Conference nyoss1::market_investing

    I'm looking for good financial planner in the Acton-Concord, Mass area. 
    No insurance agents please.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Bill

    
    	.0 Me too.  Hope you get some replies.
    
    	The "advisors" from the brokerage houses are very aggressive &
    	enthusiastic.  The independents either do not return calls or 
    	are egomaniacal bas----s.  
    
    	I want someone to be able to call/visit quarterly/semi-annually
    	for sanity checks, recommendations, etc.  It would be nice if they 
    	had access to a tax specialist, also.
    
       

    I just signed up with IDS.  They are independent (owned by American
    Express) and have no beefs with anyone.
    
    Looks like a decent deal.
    
    Bob O.
    

    re .3
    
    Did you read the notes about IDS in the archived version 
    of this conference?
    				-John Bishop

I can recommend one.

Frank Strange at Hiatt Enterprises 1-800-542-2057 (Millis, MA). 
Definitely not aggressive.  Provides Financial management consulting,
tax qualified pension rollover accounts, business management, business
start-ups etc...

And... Provides FREE initial consultation !

Give him a call.  (He even makes house calls!)


Although this recommendation is somewhat biased (he's my brother-in-law), I
stand to gain nothing from it, however, please feel free to mention my name.

    We had an independent financial advisor over last night for an initial 
    visit to see what she can offer us.  
    
    She has a flat fee of $500 to give us a report including an analysis of 
    our current investments, cash flow analysis, and recommendations of the 
    areas that we should be investing based on our goals of college tuition and 
    retirement.  
    
    I asked her for an itemization of what the report will contain and she
    said that they're all different.  She did cover lots of areas but I'd
    like to see some type of an outline of what she will cover.  $500 is not 
    a whole lot of money if she can help us get our act together but what 
    should I expect from this report?
    
    Thanks,
    Bill
    
    

    
    I believe that MONEY magazine did an article on this about 6 months or
    so ago.  Check the local library for the December or January issue - I
    think they have a summary of the articles of the past year.
    What I remember from the article was that no one had the same answer
    for this participant (who worked for the magazine).
    Hope this helps

    
    Generally, planners recommend actions based on the products they sell. 
    If they're commission based, BUYER BEWARE, since they will be suaded to
    put you into higher commission products which may vaguely meet your
    financial goals.   Fee Only Planners are the way to go, since they're
    more objective with their actions/recommendations.
    
    Hope this helps.
    
               -- Phil
    

    
    I'm looking for opinions on the following Financial Advisor:
    
    		Jennie Fierstein  Westboro, MA
    		Certified Financial Advisor
    		Registered Investment Advisor
    
    I'd appreciate opinions from anyone who has had dealings with her.
    
    Thanks,
    Bill (NPSS::WADE - dtn 226-5696)
                    

re: 223.6

        I'm skeptical.  $500 is a lot to pay for a report with
unknown contents.  Here are some questions to ponder:
        - what about insurance and a will?  Comprehensive
financial advice should contain a contingency plan so that you
and your family can financially survive the unexpected.  If
she doesn't sell insurance, she should at least take this into
account, and, if you need products, recommend somebody who
could sell them.
        - what is she going to tell you about your current
investments that you don't already know, or couldn't easily
find out?  Is it worth paying for this?
        - what guarantee is there that the report she delivers
will be useful?  Do you have any recourse since she is an
independant?
        - are there other financial planners/advisors in your
area that charge less?  Some do the up-front analysis for free
in order to establish a working relationship with the hope of
future business.
        - what's her track record like?  Has she sold a lot
of reports, or, has she helped a lot of people?  How long has
she been doing this?  Does she give references?  Does she have
at least an MBA?
          - what questions has she asked of you so far?  Has she
ascertained your tolerance for risk?  your experience level
with various securities?  any industries you prefer to avoid?
If she hasn't asked you these things, then they won't be taken
into account in her analysis.
        - do you trust her?  Whether she's fee-based or
commission-based, you are still paying her money for some
deliverables.
        - if she can't tell you what each report takes into
account and what each report concludes, don't buy it.

        Here's my (free) advice:
        If you have never looked at finaincial planning seriously 
before, you're willing to spend $500 for some help, take $15
and subscribe to Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Money
Magazine, or just visit the library and read the back issues
to get started.  Throwing cash at a problem doesn't necessarily
bring an understanding of the bigger picture.
        Community colleges often have inexpensive courses on
financial management that would be informative, would provide
a groundwork for financial planning, and cost less than a
$500 report.
        If this person is not willing to describe the substance
of the report, find somebody else -- she might be selling "data"
instead of an "analysis".  From experience, I bought a "plan"
and got a lot of "data".

-Austin

    
    re: .9
    If you can't find anyone to give you recommendations/opinions on
    this Financial Advisor, then ask her to give you some references that
    are in the same general category (i.e., have similar financial goals,
    risk tolerance, and timeframes) as yours.  I frequently do this for
    my clients.  Good luck!
    
        -- Phil Royal