I’m debating on seeing a certified financial planner or fiduciary to invest my money. I’m still about 12-15 yrs from retirement and have a pension. This money is in addition to the pension.

Where do I start in finding the right person? Do I want to pay a flat fee or percentage? What kinds of questions do I need to ask? What should I expect from a CFP/fiduciary? Should I expect returns to meet or exceed the S&P500 return rate?

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Where do I start in finding the right person?

Go to a bar in your city's financial district on Friday about an hour after the markets close. Strike up a conversation with the best looking woman at the bar, tell her and her friends what you are looking for. You will soon find someone who will gladly take your money.

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Do I want to pay a flat fee or percentage?

Internet-based investment forums usually claim that a flat fee outperforms commission.

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What kinds of questions do I need to ask?

These will come to you. Perhaps questions about investment strategies. Expect self-serving answers.

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Should I expect returns to meet or exceed the S&P500 return rate?

No.

Flat fee. Most CFAs will meet once per no charge. You then make your decision. Tell him your goals for retirement, discuss what assets you have etc. Have a spreadsheet available so he can understand your assets and liabiites. In the meantime read up on financial matters.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Flat fee. Most CFAs will meet once per no charge. You then make your decision. Tell him your goals for retirement, discuss what assets you have etc. Have a spreadsheet available so he can understand your assets and liabiites. In the meantime read up on financial matters.

All true and that's how I got mine. He prompted me for my goals and assets and so forth even though I was fully prepared to prompt him, but if I had to, I probably wouldn't have done business with him.

I brought no spreadsheet and he didn't require one as I had the rough figures memorized.

It was essentially a two way interview that lasted a couple of hours. I was interviewing him for a job as my financial advisor and he was interviewing me as to whether or not I'd be a good client for him.

We both decided it was a good match and I gave him around $25K as a starter and told him I was just going to stick a toe in the waters and see how it worked out.

He did so well that 6 months later I gave him another $25K and $25K more a few months after that.

From there it just snowballed and he's still my financial advisor although his son is gradually taking over from him as he's retiring also.

We used Dave Ramsay’s website to help find an “endorsed local provider” from his site.

Mrs. Mike really liked the guy we visited. We have been wih them for six or seven years now. They do everything she wants, calls us when she wants to hear how things are going, called us during the C19 and told us to not move money around…etc…

I think the company was four level or level four but they merged with another big company and now that’s what’s on the letters we get.

And they are a fiduciary (so they have to look out for your goals not just making themself money)

When I asked what they put their money into, the three people were very up front and explained everything.

You want someone who can prove they're a fiduciary.

Paying someone a percentage means they'll be managing your money for you in terms of investment. That's a separate decision.

There are two areas you'll need guidance on: 1) Retirement and retirement tax planning and 2) Retirement Income Stream planning and management.

I'll deal with #2 first as it's easier: in this area, you'll plan out how to finance your retirement. You may have pensions, social security, and any other income streams in your retirement. Then, the difference between your projected annual retirement expenditures and your income stream will have to be funded by your retirement savings plus any lumpsum expenses you want to plan for like leaving an inheritance. Generally, your retirement savings will have to be invested in a mix of stocks and bonds in order to generate the additional income stream required. This is the investment management part which will require a percentage fee. There are many investment philosophies out there. You need to be able to understand their philosophy and that it is aligned with your philosophy and investment sophistication. If I was going to trust someone to manage my money, which I currently do with a significant portion of my money, I want to make sure they are honest and big enough to have the confidence of other investors but small enough or structured enough to give me service. I want to make sure that my portfolio they are managing is invested in the same stocks that everybody else of their customers are invested in with the customization to my needs met by some way such as just the mix of stocks and bonds adjusted for my goals and risk preference. The reason I want my stock investment to be a mirror image proportionately as everybody else is to make sure I get the same attention as their biggest clients. If my individual stock mix is personalized to me, then I can be sure their attention on my portfolio is going to be proportional to my portfolio size compared to others.

#1) Retirement and retirement tax planning. This is equally as important, if not more than investment management. In this are, you should cover when can you retire to have confidence you've saved enough to generate the requirement income stream. You'll cover when should you take Social Security (and it's not just about "leaving money on the table." You'll cover how will you fund your healthcare if you're going to retire before Medicare eligibility. And because taxes will be one of the bigger concerns in retirement, you'll cover what can you be doing now to reduce your overall taxes in retirement; one way is optimize income taxation by converting a portion of your tax deferred retirement accounts into Roth accounts. Doing conversions will incur taxes in the year you convert but they can reduce future taxes. There's an arbitrage situation now in converting to Roth. For example, the 23% in taxes you will pay in converting now will save you 3% because that marginal tax rate will become 25% in 2026 when the Trump tax cut expires and the current 24% tax will be 28%. Converting judiciously before you are forced to take Required Minimum Distributions will avoid you getting pushed into higher tax brackets and paying Medicare premium surcharges.

Maybe make an appointment to talk to an Advisor at a local Charles Schwab office.
If you don't like him or the plan he is offering move on.

But the best thing is to educate yourself. Read some Books, Magazines, Wall Street Journal / Barron's so that you know about the investments someone is directing you to.

I have a very good CFP/CPA in the Columbus, Ohio area. If interested, let me know.

You can make a trip down, have a chat and if you like them, they can then perform most duties via web conferences and secure e-mail. I am 20 miles away and I have not sat in the same room with my CFP for 3 years. Everything has been handled as stated above.

PS - They are 100% fee based. They will never try to sell you anything.