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Would you dump this financial planner?

LiteBright

Critical Thinker
Joined
Apr 9, 2024
Messages
253
I've worked with my financial planner for more than a decade now and always been satisfied with her work. Returns have always been equal or better to the relevant indexes so I have been more or less happy.

She was also managing my mothers finances and once did me a huge favour in bending a rule of her profession to alert me to my mother potentially being defrauded by a live in caregiver. I was grateful for that as it saved my mother losing her savings (which she eventually did anyway but that's another story). My brother uses her services also.

But red flags have started to pop up repeatedly.
-She went through a difficult divorce and was uncommunicative for several months which concerned me but I chalked it up to her going through a difficult period in her life and let it slide.
-Over the next few months she was still intermittently out of touch and always seemed to have another excuse. Her cell phone died, her brother had a brain aneuryism, etc etc. I started to get concerned.
-Then finally we arranged a meeting almost 18 months after we had last met. She insisted on coming to my home rather than meeting at her office. This was new and I got a little suspicious so I asked my brother to swing by her office (its near his home) and he told me her sign was still there but it was locked up on a weekday. Her receptionist and assistant were nowhere to be found. He also told me that she had been giving him excuses as well and they were different from what she was telling me. She had a new beau in the US, dog required surgery etc etc.
-When she showed up at my home she was driving a brand new Corvette. Very out of character for her. I asked her about it and she told me that she got some money in her divorce and decided to live a little. Ok maybe she is having a little mid-life crisis, it happens.
-Then after our meeting she asked me if I ever listen to Joe Rogan's podcast and went on gushing about how smart and amazing he is. Uh oh, major red flag. I told her that I didn't and I thought Rogan was an imbecile and I would never listen to someone who would give Alex Jones a platform. Then she started in about Alex Jones and how he was controversial but being unfairly suppressed. I said no, Jones is not controversial, he is horrible human being, period. Now I am getting deeply concerned.

Over the past 2 weeks I have been researching and I can't find any online complaint or negative reviews of her. Her license appears to be in good standing and the fund companies she represents all have her still listed as an authorized dealer. I also verified that my money is all present and safe where it should be.

I don't want to dump her lightly after having such a long and productive relationship but on the other hand, the changes in character and behavior she has exhibited over the past 2 years are very odd. She is managing my retirement savings and I don't want to find out one day she has put them into some crypto scheme (rogancoin?). I think its fair to question the judgment of anyone who thinks Joe Rogan and Alex Jones are intelligent and the endless excuses as to why she hasn't been returning calls sound very phony.

Am I overreacting here or should I be looking for a new planner? All opinions appreciated.
 
joe rogan is a dishonest, greedy bitch and i hate him. alex jones i actually kind of like. but, whatever, these guys have fans. that said, i think all the other stuff is more legitimately worrying than the joe rogan part.
 
Definitely look for a new planner. Loads of red flags there, and not just the Rogan/Jones stuff. Financial planners are supposed to give you peace of mind.
Thats a good way of thinking about it. If I'm laying awake at night wondering if my planner is doing me dirty, its time to find a new one regardless of what might actually be going on.
 
She might not be able to do something with your money if you've specified your tolerance for risk and disclosed your knowledge of investing so you should be safe there. She maybe transitioning to a work from home format and ditching the office/receptionist rent which would easily pay to lease a new Corvette and doesn't want people coming to her house because she has 6 cats or lives in squalor.

18 month is a long time though, bordering on negligent which might be related to the value of your fund relative to the others she manages. If you're feeling uneasy though, shop around.

My advisor went a little weird in the two years before he retired last year. Trips to Europe to see The Weekend (whoever that is) and some guy named Drake. I just kept my eye in the bottom line and his number on speed dial. Still haven't met my new guy yet, it's been 4 months since he took over and if I don't hear from him early in the new year, I'm going to start shopping around.
 
She is managing my retirement savings and I don't want to find out one day she has put them into some crypto scheme (rogancoin?). I think its fair to question the judgment of anyone who thinks Joe Rogan and Alex Jones are intelligent and the endless excuses as to why she hasn't been returning calls sound very phony.

Am I overreacting here or should I be looking for a new planner? All opinions appreciated.
I could give a flying flip what my financial advisor's political views are for the same reason I don't care what the political views are of the waitress who waits on me, the guy who works on my car, or my barber. It has zero to do with how good they are at whatever I expect them to be good at, which is all I care about.

That said, she sounds like an odd duck and it's extremely odd (not to mention stupid and rude) to go on about one's political views uninvited, esp with someone who isn't family or a friend. Bottom line, if you're not comfortable with the situation, you can certainly find someone else. Or you can say all future meetings will be at her office and you don't care to talk politics. If she balks, go elsewhere.

And really I would never allow someone to make any moves in my portfolio but me. Advise me and if it sounds good, I'll do it. My advisor has given me advice which frankly I've found mixed over the years, including turning over my entire portfolio to Fidelity (for whom he works) to manage sight unseen for I believe 1% of my portfolio's value. Pass
 
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Plenty of bright red flags, on fire, with rockets, spotlights and sparklers. And it doesn't matter if this person has been managing your finances for decades or minutes. This is a professional business, you are not their psychoanalyst. As the Roganists say, ◊◊◊◊ their feelings.

Given their poor analysis and decision-making skills re Rogan and Jones today, I would be making active efforts to end this relationship forthwith and switch to a much more reputable advisor you are comfortable with immediately if not sooner. Or, since you seem competent enough about this anyway, resuming your business affairs fully under your own control, i.e. a self-managed portfolio. That would certainly cost you less, at least.

Good luck!
 
I'll bite: what does this person liking Rogan/Jones have to do with their analysis and decision-making skills re. finances?
Both Rogan and Jones are massive and unscrupulous grifters. They prey on people like this advisor, who fall under their "spell" and start believing what they say. The unsolicited spiels and rapidly declining business operations suggests strongly this is well under way.

At the very least, she will be susceptible to crapulous financial advice from them both, e.g. Jones' worthless vitamin and bug-out products.

At the very worst, LiteBrite's finances (and other clients' finances for that matter) could be at risk of unrecoverable loss, being silently diverted to these grifters' wallets.

In summary, she is now a massive risk for LiteBrite's future financial wellbeing. He is better off a long way away from her and them as soon as possible.

But I also don't know why I would need to spell this out. Isn't this a skeptic's forum??
 
Why? Because you're suggesting this person switch advisors solely due to said advisor's political opinions, which is IMO foolish, that's why. The advisor as far as we know has not said anything about her financial advice being based even a little on that. If she does, then yes, I agree, don't walk but run in the other direction. But I repeat: if. On the other hand, if this advisor continues to provide sound financial advice, especially since the OP stated the advisor has done so for many years, then disregard the political BS and be glad for sound advice. The OP could certainly ask for more transparency from the advisor on where and how her portfolio is being managed, although I would hope that is the case already.
 
Why? Because you're suggesting this person switch advisors solely due to said advisor's political opinions, which is IMO foolish, that's why. The advisor as far as we know has not said anything about her financial advice being based even a little on that. If she does, then yes, I agree, don't walk but run in the other direction. But I repeat: if. On the other hand, if this advisor continues to provide sound financial advice, especially since the OP stated the advisor has done so for many years, then disregard the political BS and be glad for sound advice. The OP could certainly ask for more transparency from the advisor on where and how her portfolio is being managed, although I would hope that is the case already.
On my planet, if my financial adviser started, say, touting the benefits of a daytime heroin habit, even if they provided great advice so far, I would no longer trust them any further than I could roll them with my left hand. Financial advice is all about trust. The way they conduct their business builds or erodes that trust.
 
Why? Because you're suggesting this person switch advisors solely due to said advisor's political opinions, which is IMO foolish, that's why. The advisor as far as we know has not said anything about her financial advice being based even a little on that. If she does, then yes, I agree, don't walk but run in the other direction. But I repeat: if. On the other hand, if this advisor continues to provide sound financial advice, especially since the OP stated the advisor has done so for many years, then disregard the political BS and be glad for sound advice. The OP could certainly ask for more transparency from the advisor on where and how her portfolio is being managed, although I would hope that is the case already.
as an aside, this is how joe rogan's, and people like him, get out of jail free card works. the post you're responding to accuses him of being an unscrupulous grifter and says nothing about his political opinions. although joe rogan basically hosts a pretty famous political podcast and on that podcast he insists people just don't like him because of his political opinions, so people latch onto that and say it must be because the woke. when in reality it's the years of lying and hypocrisy, and disrespect for his audience, that people are upset about. but because he frames it as illegitimate criticism of his political beliefs, that stuff never gets addressed. tucker carlson does the same thing.

but i guess where this comes into play is that if a person can't see that people like joe rogan are exploiting the benefit of the doubt they're given by people that do agree with their political opinions, and falls for the scam, is whether or not it's fair to question if your money would be safe with such a person.

like i said earlier, there's bigger fish to fry. but anyone that listens to rogan and buys into the woke mind virus and they only hate me because i'm telling the truth crap he pushes for hours every week should, fairly, have their grasp on reality questioned.
 
I've worked with my financial planner for more than a decade now and always been satisfied with her work. Returns have always been equal or better to the relevant indexes so I have been more or less happy.

She was also managing my mothers finances and once did me a huge favour in bending a rule of her profession to alert me to my mother potentially being defrauded by a live in caregiver. I was grateful for that as it saved my mother losing her savings (which she eventually did anyway but that's another story). My brother uses her services also.

But red flags have started to pop up repeatedly.
-She went through a difficult divorce and was uncommunicative for several months which concerned me but I chalked it up to her going through a difficult period in her life and let it slide.
-Over the next few months she was still intermittently out of touch and always seemed to have another excuse. Her cell phone died, her brother had a brain aneuryism, etc etc. I started to get concerned.
-Then finally we arranged a meeting almost 18 months after we had last met. She insisted on coming to my home rather than meeting at her office. This was new and I got a little suspicious so I asked my brother to swing by her office (its near his home) and he told me her sign was still there but it was locked up on a weekday. Her receptionist and assistant were nowhere to be found. He also told me that she had been giving him excuses as well and they were different from what she was telling me. She had a new beau in the US, dog required surgery etc etc.
-When she showed up at my home she was driving a brand new Corvette. Very out of character for her. I asked her about it and she told me that she got some money in her divorce and decided to live a little. Ok maybe she is having a little mid-life crisis, it happens.
-Then after our meeting she asked me if I ever listen to Joe Rogan's podcast and went on gushing about how smart and amazing he is. Uh oh, major red flag. I told her that I didn't and I thought Rogan was an imbecile and I would never listen to someone who would give Alex Jones a platform. Then she started in about Alex Jones and how he was controversial but being unfairly suppressed. I said no, Jones is not controversial, he is horrible human being, period. Now I am getting deeply concerned.

Over the past 2 weeks I have been researching and I can't find any online complaint or negative reviews of her. Her license appears to be in good standing and the fund companies she represents all have her still listed as an authorized dealer. I also verified that my money is all present and safe where it should be.

I don't want to dump her lightly after having such a long and productive relationship but on the other hand, the changes in character and behavior she has exhibited over the past 2 years are very odd. She is managing my retirement savings and I don't want to find out one day she has put them into some crypto scheme (rogancoin?). I think its fair to question the judgment of anyone who thinks Joe Rogan and Alex Jones are intelligent and the endless excuses as to why she hasn't been returning calls sound very phony.

Am I overreacting here or should I be looking for a new planner? All opinions appreciated.
At the very least, I'd be looking to do as full an audit as I can regarding her management of your funds over the last while.

There are definitely concerning signs, especially her utterances re Junes who runs multiple scams at any one time.
 
And really I would never allow someone to make any moves in my portfolio but me. Advise me and if it sounds good, I'll do it.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Is this person managing your money, or just providing advice and doing the paperwork for whatever you decide to do? I guess I don't have enough money to bother paying anybody to do anything with it, I just do it all myself.
 
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Is this person managing your money, or just providing advice and doing the paperwork for whatever you decide to do? I guess I don't have enough money to bother paying anybody to do anything with it, I just do it all myself.
My advisor can't/won't do a thing without my say so. He can make suggestions, which I go along with because that's why I pay him the big bucks. If I decide I want to do something, I can do it by telephone but there's always that risk tolerance to take into consideration and if I suggest something I heard "from this guy" or read online I expect to be told "if you want to do that, then you need to come into the office and sign some papers"
 
Had almost the exact same experience with an accountant doing my wife's personal and business finances. We tried being nice, put up with her divorce-related personal crisis, the absences, the errors, unusual meeting venues, but then the notice of intent to prosecute came in the mail, and we discovered the serious negligence and falsehoods in her filings. Her work was in massive disarray, filings late, demand letters suppressed, and that's when you realise how much of your life is in their hands. It wasn't nice letting her go (yep, she cried and pleaded) but could have gone very, very badly had it continued.
 
Thanks all for the thoughtful responses.

As far as the Rogan/Jones stuff goes...I would agree that someone's political leanings shouldn't matter as long as they are up to the job. But this is not just a matter of political differences. These people are serious purveyors of mis/disinformation and if her judgement is so badly off that she thinks they are actually intelligent commentators, then where else is her judgement off? And what other disinformation is she consuming that may inform her investment recommendations?

If she were singing the praises of William F Buckley I wouldn't care. Conversely, I would be concerned if she were singing the praises of some left wing disinfo source.

I am a small business owner and as such, I am steeped in the financial aspects of my particular industry but far too busy to understand the market as a whole. I need someone who can handle that for me. She does not make any changes to my portfolio without my say so, she merely recommends how the portfolio should be tweaked and I either agree or disagree. I suppose the bigger problem is that in her nearly 2 years of dodging my phone calls, she hasn't made a single recommendation at all which may be just as bad. My portfolio is exactly the same as it was 2 years ago which I doubt would be the case if I had a more involved planner.

As it stands now, I have left her 3 messages in the past month without a return call. I am going to give her until early Jan to call me back. If she does, I will have a frank talk with her to try and find out what is going on. If she doesn't I will move my money.
 
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Had almost the exact same experience with an accountant doing my wife's personal and business finances. We tried being nice, put up with her divorce-related personal crisis, the absences, the errors, unusual meeting venues, but then the notice of intent to prosecute came in the mail, and we discovered the serious negligence and falsehoods in her filings. Her work was in massive disarray, filings late, demand letters suppressed, and that's when you realise how much of your life is in their hands. It wasn't nice letting her go (yep, she cried and pleaded) but could have gone very, very badly had it continued.
That's the thing. Putting your financial business, and thus your personal peace-of-mind, in their hands creates a fairly personal relationship. But this is based on trust. Trust they will do the right things. If they break that trust, that creates a big problem in this personal relationship. But they are not family or close friends. So if they try to treat the relationship as though it is, that needs to be stopped.
 
Thanks all for the thoughtful responses.

As far as the Rogan/Jones stuff goes...I would agree that someone's political leanings shouldn't matter as long as they are up to the job. But this is not just a matter of political differences. These people are serious purveyors of mis/disinformation and if her judgement is so badly off that she thinks they are actually intelligent commentators, then where else is her judgement off? And what other disinformation is she consuming that may inform her investment recommendations?

I am a small business owner and as such, I am steeped in the financial aspects of my particular industry but far too busy to understand the market as a whole. I need someone who can handle that for me. She does not make any changes to my portfolio without my say so, she merely recommends how the portfolio should be tweaked and I either agree or disagree. I suppose the bigger problem is that in her nearly 2 years of dodging my phone calls, she hasn't made a single recommendation at all which may be just as bad. My portfolio is exactly the same as it was 2 years ago which I doubt would be the case if I had a more involved planner. As it stands now, I have left her 3 messages in the past month without a return call. I am going to give her until early Jan to call me back. If she does, I will have a frank talk with her to try and find out what is going on. If she doesn't I will move my money.
Can I suggest she has already failed to do her job for the last 24 months and so her services need to be terminated forthwith. If you have already given her some warnings, I would not even be trying to find out what is going on with her, Rogan and Jones aside. You have been paying her for what seems to be no perceivable benefit to you and your business. Paying her is your money wasted. Find another planner ASAP, ensure your finances are secured from her access, and in January, the frank talk with her should be quite brief: goodbye full stop.
 
At the risk of being laughed at by all the millionaires here: do you really need to make changes to your portfolio often? Why not just dump what you have into index funds and let it ride?
 
At the risk of being laughed at by all the millionaires here: do you really need to make changes to your portfolio often? Why not just dump what you have into index funds and let it ride?
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At the risk of being laughed at by all the millionaires here: do you really need to make changes to your portfolio often? Why not just dump what you have into index funds and let it ride?
They tell me I do. Every six months. I go in and see a giant screen filles with graphs and if they suggest we sell this and buy that, I just nod my head in agreement. I'll being up index funds when I meet with new guy in the new year.
 
As it stands now, I have left her 3 messages in the past month without a return call. I am going to give her until early Jan to call me back. If she does, I will have a frank talk with her to try and find out what is going on. If she doesn't I will move my money.

How much control does she actually have over your money? If she is able to make trades etc without your authorization; if your assets are held in your name by her company, etc; do something RIGHT NOW! Your accounts may be drained by early January. If they are not already.
 
At the risk of being laughed at by all the millionaires here: do you really need to make changes to your portfolio often? Why not just dump what you have into index funds and let it ride?

Not often but a few times a year depending on what is going on in the world.

There is an ongoing argument about whether passive or active management is a better strategy in the long term. Active management costs more long term in fees whereas passive management is much cheaper. So the question becomes does active management make enough difference to overcome its higher costs. People like Warren Buffet can seriously outperform indexes but we normies do not have access to the kind of data and analysis that he does.

I'm not smart enough to have a solid opinion on that but my gut feel is that active is better if done right. Over the past 15 years my portfolio has out-performed the relevant indexes in most years so that's one vote for active management even if my particular manager has turned into a dud.
 
How much control does she actually have over your money? If she is able to make trades etc without your authorization; if your assets are held in your name by her company, etc; do something RIGHT NOW! Your accounts may be drained by early January. If they are not already.

As far as I understand she cannot make any changes without my authorization. But its not like anyone is checking signatures so it wouldn't be that hard for her move money fraudulently if she has truly gone criminal. She could probably manage it and by the time I became aware, the money could be gone. I don't have any reason to believe she has though.
 
Can I suggest she has already failed to do her job for the last 24 months and so her services need to be terminated forthwith. If you have already given her some warnings, I would not even be trying to find out what is going on with her, Rogan and Jones aside. You have been paying her for what seems to be no perceivable benefit to you and your business. Paying her is your money wasted. Find another planner ASAP, ensure your finances are secured from her access, and in January, the frank talk with her should be quite brief: goodbye full stop.
This. Why wait any longer? You'll just be having more sleepless nights.
 
As far as I understand she cannot make any changes without my authorization. But its not like anyone is checking signatures so it wouldn't be that hard for her move money fraudulently if she has truly gone criminal. She could probably manage it and by the time I became aware, the money could be gone. I don't have any reason to believe she has though.
I'd say get out, and get out now.
 
Alright I'm convinced. I guess I too often try to give people the benefit of the doubt, beyond what is reasonable. I just have to accept that the person with whom I had a successful working relationship for so many years is no longer there.

After the holidays, I'm looking for a new professional.
 
As far as I understand she cannot make any changes without my authorization. But its not like anyone is checking signatures so it wouldn't be that hard for her move money fraudulently if she has truly gone criminal. She could probably manage it and by the time I became aware, the money could be gone. I don't have any reason to believe she has though.
Whoah! Bail right now. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
 
Regardless of the reason, anytime you are uncomfortable with letting someone handle your money, you should not let them handle your money. Simple as that.
Yup. It really doesn't matter if they are a whiz at financial planning. A nut job is a nut job, and all their savvy and shrewd investing won't matter if the nutjob decides your money should really be theirs for whatever reason, and that's exactly what a nut job would think.
 
Thanks all for the thoughtful responses.

As far as the Rogan/Jones stuff goes...I would agree that someone's political leanings shouldn't matter as long as they are up to the job. But this is not just a matter of political differences. These people are serious purveyors of mis/disinformation and if her judgement is so badly off that she thinks they are actually intelligent commentators, then where else is her judgement off? And what other disinformation is she consuming that may inform her investment recommendations?

If she were singing the praises of William F Buckley I wouldn't care. Conversely, I would be concerned if she were singing the praises of some left wing disinfo source.

I am a small business owner and as such, I am steeped in the financial aspects of my particular industry but far too busy to understand the market as a whole. I need someone who can handle that for me. She does not make any changes to my portfolio without my say so, she merely recommends how the portfolio should be tweaked and I either agree or disagree. I suppose the bigger problem is that in her nearly 2 years of dodging my phone calls, she hasn't made a single recommendation at all which may be just as bad. My portfolio is exactly the same as it was 2 years ago which I doubt would be the case if I had a more involved planner.

As it stands now, I have left her 3 messages in the past month without a return call. I am going to give her until early Jan to call me back. If she does, I will have a frank talk with her to try and find out what is going on. If she doesn't I will move my money.
I think move it as soon as possible. If she hasn't even made any suggestions or given you any advice/explanations in two years, she's not in afit state to manage it.
 
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