I am constantly reading questions for investment advice on this site. Most of the time the people giving the answers don't have all of the information necessary to give advice, are not qualified to give advice, and then give bad advice. Yet people are willing to take this advice and go "do it themself" and pay $6 for a trade that will eventually lose them thousands of dollars.
Why is the climate so anti - financial advisor? Obviously people want advice, that's why Cramer is so popular and sites like this. When is it worth it to pay for financial advice? Can a financial professional add value to your investment plan?
2006-12-07 17:16:05 · 7 answers · asked by Steve 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Investing
I agree. People need to be very careful about advice they get on the web.
There may be bum financial planners out there, but there's a lot more bum know-nothings on here. Disagree with first posters statement that "most financial planners are..." ....more acurately, most *bad* financial planners are just trying to sell you specific goods they have access to and business partnerships with. A *good* financial planner is just that. Experienced and knowledgable about all of the options someone in your situation has before them and will be able to help you come up with goals that are realistic for you. There's always a lot of "do-it-yourself" when it comes to finances, but there is simply too much to know to take on the whole burden of finding the right solution/investment all by yourself.
2006-12-08 16:05:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
People think that they can do it themselves by asking others which is a fallacy. i have not seen any professional asking for advice on yahoo answers. The public thinks that just by asking a question they will get the right answer. They will seek professional advice after they have had some hard knocks.
Finance professionals come in various types like CFA, CMT, CMA, CPA etc. Most people do not know their value and hence do not engage them. A good professional can make a lot of difference to your profits. It is worth paying if your profits are more than the cost of advice.
2006-12-08 04:51:38 · answer #2 · answered by StraightDrive 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why pay for advice when you can go to http://www.Top10Traders.com (a totally free site) and see what the best traders are buying and selling? If a financial advisor is worth paying for, then he/she should have an account at top10traders that shows that they have made superior returns compared to other investors.
http://www.top10traders.com is a free site that lets you create a portfolio of stocks with $100,000 in "play" money. Each day the site ranks the best performing portfolios, so you can see how your picks perform compared to other investors. You can also read posts on investing from the best traders, as well as share your own investing ideas.
Here are this month's best traders:
http://www.top10traders.com/Top10Standings.aspx
2006-12-08 13:36:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a point there. Do it yourself option is extremely limited by your own expertise. Can you imagine a world where we only go to Yahoo Answers for professional advice- like....
"How should I extract my molar?" or "Need taxes amended due to risky stock loss"?
The true die-hard do it yourselfer will do anything to avoid hiring a professional if there's any chance to get around it.
I was a service writer at an auto repair shop (many years ago) & you wouldn't believe the # of guys who called to STOP my technician from the paying customer job to PLEASE tell him step by step how to locate & remove his starter etc.
Yeah buddy, we hire these guys & send 'em to expensive training classes & buy all these shop manuals just so we can have 'em sitting by the phone in case you (the shade tree mechanic) can't figure it out for yourself!
I actually said that once. It wasn't nice but it's true.
2006-12-07 17:43:21 · answer #4 · answered by upside down 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most financial advisers are actually only sales professionals. They only have access to a family of investments or mutual funds that they will receive a commission from. So, if they are going to receive a commission, Why should i pay them a fee just to find out what products they have to offer.
When I go to purchase a new car, they don't charge me a fee to test drive their product.
lol
2006-12-07 17:33:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The best things in life are free. But when that best thing is threatened by something, seek a professional/expert for advise, even if it means paying him/her.
2006-12-09 00:32:57 · answer #6 · answered by denxxchua 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You infer it is wrong to seek free investment advice ... and then you proceed and ask for exactly what you say is wrong to do!
Somebody call the irony police.
2006-12-07 17:35:29 · answer #7 · answered by West Coaster 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋