Financial advisor vent

[abowers]

Re: Financial advisor vent

Ima, you would be a great financial advisor because you have common sense and have proven people can do it without inheriting or being born into a lot of money.

krisleigh, I'm a teacher and most folks who don't teacher don't always understand that summers are a way for us to recharge our batteries. I know some of the people who posted do understand that, but a financial advisor does not. One person posted said the advisor targeted you because you were stable and could the most money. Actually it's sort of a compliment to you. I don't work summers because I take care of all those things I didn't have time for during the year and I relax. But, I also do stuff my DH would have to do when he got home from work so he appreciates that. But, I know a lot of teachers who work during the summer because they like the extra money.

I understand teachers need time to recharge! I was a preschool teacher from August 2005-June 2006... I worked four 10 hour days a week. A classroom of 20 kids, ages 3-5, at the worst time, 5 were not potty trained. The only vacation time that I used was 3 days at Christmas time, giving me a total of 6 days off for Christmas.
... the rest of my earned vacation I cashed out when I left the job in June to start grad school. And I was burnt out. I should have used my vacation time throughout!

Many of my friends, and friend's parents are teachers -- I totally understand you need time to unwind.

[Ima saver]

Re: Financial advisor vent

I really admire teachers and I think they deserve some time off. (Do you really think Evad is middle aged?)

[vsjhoc]

Re: Financial advisor vent

I really admire teachers and I think they deserve some time off. (Do you really think Evad is middle aged?)

I admire several professions but their people don't get time off. Police officers risk their lives, work nights, get paid very little, and are expected to respond to emergency situations even when they are off duty. No summer vacations for them.

Forty is the new 20, they say.

[abowers]

Re: Financial advisor vent

People should know the job description before taking the job.

Don't become a police officer or firefighter or doctor if you don't want a high stress position involving you to be on-call.
Don't be a police officer if you don't want to risk your life or work a nice 9-5 day.

Summers off is part of the package of becoming a teacher, unless you want to do summer school or tutor.

I don't know how old I think Evad is.

[vsjhoc]

Re: Financial advisor vent

People should know the job description before taking the job.

Don't become a police officer or firefighter or doctor if you don't want a high stress position involving you to be on-call.
Don't be a police officer if you don't want to risk your life or work a nice 9-5 day.

Summers off is part of the package of becoming a teacher, unless you want to do summer school or tutor.

I agree with you that you should read the job description before taking the job. My point (and I did have one ... thank you Ellen DeGeneres) was that virtually all jobs are stressful. All of us "deserve" time off. Teachers should have the summer off because school is not in session, not because their job is any more stressful than anyone else's.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: Financial advisor vent

Thanks all! I am not usually so quick to get angry, especially on message boards! He just hit me on the wrong day at exactly the wrong time!

We have a resource officer at our school who does not get his summers off. I feel for him! He puts up with so much through the year following the same schedule the rest of us do, but his summers are spent on the street. He said it keeps him trained for the road. Makes sense...but I feel for him!

As a speech therapist, I could work in the hospital and make twice what I make. (Glad he didn't suggest that!!) But I don't. I enjoy the school environment quite a bit, and that is why I took that position, just as you are all saying. And having summers off is quite a perk!

[baselle]

Re: Financial advisor vent

Lets go back to the original question.

You met with the financial advisor, he rubbed you the wrong way, giving obvious advice "make more money" that would not work in your situation, and you fired him or will fire him (in a sense, you're not going back to him). Fair enough. You have to be comfortable and be able to respect your financial advisor to be able to follow his advice. If you get the heebie jeebies, run screaming. Lord knows, its not like there's a scarce supply of financial advisors...

And many people do better in their money management by themselves than they would if a financial advisor (esp a commission based one). I've heard the story of the millionaire who would ask for a financial advisors' tax return - if the advisor did better than the millionaire did, he'd hire him.

But I sense an extra dynamic here. You and your DH seem to have different opinions on the advisor and the advice you are getting. Whats up with that?

[autoxer]

Re: Financial advisor vent

I've heard the story of the millionaire who would ask for a financial advisors' tax return - if the advisor did better than the millionaire did, he'd hire him.

I like that. Next time I get a cold call from some broker, I'm going to ask for that.

[Bluezy]

Re: Financial advisor vent

The financial planner is probably one of the following:

1) someone who has no children, not understanding the concept of parents wanting to be with their babies

2) someone who has children at home that wants to get away from them

3) so programmed into practicality the he forgot human interaction as a necessity to survival.

I'd go easy on the planner. While he has a point of finding something part-time during the summer, this suggestion is not right for you. It would not be right for me either!

[neatdesign]

Re: Financial advisor vent

The financial planner is probably one of the following:

1) someone who has no children, not understanding the concept of parents wanting to be with their babies

2) someone who has children at home that wants to get away from them

3) so programmed into practicality the he forgot human interaction as a necessity to survival.

Dont' forget this one...

4) someone who sees a couple struggling with paying off thousands of dollars of debt and one of them has no income for 1/4 of the year, and suggests a pretty basic solution to increase their overall income and thus cut down their debt more quickly.


I really don't understand how people are equating this suggestion with being anti-children, anti-SAHMs and/or anti-human interaction. His was a logical suggestion, a no-brainer even: More income = quicker debt repayment. They went to him for financial advice, and he gave it.

This sort of response also suggests that a female financial planner wouldn't dare make such a suggestion (unless she's childless, of course). Honestly, I think it would be a huge red flag if ANY financial planner didn't raise the issue.

~ Jenney

[Jewelfine]

Re: Financial advisor vent

I have calmed down a bit, and can be civil now. (I wrote the above post having just completed a vent post about some recent unexpected bills.)

I don't like going a financial advisor and would take the advise to ditch him, but DH is against it. My problem is that this is our third advisor with this company and I have liked each less than the last. The guy we have now seems only to want to sell us stocks. He doesn't really care about our finances, but just wants to make money off of us. In passing conversation we mentioned that we have dear friends who own 4 restaurants. The guys eyes lit up and we had to endure a speech about increasing his business and could he have our friends phone number. I refused.

I still don't like the comment about not helping myself. If you would read the post again and my comments you'll see that I have explained myself rather well without going into my entire life history. My biggest reason for not taking on a second job over the summer is because I would not make enough money beyond the cost of daycare to make it worth the while.

And the biggest reason is one which apparently some just can't understand. I feel my boys are certainly worth a few sacrifices. I can take the "no spend" challenges in order to have time with them. I can reduce my grocery bill, I can play with my A/C temp to reduce my energy bill, I can turn off the computer at night, I can research companies that have better deals for services like phone, TV, etc. Not helping myself? Really?

Hey there,
I get that things are tough for you right now! I am really sorry to hear that. I have a question though - how does your financial advisor get paid? Is it commissions based on what he recommends to you? it makes me really mad when people go looking for help and end up getting ignored, or pushed on because the advisor is only looking out for the advisor and not the client.
This is why I took my CPA and became a Financial coach - I don't sell products because in my mind the client is the most important person in the situation. There is no point in buying stocks if you don't have the money or have lots of debt etc. etc.
It gets my goat!
Good Luck
Melanie

PS it is up to you how you want to spend your time and your summers - life is about living and making choices that reach all your goals!

[Bluezy]

Re: Financial advisor vent

...His was a logical suggestion, a no-brainer even: More income = quicker debt repayment. They went to him for financial advice, and he gave it....

...thus showing that the choice right for Kris is to curb spending as her way of contributing towards debt reduction and have lots of quality time to spend with her children. It is simply the decision of the person.

I identify with Kris in that a mum has very quick emotional reactions when it comes to their children, especially scenarios that take quality time away. Therefore, comsider those of us who are mums guilty of practical no-brainers on occasion.

Hang in there Kris! You'll find a plan that is right for you to pay off more debt and allow your summers with your kids. This is the time in their lives that they need your attention. Before you know it they will be grown and gone.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: Financial advisor vent

Thank you all! I see so many women around me make the difficult decision to make less money but stay home with their children and I am getting critisized for wanting not quite 3 months off every year!

Jewelfine, with this guy, I definitely feel like he is out to serve himself and not the client. His eyes actually glazed over when we started talking about budget. I think he saw immediately that there was no wiggle room in our budget to invest and he was done with us at that point. He IS commission based and we don't pay him. We started investing a whopping $50 a month 5 years ago, but we just haven't been able to up that payment at all. We also have life insurance with this company for everyone in the family.

[Ima saver]

Re: Financial advisor vent

Can I ask, what does he have you investing in? When I went to the guy that opened an Edward Jones office in our area, I found that I knew much more about investing than he did. He only wanted me to invest in his mutual funds, which all have loads. All of my mutual funds are no loads.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: Financial advisor vent

Uh...huh? I don't even know what a load is. We have a Franklin Mutual Fund????? I know next to nothing about investing. DH's family invests heavily...mine not at all. It is not something I grew up with. I wouldn't know where to begin doing it myself. I'm not sure DH would either. Any help there would be appreciated...if I understand it.