapes" is due largely to videogames.
The ever-incisive Fox News has decided today to try to squeeze a little more blood from the violence in games stone. The issue ...
bench craft company Personal finance home files are going to be needed in a few short months to prepare your tax return. So don't wait until the last minute. Start preparing those home files now before tax season rolls around. This will help you keep your personal finances in order and make tax filing a breeze.
Three Reasons Why You Should Set Up Personal Finance Home Files
1) It makes tax filing much easier and faster to accomplish.
2) If something happens to you a family member can jump right into your "personal finance picture" and have a clear idea what is due and when. And they will have quick access to information about your insurance and will without having to jump through a lot of red tape with providers and the court system.
3) It helps you stay on top of what you are spending---and where--as well as helps to keep you from overspending so you will stay on your budget.
How Long Do I Have to Keep My Tax Records?
When setting up your personal finance home filling system you might be glad to know that you can discard your old tax records after they are six years old. But hold onto them until then--and afterwards (to be on the safe side) if you had some unusual cirumstance that occurred financially during that period (sold a business).
What Should Be Included in Home Files?
Break the files down into these categories: taxes, investments, retirement and estate planning, and personal planning.
The following tax records should be included in your tax home file category: tax returns from the past six years, paychecks, W-2 forms, 1099 forms, charitable contributions, alimony payments, medical bills, and property taxes.
In your investment record file category you should have: bank records, safety deposit box info (in case of an emergency), stock, bond, and mutual fund transaction records, all brokerage statements, and dividend records.
The retirement and estate planning file should contain a copy of your will, pension plan documents, IRA documents, Keogh plan transactions, and social security information.
Lastly, in the personal finance personal planning file you are going to include the financial statements you recently prepared (if you have been reading and following my earlier personal finance articles, that is): a balance sheet, income statement, and personal budget.
In addition, for the personal planning file you will also include insurance policies and documents, warranties, major purchases receipts, receipts for home improvements made, birth certificates, rental agreements (if renting a living space), and all credit card information (account numbers and company phone numbers).
Resource
Personal Finance - Turning Money Into Wealth by Arthur J. Keown (5th Edition)
