When to Shop Around for Advice
If you find yourself on Wall Street and you haven't a clue where you're going, take my advice: Never ask for directions.
At issue is one of the most critical questions facing investors. Should you hire a broker or financial planner, or should you go it alone? I would argue there are two groups of investors who ought to shun advisers: The truly knowledgeable and the profoundly ignorant.
Yeah, this takes a little explaining.
Getting Educated
Investing is not rocket science. With a little work, you should be able to settle on the right mix of stocks and conservative investments, decide how you will diversify within these two categories and then pick some low-cost mutual funds to build your desired portfolio.
Moreover, there is a big reward for going it alone. If you use a broker or financial planner, you might pay for the adviser's services through brokerage commissions or through some type of fee arrangement. But either way, the cost will likely amount to around 1% of your portfolio's value each year.
Thus, if you teach yourself to invest and thereby avoid this cost, you may be able to pocket an extra 1% annually. Over a lifetime of investing, that could bolster your wealth by tens of thousands of dollars.
But this, of course, assumes you are a competent manager of your own money. Cincinnati financial planner Lucas Hail reckons successful do-it-yourself investors share certain key qualities, including an intense interest in investing, the spare time needed to manage their own money and the discipline both to put their investment plans into action and to monitor their finances thereafter.
"It can be painful to watch your decisions in action," Mr. Hail warns. "Your family's financial future is riding on your decisions. The burden can be heavy."
Getting Help
If you don't have the qualities needed to be a successful do-it-yourself investor, Mr. Hail suggests using an adviser. Seem reasonable? I would throw in one qualifier: You should hire a broker or planner only if you're willing to do a thorough investigation, making sure your chosen adviser is ethical, competent and reasonably priced.
As I see it, there is a Catch-22 to hiring an adviser. If you hate dealing with your finances, you probably need a broker or planner. But if you really hate dealing with your finances, you probably won't make a serious effort to find a top-notch adviser. Result: There is a real risk you will end up with a rotten broker or planner.
Indeed, if you aren't willing to do the necessary homework, I honestly believe you shouldn't hire an adviser. True, you may get lousy results investing on your own. But your self-inflicted investment wounds are likely to pale next to the havoc that can be wreaked by an unscrupulous adviser.
Getting Serious
So how do you find a decent broker or planner? Start by putting together a list of candidates. Ask for referrals from your accountant, lawyer, friends and family.
Many people assume their best bet is to sign on with one of the big brokerage firms. But in my experience, often the brightest and most thoughtful advisers are at smaller financial-planning shops, so don't be put off if an adviser works alone or with just one or two others. To find these smaller outfits, check out
www.feeonly.org and
www.garrettplanningnetwork.com.Next, check that your potential advisers have a clean record with securities regulators, by going to
www.sec.gov/investor/brokers.htm on the Web.
After that, give the advisers a quick call and ask about their services. I would immediately ditch any broker or planner who promises high returns, plays down costs or turns into the heavy-handed salesman, trying to flog the stock of the day or the fund of the month.
Instead, favor advisers who are a little less slick and a little more studious. Preferably, you want a broker or planner with some formal qualifications, such as a business degree or designation as a chartered financial analyst, certified financial planner, chartered financial consultant or certified public accountant-personal financial specialist.
Settle on the three advisers you are most comfortable with, and arrange to meet them in person. What should you look for? Good advisers won't be narrowly focused on your investment portfolio. Instead, they will take a broad view of your finances, asking about your goals and trying to figure out how best to achieve them. If the conversation ranges over estate planning, trimming taxes, refinancing your mortgage, adjusting your insurance coverage and paying for your kids' college education, that's an excellent sign.
Also look for advisers who are forthright about costs, including not only their fees, but also the fees charged by the investments they will recommend. I would lean toward advisers who levy an annual retainer, an hourly fee or a percentage of assets, and I would be leery of those who charge commissions.
As I mentioned above, advisers typically cost around 1% a year. I certainly wouldn't pay more than that, and if you hunt around, you can find competent advisers who charge less.
Getting a Life
Sound like a lot of work? If you aren't willing to put in this legwork, forget hiring an adviser. Instead, pick up the phone.
Call Boston's Fidelity Investments and ask about its Freedom Funds, or call Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Associates and get information on its Retirement Funds, or call Vanguard Group in Malvern, Pa., and ask about its Target Retirement Funds. These are all lifecycle funds, which means they combine a smattering of stocks and bonds in a single mutual fund, thus giving you one-stop investment shopping.
Pick the fund you find most appealing, and thereafter invest every nickel you can spare. No, this isn't an ideal strategy. But it will likely prove far more profitable than signing on with a crooked investment adviser.
谨慎聘请理财顾问
当你置身于华尔街但却不知该何去何从的时候，记住：不要去询问别人你该怎么做。
这是投资者所面对的最重要的问题之一。到底是应该雇佣一个经纪人或理财专家，还是应该自己打理财富？我认为，有两种人应当选择自力更生：真正博学的人和对一切都一无所知的人。
我需要对此做出些解释。
投资的学问和研究火箭相比大相径庭。只要你稍微关注一下，你就应当能够选择出股票和一些传统投资，然后决定在它们身上各自投入多少比例，最后挑选一些低成本共同基金买入就能够实现你想要的投资组合了。
靠自己理财你还能额外获得不小的收获。如果你聘请了一个经纪人或是理财顾问，每年可能都要通过佣金或是其他形式支付一定的顾问费。不管采用哪种方式，这笔费用都大约相当于你投资组合价值的1%。
因此，如果你自学投资理财，就可以省下这笔钱，使你的投资回报每年额外多出1%。时间一长，这可是不小的一笔财富呢。
当然，这样做的前提假设是你有能力管理自己的财富。辛辛那提理财顾问卢卡斯?希尔(Lucas Hail)说，成功的自主理财投资者需要具有一些必备的素质，如对投资有浓厚的兴趣、有闲暇时间进行理财，而且还必须非常自律：能够将自己的理财计划付诸实施，以及密切关注理财计划的进展。
希尔警告说，关注自己制定的理财计划的实施进展可能是一件痛苦的事。整个家庭物质生活的未来都在你的一念之间，心理压力是很大的。
如果你觉得自己不具备一个成功自主理财投资者所应有的素质，那希尔先生就会建议你挑选一位理财顾问了。听上去很有道理是吧？但我要提出这样做的一个前提：只有当你愿意进行彻底的调查，确保自己所选择的理财顾问具有职业道德、有能力且收费合理时，你才应该雇佣他。
在我看来，花钱聘请理财顾问其实是一件自相矛盾事情。如果你懒得去理财，那么你看来是需要一个专业人士帮忙。但如果你真的一点都不想管的话，那你可能也不会花很多心思去认真的挑选一个拔尖的理财顾问。其结果是：一个不怎么样的经纪人或理财顾问反而会给你带来风险。
事实上，如果你不想做一些必要的工作，我奉劝你还是不要聘请什么顾问了。你自己投资的结果可能是一塌糊涂，但也比一个不怎么样的理财顾问给你带来的损失要容易接受。
那么，如果才能找到一个合适的理财顾问呢？首先要有一个候选人的清单，还要听听会计师、律师、朋友和家人的意见。
很多人选择了最大的证券经纪公司，认为这样应当不会有错。但我的经验是，最聪明、最有思想的理财顾问常常供职于一些较小的理财公司，所以不要轻视那些独立供职或是只与一、两个人一起经营的小公司。要寻找这些规模稍小的理财公司，你可以登录
www.feeonly.org和
www.garrettplanningnetwork.com寻找信息。
第二步，检查可能入选的理财顾问在监管当局有无不良纪录。你可以通过登录
www.sec.gov/investor/brokers.htm进行查询。
第三步，通过电话询问一下这些公司能够提供的服务。如果电话那边的人使劲承诺高回报，淡化成本；或是让你觉得他是个笨手笨脚的销售员，那趁早就把他剔除出候选名单吧。
真正的理财顾问应当少一些圆滑，多一些勤恳和认真。如果经纪人或者理财顾问拥有一些正经的专业资格证书那就更好了，比如商学院学位、特许金融分析师(chartered financial analyst)、执业财务规划师(certified financial planner)、特许财务顾问(chartered financial consultant)或注册会计师－个人金融专家(certified public accountant-personal financial specialist)。
最后圈定你认为最合适的三个顾问，安排亲自会面。这时你该如何评判呢？好的理财顾问不会只关心你的投资组合。他们会对你的财产状况做出全面了解，询问你的理财目标，尽量明确表示目标的实现程度。如果你们谈话的内容很广，包括不动产规划、避税、抵押贷款再融资、调整保险内容以及如何为子女的大学教育攒钱，那这个理财顾问就非常棒了。
最后还要看看费用问题，除了理财顾问费，还有他们所推荐的投资的费用。我会更倾向于那些收取年费、以小时计费或是按照资产百分比收费的理财顾问，对于那些收取佣金的理财顾问可要小心提防。
我在前面已经谈到，聘请理财顾问一年的费用大致相当于你投资组合价值的1%左右。如果比这个还多，我就接受不了了。如果你仔细寻找，肯定能找到能力强且收费还低于1%的理财顾问。
听上去好像有很多工作要做，是不是？如果你连这些都不想干，那乾脆就别聘请顾问了。
拿起电话来。接通位于波士顿的Fidelity Investments，询问一下该公司旗下的自由基金(Freedom Funds)；或者接通巴尔的摩的T. Rowe Price Associates，询问有关其退休基金(Retirement Funds)的情况；再或者接通宾夕法尼亚州莫尔文市的Vanguard Group，询问其目标退休基金(Target Retirement Funds)的情况。这些都是全能基金，它们在股票和债券都有涉猎，可以向你提供一站式的投资理财服务。
挑选出你认为最有吸引力的基金，然后把你所有的闲钱都投进去。当然，这并不是最理想的策略。然而，与你随便聘请一个理财顾问相比，这个办法获得的盈利可能会更多。
