Unless you have a degree in finance, you are probably not a financial expert.  So how does the everyday person like you plan your financial future with little or no knowledge of investing?

This is the very problem I have been trying to figure out for years.  About six years ago we invested some money at a large nationally known financial company that had local offices.  We rolled my 401K into an IRA and created two other accounts with some money we wanted to invest.  We had great ideas about what our “guy” would do for us.

But it didn’t happen.  We actually didn’t hear from that guy again until he sent out a letter saying he was leaving the company and the “new guy” would handle our accounts.  And to make a long story short, we never heard from that guy either, nor did we initiate any appointments.

Early this year, I decided we needed a new approach, one that would encompass not only the money we were investing, but the money we were not investing — for two very busy people.

I hired a financial planner, and through him found out that most people do not start planning for their financial future until they are nearing retirement age. [Yikes!]

Neither I, nor my husband is near retirement, and we are thankful we found “right guy” to keep us on the right track.  He actually makes appointments every few months to sit down at our dining room table and discuss our goals, how we’re doing, and what we need to do better.

I look forward to our meetings and feel so much better about how we are doing financially.  He helps us with all aspects of finance including:  our 401Ks (through our employers), our IRAs (through him), our 529 College funds for the kids (through the state), our savings, our current investments, our taxes, and much more. 

You may be wondering if he is expensive.  We don’t pay him directly.  He earns his money through the sales and commissions.   (Commission-based advisors do not collect any fees directly from their clients. However, they do receive commissions from the companies which provide the financial products the advisor sells to you.) And this all came from rolling our previous investments into companies he uses.

This is a win-win situation and I could not suggest anything better to make a greater impact in your financial life!  Start early and THINK BIG!

Our advisor is someone my family as known for 20+ years and whom has handled my parent’s finanical affairs with a very positive outcome through retirement.  I would highly suggest doing some checking if you are looking for a financial advisor and don’t know about their track record.