Financial Advisor

[Slava]

I just wanted to put myself out there as a financial advisor in case anyone is looking for one. I'm a licensed broker for stocks and bonds, ETFs and other investment funds. I am also fully licensed for life and accident and sickness insurance as well.

I'm an independent advisor, so I can provide you with a range of products on both the insurance and investment side depending on what your needs are. I have my CFP (Certified Financial Planner) as well as a few other designations and am working towards my CFA as well.

Feel free to PM me any questions or ask them here and I'll do my best to answer.

[Ironhorse]

PM sent.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Can I ask dumb questions?

How do financial advisors really work, and when is it really worthwhile to work with one? If you have 10k in investments/cash? 100k? 1m? Somewhere the cost has to be more than the gain - in short term dollars - though over time I am sure a good one will pay back well.

[Tyler]

What makes you more useful than a fiduciary? Honest question.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

Can I ask dumb questions?

How do financial advisors really work, and when is it really worthwhile to work with one? If you have 10k in investments/cash? 100k? 1m? Somewhere the cost has to be more than the gain - in short term dollars - though over time I am sure a good one will pay back well.

Ask me anything really and I'll do my best to answer. There is really no easy answer to this because it depends on how the advisor is compensated. For me and my practice this varies depending on the situation and while I'm open and have no issue disclosing what I get paid and how I get paid it doesn't always come out of your pocket directly. For example if you buy a bank mutual fund from the bank, you pay an MER there, and if you buy the same fund through me, you pay that same MER. There is no difference in fees, but I would suggest there is a great deal of difference in the advice and certainly in the independence of that advice.

I build portfolios quite differently for clients depending on their assets and goals as well as tax ramifications and overall stage in life. So a guy walking in with zero dollars and putting away $25/month isn't going to buy stocks with me, whereas a guy with a million bucks could if they're comfortable. In either case though, I think that professional advice and expertise is still effective. Its just different advice because the two people have different needs.

I'm not really sure if I'm answering this very clearly...maybe not. Feel free to ask me something more direct if that might help!

Originally Posted by Tyler

What makes you more useful than a fiduciary? Honest question.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this. I definitely have a fiduciary duty, although maybe the distinction is in discretionary trading (which I don't do)? While the money would be in my care and control though, its never in my custody. Again, I'm not entirely sure that this answers anything because I'm not sure of the distinction.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

^^ you did answer in part, thanks.

A little context maybe - I have worked with a couple of people that were essentially mutual fund or insurance salespeople. And while they were good and trustworthy and all that I could never really figure out what they did for me, other than sell me stuff.

They have all had various pitches and workbooks to talk about my financial future but it always felt like a lead to a product. I think they honesty believe in what they sell and don't mean to suggest anything negative, it just never felt that valuable. Whatever wasn't product focused felt really basic. Save x percent of what you earn and diversify sorta stuff.

My perception is a 'real' financial planner would be different, but not sure what I expect by that. It might be I am just a cynic.

What kinds of things do you do that you get paid for that are not for selling a product? What can I get from working with a financial planner that I won't accomplish by following a couch potato strategy or something? I can guess tax or estate planning, for example, but that's where I was thinking if you don't have a million bucks or something (like every cper of course) you might spend more on the advice than you could ever save in taxes.

Does that make any sense?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

^^ you did answer in part, thanks.

A little context maybe - I have worked with a couple of people that were essentially mutual fund or insurance salespeople. And while they were good and trustworthy and all that I could never really figure out what they did for me, other than sell me stuff.

They have all had various pitches and workbooks to talk about my financial future but it always felt like a lead to a product. I think they honesty believe in what they sell and don't mean to suggest anything negative, it just never felt that valuable. Whatever wasn't product focused felt really basic. Save x percent of what you earn and diversify sorta stuff.

My perception is a 'real' financial planner would be different, but not sure what I expect by that. It might be I am just a cynic.

What kinds of things do you do that you get paid for that are not for selling a product? What can I get from working with a financial planner that I won't accomplish by following a couch potato strategy or something? I can guess tax or estate planning, for example, but that's where I was thinking if you don't have a million bucks or something (like every cper of course) you might spend more on the advice than you could ever save in taxes.

Does that make any sense?

Unfortunately it makes sense because I've met a lot of planners in my travels. In complete honesty, the industry has some issues; we've allowed certain ways of doing business to become prevalent and many are better salesmen than they are actual financial advisors or planners. Part of the issue is qualifications, where some have a CFP, and others not only don't have it, but they have no intention of getting it. Then we have some 'captive' advisors who are precluded from using a lot of products. Or maybe they can use a lot, but literally don't get paid on those products. That leads to advisors pushing one particular brand or one company and not others.

So, in choosing an advisor you ought to find someone who has the education and experience for their profession. Having someone who is a butcher by day and financial advisor by night just seems foolish to me (no offense to butchers). Using an advisor who is independent is also critical in my eyes because they're not constrained to one solution for every problem/task. You should ask about their compensation and whether they have a bias of compensation from one company over another. Transparency in fees is coming, but I'm of the opinion that advisors should disclose fees to clients.

All of that being said, working with an advisor provides a number of benefits. Aside from the 'where do I invest?' or 'how much insurance do I need?' kinds of questions (which we should be able to answer), advisors can help you understand how all of this stuff works in the first place. We can explain all of your options and tell you the benefits and drawbacks of each as it pertains to your situation. We provide strategies for tax-savings, estate planning, retirement planning and cash flow planning as well. I help clients with their benefits plans, choosing retirement packages or retirement investments for their work pension plans. Sometimes I'm just another set of eyes to keep track of their investments and make sure they're performing as expected. Working with a 'good' advisor you can figure what you need to do to get to where you want to go. I'm not talking about a so called "financial plan" where they calculate that if you put away $100/month forever at a 7% rate of return you finish with X amount. That's child's play. Any advisor worth their salt can do much more for you and have a much more meaningful impact on your situation.

Anyway....this has sort of turned into a rant, and sorry for that! I hope it comes across as intended though, and doesn't make me sound upset or angry at all.

[dubc80]

Slava, thanks for the insight.

I think this is definitely an area where a lot of people lack knowledge and for some reason don't pay as much attention as they should. We're more than willing to spend a couple hours on our hockey pools, but don't bother looking at our investments...

Question for you.

As part of your services, do you perform a review of the current state of the portfolio, and identify areas of improvement, gaps, redundancy, etc?

I guess what I'm asking is, could someone bring you print outs of their investments, insurance, etc, and you review and provide a recommendation?

Thanks

[Slava]

Originally Posted by dubc80

Slava, thanks for the insight.

I think this is definitely an area where a lot of people lack knowledge and for some reason don't pay as much attention as they should. We're more than willing to spend a couple hours on our hockey pools, but don't bother looking at our investments...

Question for you.

As part of your services, do you perform a review of the current state of the portfolio, and identify areas of improvement, gaps, redundancy, etc?

I guess what I'm asking is, could someone bring you print outs of their investments, insurance, etc, and you review and provide a recommendation?

Thanks

Yes, absolutely. I can sit down and review your current situation and make recommendations for you to look at for sure. That's a lot of what I do!

[Machiavelli]

Do you work with people out of province?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Do you work with people out of province?

Which province? (Feel free to PM me, if you prefer)

[Machiavelli]

Originally Posted by Slava

Which province? (Feel free to PM me, if you prefer)

Ontario

[Slava]

I'm not licensed in Ontario at this point, although its something I've considered and may do in the relatively near future. I could look at stuff for you and give you some advice and such on an informal basis, but couldn't actually have you become a client until that time. I would definitely be happy to help though!

[fuffalo]

Slava,

My girlfriend recently graduated, and I will be graduating in the spring. We're roughly 30 years old and I want to sit down with someone and just map out how we should go about paying off student debt, saving for a house/kids, buying a car etc.

I'm weary of going to my bank, as for some reason I have it in my head that the bank is just trying to 'sell me something'. How do I look for an advisor where I feel comfortable that they are trying to tell me what's best, and not trying to make money off me?

Thanks (sorry for the old thread bump, hopefully you still read this)

[Slava]

Originally Posted by fuffalo

Slava,

My girlfriend recently graduated, and I will be graduating in the spring. We're roughly 30 years old and I want to sit down with someone and just map out how we should go about paying off student debt, saving for a house/kids, buying a car etc.

I'm weary of going to my bank, as for some reason I have it in my head that the bank is just trying to 'sell me something'. How do I look for an advisor where I feel comfortable that they are trying to tell me what's best, and not trying to make money off me?

Thanks (sorry for the old thread bump, hopefully you still read this)

Thanks for the PM, I will read this thread, but it might have taken a couple days for me to realise there was a new post!

I can sit down with you and we can go through that those things. I don't charge for meetings at all and I'm happy to disclose any fees or compensation from anything that we do. I'm a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) and am both willing and qualified to meet up with you if you like.

[DoubleK]

Slava,

Do you have any experience in advising people with dual citizenship (Canada and US) that have Roth IRA's? Of particular interest, is the ability (or lack of) to open RRSP's and TFSA's in Canada.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Slava,

Do you have any experience in advising people with dual citizenship (Canada and US) that have Roth IRA's? Of particular interest, is the ability (or lack of) to open RRSP's and TFSA's in Canada.

I do have some experience here. My mother is from the US incidentally, so I know the rules fairly well by necessity! There are some changes that have come into effect here in the few months as well. Anything in particular you want to know or have questions about? Feel free to PM if you prefer.

[Slava]

Thought I would bump this thread as I have had a number of clients come to me with issues surrounding packages from layoffs. If anyone has questions here about what their options are regarding pensions and the like (or regarding benefits or conversions of insurance and the like) feel free to PM or ask away.