Fidelity is top notch. Have some money in the others. But way more hassle and clunky.
*Investors Blog*
- Thread starter Warstud
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Yeah I was going to say they never tried that on me. Did you ask about an annuity?
That's why I left. I trusted my rep with serious money. He sold me down the road for a fat commission.
There are good annunities and bad annunities. Mine is a one of the better ones, according to Schwab. I asked them to review my portfolio.
Again, it is my money and my responsibility. But I was sold a bill of goods so I took my money and ran. I got a call afterwards asking what happened, they were not happy about losing me.
Do I sound mad? There's a reason for it.
I still don't quite understand why you decided to buy it in the first place?? Did they lie to you?
In a nutshell, I had a boatload of options from an award for a project I completed at work. We diversified part of it, which made sense. One of the products they sold me was the annunity. Let's just say way more than $100K. I trusted my rep's guidance.
In all honesty, I did not understand what it was. My bad, but still. That was a long time ago.
I also brought them several new clients. I was a good client. Now I am no longer their client. When my rep called me afterwards, with his tail between his legs, and asked me why I left, I asked him why he sold me the annunity. He said, "Well, it hasn't done much but it will..."
Schwab is far better. Far better. We argue about things. They will explain things. We have broken down my portfolio into the "Schwab Wealth Advisory" and my self directed accounts. We discuss both.
I'm still mad.
Unfortunately some advisors will see $$$$ balance of account and swoop in like a vulture and sell their client crap investments. Like I said before….. this industry has lots of crooks so be very careful.
*** Full Disclosure ***
Last year I lost $80K, it could have been less (maybe $50K) if I was patient a waited for things to pan out.
Luckily I made a lot more so the loss of $80K really didn’t matter that much. If a financial advisor had lost the same amount of money I would be very annoyed and in a bad mood.
My nephew is working on getting his securities licenses to become an Ameriprise financial advisor, he is currently working with his uncle that owns an Ameriprise office (franchise). I told my brother when he gets his licenses and can finally start handling clients money he has to be VERY, VERY, VERY careful.
Some people will go berserk if you lose a big chunk of their nest egg. You can’t tell your client to “calm down things will rebound”…… and their portfolio drops another 30-40%.
I’m thinking about being his first ‘client’ just to see what he does and how he manages my money. LOL
It might be an awkward Thanksgiving dinner if he loses most of my $100K seed money.
*** Full Disclosure ***
Last year I lost $80K, it could have been less (maybe $50K) if I was patient a waited for things to pan out.
Luckily I made a lot more so the loss of $80K really didn’t matter that much. If a financial advisor had lost the same amount of money I would be very annoyed and in a bad mood.
My nephew is working on getting his securities licenses to become an Ameriprise financial advisor, he is currently working with his uncle that owns an Ameriprise office (franchise). I told my brother when he gets his licenses and can finally start handling clients money he has to be VERY, VERY, VERY careful.
Some people will go berserk if you lose a big chunk of their nest egg. You can’t tell your client to “calm down things will rebound”…… and their portfolio drops another 30-40%.
I’m thinking about being his first ‘client’ just to see what he does and how he manages my money. LOL
It might be an awkward Thanksgiving dinner if he loses most of my $100K seed money.
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I have no dog in this fight, no allegiance to Fidelity beyond they have good products and customer service, and I think Schwab is just as good, but I still don't understand why you blame "Fidelity". They have many branches with lots of advisors - same with Schwab - and some of those advisors will be good, most will be average, and some will be bad but that's also true for Schwab. Fidelity isn't bad, THAT advisor was bad. I know a few people who use Fidelity advisors and there have never been any issues. That said, that advisor is a representative of Fidelity as a whole and when he does something shady it makes the entire establishment look shady.
For people reading this, I would hate for them to think this is a common Fidelity issue and avoid them...I like their products and website and customer service and they are no Edward Jones.
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Absolutely Fidelity used to contact me. I had a few meetings with the advisors. They never tried to sell me anything. Not once. They politely said I had some risky investments and advised the old stock-bond strategy (this was something like ~2017 the last time). I don't think the girl really knew the true meaning of diversification. Anyway I politely said no thanks and if I need their services I will contact them. At least 5 years later, silence still.
Also Vanguard, Schwab and IBKR have not really bugged me either to be fair. All companies that have respected my wishes so far. As I stated, I just find Fidelity easier for my pea brain to handle multiple accounts.
Also Vanguard, Schwab and IBKR have not really bugged me either to be fair. All companies that have respected my wishes so far. As I stated, I just find Fidelity easier for my pea brain to handle multiple accounts.
I am not saying all Fidelity reps are bad. I am saying I believe my rep sold me a product that padded his pocket and was not in my best interest. And I bet just about every other rep would say the same thing.
Once bitten twice shy.
No, I know, but you said SCHWAB was far better than Fidelity, not Brian is far better than Matt. My point is it was the rep, not the company that is was the problem.
Well, yes and no. I had one rep with Fidelity. Schwab uses the team approach if you have the Wealth Advisory. They offered, out of the blue, to evaluate the Fidelity annunity and deemed it "a good one". I even received income tax consultation when I had a windfall. This was not your everyday tax preparer; this was someone who had their own team to provide tax preparation for the people with serious coin. Another team advised me about strategies to help my grandniece's college planning. All part of the package.
In my case, the difference is night and day. That's my experience.
OPEC+ announces surprise oil cuts, while U.S. calls the move inadvisable
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers on Sunday announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day.
www.cnbc.com
Is this good or bad for the USA ?
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Will they actually cut production? They often say they will, but don't. Also, Russia crude shipments have been way down this year already - so the "cut" may simply account for the fact that Russia can't get their crude out anyway - so there trying to make hay with it while they can.OPEC+ announces surprise oil cuts, while U.S. calls the move inadvisable
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers on Sunday announced further oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day.
Is this good or bad for the USA ?
Falling prices for energy were one of the reasons the fed slowed interest rate increases, so if gas goes up much I would expect more fed hikes, which generically are bad, but so is inflation.
Either way, lower supply of commodities are generally bad. Good for me maybe - I own a few oil stocks.
Sorry to bring back Friday's topic of interest, but these discussions are good to soothe one's own decisions.
For anyone visiting this discussion, it is imperative that you look at individual experiences as just a single data point, not necessarily the norm. Several people have countered JeffKeryk's bad Fidelity experience with good experiences. I don't have enough knowledge to self manage my retirement portfolio. I somewhat, very cautiously trust the idea of fiduciary.
I have TIAA-CREF - about 45% of my portfolio in guaranteed (annuity) and 55% in investments. 5 years ago I read Dave Ramsey and listened to (many) others, and developed "buyers remorse". I studied my options in depth and met with Fidelity, Schwab, and independent advisors. I stayed the course with TIAA and am very satisfied.
My annuity/investment plan suits MY SITUATION very well. That's the take home advice. Become your own self advocate for investment management and view these discussions as very anecdotal. Every person, every situation is unique. My best old man mentoring advice to young new hires is to meet with their chosen plan advisor at least annually. Many have the same template (or should) - they evaluate your life plans/situation, evaluate your risk tolerance, and help you choose, manage, and adjust plans to meet your goals.
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McDonald's closes corporate offices as it lays off hundreds of workers
McDonald's had said in January that it would cut jobs as part of a broader restructuring.
www.cnbc.com
McDonalds is on my buy list of companies I like.
I heard every McD is independently owned and there are strict rules to follow when buying your own resterauntMcDonald's closes corporate offices as it lays off hundreds of workers
McDonald's had said in January that it would cut jobs as part of a broader restructuring.
McDonalds is on my buy list of companies I like.
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Mcdonalds owns a lot of the properties, and leases most of them back to individual franchisees. They also make money from franchise fees and selling crap to the restaurants. McDonalds generally does well in a downturn because they sell cheap food - at least in the US, but there is also a huge commercial real estate angle to it. I know this only because way back when I met some McDonalds corporate people at a convention type thing.
I generally don't invest in restaurants - I consider them like retail, and I know nothing about what drives a stock.
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