Do you use a financial planner?

[Michael Weber]

I don’t recall offhand what percentage of my investments they were going to charge every year, win or lose for their investment advice, but when I saw what it was I was astonished. Vanguard oddly enough. I remember when they flat refused to give any kind of investment advice period.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I can't find a financial advisor that knows anything at all about my retirement strategy.
When I try to explain it to them, their eyes glaze over and they just zone out.

I still talk to 3 or 4 of them once a year - both to check up on some money I have invested through them and to see if anything new has come along.

[Peter Mich]

I am in this camp. I learned how little I knew when I tried to invest on my own. My comfort level is much higher now.

[Clifford McGuire]

Thanks for the opinions and advice everyone. Like I mentioned above, I thought that this would be something I'd be passionate about, but I'm just not.

So far, I've talked to a person my tax guy reccommended and someone from Fidelity (where my 401K lives). Both charge around 1% and were quick to bring up products that they probably get a nice commission from.

This week I'm talking to someone from Vanguard's Personal Advisor Services. They charge 0.3%. We'll see how that goes.

I had a virtual mini-reunion with some college budddies, all who went into business/finance. They all use a FP, which surprised me. Their reasons include 1) They do this stuff all day and don't want to do it in the off time. 2) Getting to the age where they might make mistakes, and 3) their spouse has someone to call if they die.