OAK STREET ADVISORS
  • HOME
  • SERVICES
    • Financial Planning
    • Tax Planning
    • Fiduciary Investment Management
    • Small Business Planning >
      • Business Retirement Plan Advisory
  • ABOUT US
    • WHAT IS A FEE ONLY ADVISOR?
    • FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
    • OUR TEAM
  • SCHEDULE AN INTRO CALL
  • BLOG
    • BLOG
  • CONTACT A FINANCIAL PLANNER
  • FORM ADV PART 2
  • IS A ROTH IRA RIGHT FOR YOU?

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Finding the Right Fiduciary Financial Planner to Suit All Your Financial Needs

10/28/2020

 
Choosing a financial advisor
Not sure how to choose a financial advisor? It’s a big decision! Our guide on how to find a good CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner can help you ask the right questions and select someone able to help you reach your personal financial goals and find financial freedom.
​

​Do You Need a Financial Advisor?

Depending upon where you are in your life, you may not have spent much time thinking about your financial future. NOW is always the best time to start! Finding a financial planner can help you focus on personal financial goals, like buying a new home, saving for a child’s college education, or retiring at a certain age. And if you have recently received a significant pay raise, come into an inheritance or trust, or need help with tax planning, a financial advisor can help you leverage and maximize those assets.

Do You Need a New Financial Advisor?

Have you started to wonder if your current financial advisor is right for you?

Most financial advisors receive a significant portion of their pay in commissions. When they recommend that you purchase shares of stock or mutual funds from a broker, they receive a portion of the proceeds of that sale in return. They can also make money through mark-ups of bonds, CDs, or new stock issues through a broker. And because advisors paid in by commission make the most money when you purchase financial products, they may be tempted to recommend buying things you do not really need. And their interest in your financial wellbeing may not extend beyond that sale. Many financial advisors do not assist with 529 savings plans, employer benefits packages, healthcare options, or estate planning, all critical components of a good financial plan.

If you have started to wonder if your current financial advisor is truly looking out for your best interests, it is time to look for a fee-only financial advisor.

What is Fee-Only Financial Advising?

​Fee-only is a better way to get smart financial advice you can trust. Fee-only financial advisors never make money from commissions or mark-ups. We are only paid by you to give advice that we believe will work best for you. You will never need to second-guess our motives, suggestions, or strategies. You will always know that your financial future is our highest priority.
 
Fee-only financial advisors must meet a very strict professional fiduciary standard. Fee-only financial advisors must become Registered Investment Advisors and meet the highest fiduciary standard, while other financial advisors are held to a lower suitability standard.
 
To be sure you are working with the best and that your financial advisor has only your best interests at heart, choose a fee-only Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner (CFP®).

Research a Financial Advisor

​Word of mouth can be a great way to find a financial advisor. Asking your friends, relatives, and coworkers if they have a financial advisor they trust and would recommend can be a great place to start. Online research can also help you find and look into your options.
 
Whenever you are given or find a name, take a moment to look them up on the broker check tools maintained by the Security and Exchange Commission or FINRA. And don’t stop with the broker name! Make sure you also plug in their firm’s name. If the firm has multiple infractions that may be an indication of poor corporate culture.

What to Know Before Meeting with a Financial Advisor

  1. You should never, ever be asked to make a purchase or sign a contract at a first meeting. Any push to buy something before you have had an opportunity to share any real details about your financial situation or your personal financial goals is a bright, bold red flag.

  2. You should also not receive specific financial advice or guidance during your first meeting. Why? There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in financial planning. It takes an in-depth conversation and a thorough review of your personal financial situation to begin to create a personalized financial plan. If a potential financial advisor offers you the same advice they would give anyone walking in, walk right back out.

  3. The most important thing a financial advisor can give you is a financial plan. Make sure any services package a financial advisor proposes starts with a personalized financial plan.

Questions to Ask Your Financial Advisor

  • Are you a fiduciary?
  • What are your credentials?
  • How are you compensated for your services?
  • Do you specialize in any services?
  • Can you coordinate your financial advice with tax planning?
  • What is your philosophy of or approach to financial planning?
  • How often will we connect with each other?
  • Will I always connect with you or with a member of your team?
  • If I need additional services, can you offer them or recommend trusted partners?
  • How do you measure success?

Selecting a Financial Advisor

​Finding a financial planner lets you start the exciting and rewarding process of creating a financial plan calibrated just for you and your personal financial goals. Abstract ideas become an action plan. You have specific instructions and ways to mark your progress. You know how to ask for help and when to ask for changes or adjustments. And you can finally see the big picture—not only where you are today, but where you want to go.
CONTACT A FINANCIAL PLANNER AT OAK STREET ADVISORS

Is your advisor really a fiduciary?

6/26/2018

 
Picture
The Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule has died in the courtroom. The Insured Retirement Institute and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association along with the Chamber of Commerce brought suit to protect the financial service companies who would prefer not to act as your fiduciary partner. After a three-judge panel ruled the DOL had exceeded their authority the DOL chose not to appeal the ruling. Despite 17 states and the AARP’s pleas to be allowed to continue the case the 5th circuit court denied their request, leaving investors once again on their own to determine who they can trust with their life savings. 

To make matters worse, the SEC has proposed new rules that provides cover to those not willing to act as a fiduciary. They call it the “Regulation” Best Interest rule. Best interest sounds much like fiduciary to most folks, but as with many things written by attorneys it might not mean what you think it means.
 
While the Regulation Best Interest is an improvement over the suitability standard, the name alone is deceptive. Unlike the fiduciary standard that has a long history of common law and case law definition, ‘best interest’ is undefined and subject to future court rulings to grow the teeth needed to provide needed protections.
 
The SEC proposal also requires both brokers and advisors to provide a four-page disclosure document to help define how they will behave in the client relationship. It seems to me a simple check a box form would be clearer and simpler for all parties. One box would say, “yes, I will always act as a fiduciary in our relationship” and the other would simply say “No, I will not act as a fiduciary at all times”.

A rose is a rose is a rose, unless we are talking about your retirement nest egg, then it’s more “buyer beware”.

Lawsuit Challenging DOL Fiduciary Rule Filed

6/3/2016

 
Picture
Here are the people who do not think advisors should be held to a fiduciary standard:

SIFMA – Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. View their members here.

FSI – Financial Service Institute. FSI is comprised of financial advisor members and broker-dealers. You can learn more about this group here.
​
IRI – Insured Retirement Institute. IRI is the only association that represents the entire supply chain of insured retirement strategies (read annuities). On the web at http://www.irionline.org/home

Financial Services Roundtable - FSR members include the leading banking, insurance, asset management, finance and credit card companies in America. You can view their membership here.

Like the meatpacking industry depicted in Upton Sinclair’s novel The Jungle, these trade associations would have your retirement left open to Wall Street greed rather than cleaned up with the financial services version of the Meat Inspection Act.

They believe putting you, the client’s interest first would not be a good idea.  Hmm...

Are All Index Funds the Same?

4/27/2016

 
Picture
Where do you draw the line for ethical behavior and corporate greed?  This weekend I saw an online article about expense ratios and index funds that claimed there were funds that do nothing more than track the S&P 500 Index, yet charge investors fees greater than 1% to do so.  I have a license for the Morningstar database so I checked for myself today.

I was amazed. A scan for S&P tracking funds returned 160 funds, now Morningstar counts each share class as a separate fund so the real number is a bit less, but the spread of gross prospectus expense ratios was eye opening.

The expense ratios ranged from a low of .01% (that is one basis point) for the Vanguard 500 Index Institutional Select to a high of 2.35% for the Rydex S&P 500 Class C share.

Now you should know that managing an index fund is a no brainer.  The stocks you own should be the same stock in the same weightings as the index that is published by Standard and Poor.  It should be easy enough for a computer program to handle without much human input. And other than expenses all these funds are the same.  It is a commodity and one index fund should logically be a perfect replacement for any other index fund, just as one bushel of wheat should be a perfect replacement for any other bushel of wheat.

So how can Rydex justify those charges? And although Rydex is the most expensive I see Nuveen Equity Index C at 1.46% State Farm S&P 500 Index B at 1.44%, Wells Fargo Index B at 1.38%.  This is nuts.  If you own any of these funds you should fire your broker.  The SPY SPDR S&P 500 Exchange Traded Fund is available for all brokerage firms to purchase and has a gross expense ratio of just 0.11% (11 basis points).  How can anyone justify paying 10 times that for what should be an identical product?

But where do you draw the line? Or is there no line because no one is looking?


Picture

Will You Be My Fiduciary?

2/10/2015

 
NAPFA - the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has a straightforward look at accepting the mantle of a fiduciary advisor.  This pledge applies to all members.  How about your advisor?

The advisor shall exercise his/her best efforts to act in good faith and in the best interests of the client.

The advisor shall provide written disclosure to the client prior to the engagement of the advisor, and thereafter throughout the term of the engagement, of any conflicts of interest, which will or reasonably may compromise the impartiality or independence of the advisor.
 
The advisor, or any party in which the advisor has a financial interest, does not receive any compensation or other remuneration that is contingent on any client's purchase or sale of a financial product.

The advisor does not receive a fee or other compensation from another party based on the referral of a client or the client's business.

Following the NAPFA Fiduciary Oath means I shall:

 
* Always act in good faith and with candor.
* Be proactive in disclosing any conflicts of interest that may impact a client.
* Not accept any referral fees or compensation contingent upon the purchase or sale of a financial product.
 
Signed this _____ of ________________
________________________________
NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor


A Sample Fiduciary Pledge

11/19/2014

 
Seldom have I read a blog post that I wish I could share with the entire world, but Tara Siegel Bernard, writing on 'Bucks' over at the New York Times just laid one down that I have to share with you. Her post titled 'Will You Be My Fiduciary' and the article that she wrote to go along with it deserve your attention. Tara posts a simple fiduciary pledge that you can at least use to start an important conversation with your advisor. While many wont sign it and some have legitimate reasons for not signing, it gives you a chance to learn why and have a hard conversation about what is in your best interests. I've posted the pledge below, but please read Tara's entire post here.

The Fiduciary Pledge

I, the undersigned, pledge to exercise my best efforts to always act in good faith and in the best interests of my client, _______, and will act as a fiduciary. I will provide written disclosure, in advance, of any conflicts of interest, which could reasonably compromise the impartiality of my advice. Moreover, in advance, I will disclose any and all fees I will receive as a result of this transaction and I will disclose any and all fees I pay to others for referring this client transaction to me. This pledge covers all services provided.

X________________________________

Date______________________________

    Archives

    April 2025
    February 2025
    September 2024
    April 2024
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    401k
    403b
    529 Plans
    Annuities
    Behavioral Economics
    Bonds
    Budget
    Charity
    College Planning
    Credit
    Credit Cards
    Crypto Currency
    Debt
    Economics
    Estate Planning
    Federal Reserve
    Fiduciary
    Financial Planning
    Goals
    Gold
    HSA
    Income Tax
    Income Tax Planning
    Insurance
    Interest Rates
    Investing
    Investments Expenses
    IRA
    Jobs
    Life Insurance
    Real Estate
    Retirement
    Retirement Income
    Risk
    Rollover
    Roth IRA
    Savings
    Social Security
    Special Needs
    Stocks

    RSS Feed

Photos from archer10 (Dennis) 162M Views, Philip Taylor PT, mikecohen1872, cafecredit
  • HOME
  • SERVICES
    • Financial Planning
    • Tax Planning
    • Fiduciary Investment Management
    • Small Business Planning >
      • Business Retirement Plan Advisory
  • ABOUT US
    • WHAT IS A FEE ONLY ADVISOR?
    • FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
    • OUR TEAM
  • SCHEDULE AN INTRO CALL
  • BLOG
    • BLOG
  • CONTACT A FINANCIAL PLANNER
  • FORM ADV PART 2
  • IS A ROTH IRA RIGHT FOR YOU?