I am pretty happy with my advisor, overall. He has steered me into some annuities and such that give me a good deal of peace of mind. Who knew you could actually buy that? I guess if I could wave a magic wand and change anything about our arrangement, I would lower his fees. But I really don't begrudge him that; he's earned it.
-Alfred, 76, Sarasota, Fla.
Our financial planner has been with us for, I think, 18 years—something like that. He came along at a time when we were setting up our estate, and he took care of that for us. He has a small office, and he brought in his son and daughter-in-law to work with him. Now he's semi-retired, and I guess if I there were something I would want to change it's that we usually have to deal with his family if we have a question. We like them—don't get me wrong—but we just feel more comfortable working with him directly.
-Charlotte, 68, McAllen, Texas
I'll tell you, I used a guy a decade or so ago. He's not my advisor anymore—and there were a lot of things I would have changed about him. We went to a presentation he gave and he seemed like he really knew his stuff. We were impressed, you know, so we made an appointment to go see him. But he was just really arrogant, and he took our money and didn't really explain what he was going to do with it. It was like our opinion didn't matter. I guess he just thought we were ignorant and couldn't understand anything. We stayed with him about a year and then found someone else.
-Russell, 72, Boise, Idaho
I wouldn't change a thing about my advisor. He's a great guy. When my wife got sick a few years ago, he sent a card and called several times to ask how she was doing. Really, above and beyond. Plus, he's damn good at what he does. He's made us a lot of money. When we first met him, he was just starting out. We referred him to everyone we knew and a lot of our friends use him now, too. He's just got that caring touch that makes all the difference. You know that with him, it's real.
-Tim, 81, Mill Valley, Calif.
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