re: Should I be offended by this offer from my financial advisor?

I generally charge my clients 1%-1.25% of asset base. I will gladly look at their options in their 401(k) and give them some ideas for free. I will also help them refinance their home and find a lawyer for wills and trusts. Basically, most financial things are covered in the asset fee.


ETA: I also get them good deals on cars of certain makes.

I don't have enough details to know whether the extra $500 is reasonable or not. As others have noted, it may or may not take awhile depending on how thorough a job he does. For example, he should at least glance at each fund's holdings in the prospectuses, which means he has to find and download them too. If he does it right and also puts in the time to see how it intertwines with your IRA I could easily see him spending a couple of hours if not more.

So it depends. Either way, no need to get offended, just say "no" if you think it's too high.

ps...you should get married and divorced again...cut your tax burden in half....LOL

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for him to do a retirement forecast and analysis, for which I'm meeting him this Friday.

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This does change things in my mind. I don't know how he could do that without knowledge of your 401K unless your 401k is such a minor part of your retirement plan that it's not really worth it.

Curious... what brought you to this adviser in the first place? Is this your first instance of being unhappy with him?

For what you are paying him... I think you need to have absolute confidence in him and that he is doing the best for you. It seems like that may have been broken. Therefore, you might want to consider checking around for a new guy. No harm in getting some referrals and getting a couple of free lunches.

. I just read my post from last night and changed the wording. I did not mean for it to sound like it did.

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If you are one of my smaller clients... I would probably charge.

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If you were my advisor I'd probably leave you.

It's the 80-20 rule.

Also, the smaller accounts generally get charged more anyway.

$4,000 fixed fee, how does that work out as a percentage of assets under management? If your advisor's money is guaranteed, then what incentive does he have to actively manage your account to achieve your objectives? Doing well for you will not increase his fees, nor will he suffer if your portfolio does poorly.

As for reviewing your 401(k) holdings, I fail to see how he can pretend he is providing you quality advice about your retirement without taking the assets and investments in your 401(k) into consideration.

I probably wasn't clear; he charges me 1% of the total value of my account, so he does have incentive to increase its value.

Honestly I can see the point on each side of the argument here. 1% fee is very competitive in the field. If you have a massive amount in your 401k then I could see this taking a good bit of time to do research and it would the charge. However if it's something that's a small part of your portfolio then it's unreasonable. The decision is ultimately yours OP. If you feel the FA is doing a good job then listen to him.