Good AUM Financial Advisors

[docsarg]

I am a resident who is about to graduate and am looking to hire a financial advisor. I always thought financial advisors who charge a flat fee were better but after reading one of the WCI posts, it seems like a FA that charges AUM fees could be better (as far as fees go) early on when I have lower assets. Does anyone have any recommendations for good FAs that charge AUM fees?

[zlandar]

So what is your plan when your assets grow large enough that AUM fees outweigh flat fees?

[Tangler]

Don’t play with snakes.

[Tim]

The problem you will have is that a AUM on a small balance is not worth the FA's time. They only waive minimums for future business opportunities. Most of those will be selling services that you won't need.

[Cubicle]

Approximately how much money are you looking to have managed? That might determine if you should DIY, robo-advisor, or fee only FA.

[Tangler]

Dude, just put in VTSAX and read.

You have two jobs: 1. money 2. medicine

You must learn them both.

AUM advisors are crooks.

[Steven Podnos MD CFP]

Being both a physician and a fee only fiduciary planner, the above advice is terrible for many of you. A good advisor can save an incredible amount of money over your lifetime.

[Cubicle]

^^ Vanguard references the article that a low fee only financial advisor can add on average an additional 3% per year in returns.

That being said I am 100% DIY.

[Tangler]

A fee only paid by the hour advisor is often worth it.
An AUM advisor charging 1% to put $ in index funds is in my opinion a total waste.
Just my opinion and experience.
I could give a rodents rump if it offends the AUM people.
They rip people off.

[Kamban]

I am a resident who is about to graduate and am looking to hire a financial advisor. I always thought financial advisors who charge a flat fee were better but after reading one of the WCI posts, it seems like a FA that charges AUM fees could be better (as far as fees go) early on when I have lower assets. Does anyone have any recommendations for good FAs that charge AUM fees

The problem will be you will enmeshed in a spider's web and will find it difficult to escape[e. You will be sold whole life insurance. You money will be put in front load high expense ratio mutual funds. After a few years you will find it difficult to extricate yourself out of it.

Do it well and smartly from the beginning. You are looking for cheap advice and money management. Cheap junk is what you will get. For the time being just invest all in VSTAX or the S & P 500 funds or ETF at any of the big three. Later on go to a fee only advisor.

[Kamban]

Don’t play with snakes.

Unless you are a mongoose.

And you might find out that you are a fat juicy rodent to the snakes and not the mongoose that you envisioned yourself to be.

[AR]

I am a resident who is about to graduate and am looking to hire a financial advisor. I always thought financial advisors who charge a flat fee were better but after reading one of the WCI posts, it seems like a FA that charges AUM fees could be better (as far as fees go) early on when I have lower assets. Does anyone have any recommendations for good FAs that charge AUM fees?

No doubt there is a certain logic to your plan. The main problem is that even if you find an AUM advisor that isn't a crook, the type of financial advice a low NW early career doc needs is not the advice that a competent, ethical AUM advisor is the best at dispensing. Their wheelhouse is managing substantial assets.

[jfoxcpacfp]

AUM advisors are crooks.

Wow, I cannot tell you how strongly I disagree with lumping all of AUM advisors into this bucket. As I have stated on many posts, even we still have some “heritage” AUM clients from before we went flat fee. They had no interest in financial planning and wanted to continue as AUM clients.

I would posit that the large majority of AUM advisors are decent, intelligent, ethical advisors trying to do the right thing every day they go to work. Flat fee advice is a relatively new concept and the amount of thought, planning, and effort it takes to make the conversion from AUM to flat fee is monumental. Very fortunate for us that we decided to make the change in the very early days of working with WCI doc’s. I cannot imagine what it would be like to undertake that today and that is where most AUM advisors sit.

Change takes time - please look at it from another perspective than your own, which is rather narrow at this point (impo).

[Tangler]

Wow, I cannot tell you how strongly I disagree with lumping all of AUM advisors into this bucket. As I have stated on many posts, even we still have some “heritage” AUM clients from before we went flat fee. They had no interest in financial planning and wanted to continue as AUM clients.

I would posit that the large majority of AUM advisors are decent, intelligent, ethical advisors trying to do the right thing every day they go to work. Flat fee advice is a relatively new concept and the amount of thought, planning, and effort it takes to make the conversion from AUM to flat fee is monumental. Very fortunate for us that we decided to make the change in the very early days of working with WCI doc’s. I cannot imagine what it would be like to undertake that today and that is where most AUM advisors sit.

Change takes time - please look at it from another perspective than your own, which is rather narrow at this point (impo).

Fair. How about change the all to many or most. This is just my personal experience. The AUM "advisors" I have personally known. Many / most are snakes.

Just last week my brother (a doc who uses an AUM advisor) was asking me: "how come my advisor never mentioned the backdoor Roth.......I've been using him for over 10 years......if it so good how come he never mentioned it?"........when he asked about doing a Roth the advisor said: "you make too much to contribute to a Roth" but the guy never mentioned the BDR and this guy is getting 1%.

A BDR is not a huge deal but if you are paying someone to help you...........

Know of another AUM advisor who told a friend he should sell all his rental properties and you guessed it, give him the money to invest.

I had an AUM advisor try to put me into actively managed funds with a load (America funds) and charge me a load plus 1% to manage my money when I was a young doc and had no clue about index funds. I got lucky and was advised by a colleague to read Bogle.

[jfoxcpacfp]

Fair. How about change the all to many or most. This is just my personal experience. The AUM "advisors" I have personally known. Many / most are snakes.

Yes, it would be ok to change to “many” who “are incompetent” based on your limited experience with the 10s of thousands in the world of advising.