I recently met with a new client who found me online and booked a financial counseling session. During our getting acquainted call, she shared with me that her father recently died and left behind several IRAs spread among different banks. "Dad didn't belive in putting all his eggs in one basket", she informed me. She further explained that she had been researching inherited IRA rules online and after reading a number of articles and visiting multiple sites, she found herself confused and just wanted someone to help her sort through the financial "clutter" her father left behind. I quoted her an hourly fee for my time and over the course of our counseling session I was able to demystify the inherited IRA rules and help her put together a written action plan and checklist that she can follow to consolidate her father's accounts.
Her story illustrates two very important points. First, financial advisors offer so much more than investment advice and portfolio allocation. Second, while the internet has made information freely available, that information is often confusing and contradictory. Don't believe me? Try running a search for "annuities are good" and "annuities are bad" and tell me you don't want to curl up into a ball on the floor.
The point being that I am often engaged by clients who have investing experience and but find themselves facing a major financial decision and are now frozen by indecision. Indeed, as a financial professional, I am often called upon to help my clients make sense of the mountain of financial information they come into contact with whether its an ad on TV, a financial guru on the radio, a book they read, or some financial advice a friend or relative gave them. That is not to say that investors shouldn't conduct research on their own. I sincerely believe informed investors make the best clients. It's just that there is no one size fits all approach that works for everyone. Helping filter out the noise is an imporant part of the value I, and other advisors, add to the relationship with our clients.
If you are a Delaware, Maryland, or Pennsylvania resident and would like to schedule a getting acquainted call to discuss your situation, you can do so by clicking this link: http://www.davidiobst.com/contact_us/
About the author: David A. Iobst is a Certified Financial Planner™ with nearly 20 years of combined financial planning and insurance experience. He is located in Bear, DE and maintains securities and insurance licenses in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. You can find out more about David by visiting his web site http://www.davidiobst.com.
David offers securities and investment advisory services through LifeMark Securities Corp. 400 West Metro Financial Center Rochester, NY 14623. Member FINRA/SIPC.