Have you ever consulted a financial planner?

Yes I have actually consulted a number of them, and each has a different perspective, but there are things that should be constant with them; If they are selling products like mutual funds, annuities that are not FDIC insured, they should let you know. They should let you know how they get paid; flat fee, commission, percentage of product sales. They should ask you many questions about your income, tolerance for risk, goals for the money, timeframe for investment return, and current investments.

They should really listen to you when you speak, and be open to your input on their suggestions. They should recommend a diverse portfolio of products, and be open about load fees, sales charges, etc. They should be able to give you printed prospectus' on the products they recommend. Most important, you should feel comfortable with that person.

Go to fpanet.org and in the upper right hand corner is "find a planner" I am a CFP or Certified Financial Planner. Most planners will sit down with you the first time at no charge. What you want to look for is a planner you like and feel comfortable with.

Make sure he or she is a fee only planner. That way you know they won't be trying to use the products they sell to design your plan. You must be careful when doing a financial plan.

I have come to learn that financial planning is an inexact science. By that, I mean if you tell me you want $1,000,000 by retirement and you have saved $100,000 so far and you have 20 years to save, you need $900,000 more. Now, here comes the problem.

What rate of return do we think we can earn over the next 20 years. 4%,6%,8% or some other percent. Lets say we decide on 6%.

You will need to put away $17,420.85 at the beginning of each year for the next 20 years. Now comes the porblem. Over the next 20 years the rate may not average 6%.

It may drop to an average of 4% for the the first 6 years and then go to five percent for the next five and then 6% for the next 3 ect. This means you will miss your goal unless the last 6 years average much higher than 6%. Plus you have to keep up with changing tax brackets and inflation rates.

This means you must keep in touch with your planner at least every 6 months or track the rate of return yourself at least once a month. This way you can adust your deposits to match the interest rate. Never lower deposts, but always increase if you need to.

You may or may not learn anything new, depending on how much knowledge you have. Some planners are way too analytical. They cruch numbers like crazy.

If you are not an analytical, you will be bored or lost in the first five minutes. Some planners use software to generate a plan. The software has the same problem as mentioned above.

They usually insert a rate of return, inflation rate, and tax bracket that applies to the entire plan. Some of these plans can be over 100 pages with fancy charts and text. I have found 90 percent of my clients who used a planner in the past never looked at the plan again after it was reviewed with them.

I find when we sit down, they are way off the goal they set when they did the plan. What you want is a planner that will tell you this up front. Tell you the printed plan is only correct for a moment in time and then speculation from that point forward.

He should tell you how he plans to compensate for the changing rate factors. He should be a Macro Financial Manger, not a Micro Manger. He should work with your current Micro mangers such as your Life Insurance Agent, Broker, Attorney, Accountant, Banker, Casualty agent and others to help you coordinate your financial plan.

If you don't have these people, he should hep you find them. But most planners to a good job. Just make sure you are aware of the above when you sit down for that first free consultation.

Find that planner you are comfortable with, and you can develop a relationship that will last for years.

Black Swan! I recently read a book about financial advisors and other soothsayers. It's by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

I think you should read this book before you go searching for an "expert". I would rather not provide you with a clumsily-written summary. Best to read it.

Please let me know what you think. Sources: The Black Swan: The Impact of the ghly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb .

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Financial doctoring is bad, but financial engineering is not. What is wrong with the doctors?

Is there an advantage to doing your financial planning at a bank like harris or is it better to go with edward jones or.

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I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.