Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

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CnC
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Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by CnC »

Thanks to you guys I ditched Edward Jones before they could steal much of my money. :beer


I recently sat down with my father and explained just how bad Edward Jones was treating him. He was very receptive of changing.

I know this is a Pro - Vanguard group but everyone here seems pretty open and honest regardless of the brokerage house.

My question is this.

Fidelity told me over the phone that once you have over 100k with them in ira/ taxable/ non 401k's you will have free access to an advisor. Is this right/ reasonable?

I always assumed that vanguard/Fidelity/ECT were all pretty much self management accounts and that any advice would cost money?

He seemed excited to still have access to an advisor, should I be leery that this is a "free" advisor?
livesoft
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by livesoft »

Be very very leery. There are many posts about the garbage that Fidelity advisors sales reps have advised customers to buy.

I suppose that at the outset you can tell them: "Never ever call me. I will only invest in index funds. Never ever try to get me to invest in something that is not an index fund with no commission." At least this has worked with my personal TDAmeritrade "advisor."
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munemaker
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by munemaker »

I just moved my 401k to a Fidelity IRA. Their "advisor" interjected himself in the process and was trying to steer me away from index funds (I use Total Stock Market). I told him "Thanks...I'll call you when I need some advice."
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CnC
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by CnC »

livesoft wrote:Be very very leery. There are many posts about the garbage that Fidelity advisors sales reps have advised customers to buy.

I suppose that at the outset you can tell them: "Never ever call me. I will only invest in index funds. Never ever try to get me to invest in something that is not an index fund with no commission." At least this has worked with my personal TDAmeritrade "advisor."

I understand that they will try to get him investing in Fidelity funds. They have to make money after all. But, I have several Fidelity funds and their expense ratios are pretty good and they have no loads.

So far from my experience with their 1-800 number guys answering broad questions they actually sounded like the people here on the boards.

He suggested index funds, he suggested etf funds he brought up the importance of having low expense ratios.

But, if it is nothing more than a generic sales pitch I suppose it is a service not worth using.
livesoft
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by livesoft »

Fidelity has plenty of index funds. There is no problem in investing in Fidelity index funds.
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BL
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by BL »

Fidelity is probably fine when you know you want index funds and don't talk to any advisor. However, I think there is a risk if you appear unsure of what you should do. Yes, I use Vanguard but not their PAS, and would currently be ok with Fidelity as long as senility won't make me more susceptible to future suggested changes to higher ER funds and management costs. I won't chance it.

Vanguard PAS charges 0.3%/year, much less than any advisor I know of, and would put him in 5-6 low-ER (probably under 0.2% ER) index funds, and also not promote expensive insurance products. You could call them to get information. They seem to be getting almost swamped with an influx of new clients these days, although I called them last week to have a couple checks made out to charities for a QCD and got service quite rapidly.

There is a current thread with a huge list of maybe 40 funds by a Fidelity advisor. See this thread, look a ways down the page for the list:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=219295
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bengal22
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by bengal22 »

When these threads appear there are usually two basic opinions: those that dislike Fidelity advisers and those that have had good experiences with them. I for one have Fidelity and have had several meetings with their advisers and I have always appreciated their input. But I have enough self confidence to review all advice and use what fits my temperament and investment goals. If you tell the advisers that you are mainly a DIY investor and you are only interested in index funds they will respect that. My meetings with the advisers were structured around their Retirement Calculator software. I found that helpful and they helped me utilize that better.
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livesoft
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by livesoft »

Here is another Fidelity clean-up story:
http://www.physicianonfire.com/28to3/ From 28 funds to 3 funds.
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Pax
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Pax »

I meet with my Fidelity adviser once a year. Mostly because before finding this Bogleheds Forum, I knew that my portfolio was just the remants of a strategy thought out a long time ago and I was not doing any short of rebalancing. And I thought that I needed a check up.

I did yet a call from him, two weeks ago, when I sold my high ER funds and he saw that I was holding a 70% cash position. I told him I was rebalancing and that was that.

I think that it is good to hear that he has to say when he uses the Fidelity Retirement procjection and reporting tools. But that's all I am getting from him.

*However*, I find that when I called their 800 customer service number, I get quick and well though answeres to my questions on 401K, Roth, etc. But I have to instigate with my questions. In that way, they IMO are an excellent resource.

Pax
sport
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by sport »

You can get low cost funds at Fidelity. You will get low cost funds at Vanguard.
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Dottie57 »

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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Dottie57 »

CnC wrote:Thanks to you guys I ditched Edward Jones before they could steal much of my money. :beer


I recently sat down with my father and explained just how bad Edward Jones was treating him. He was very receptive of changing.

I know this is a Pro - Vanguard group but everyone here seems pretty open and honest regardless of the brokerage house.

My question is this.

Fidelity told me over the phone that once you have over 100k with them in ira/ taxable/ non 401k's you will have free access to an advisor. Is this right/ reasonable?

I always assumed that vanguard/Fidelity/ECT were all pretty much self management accounts and that any advice would cost money?

He seemed excited to still have access to an advisor, should I be leery that this is a "free" advisor?
I have a free advisor at fidelity. I use him as a sounding board. He has tried to get me to go the more expensive avtive account path. He also suggested a rather expensive and complicated annuity. The suggestions are not bad, but there are faster roads to dublin for me.

You need to be wary and determined.

He helped me a lot in transferring my ,money to fidelity.
WildBill
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by WildBill »

Howdy

I have accounts at both Fidelity and Vanguard. I like both companies. I have had good experiences with Fidelity in using their trust services and in settling several estates I was the executor of.

Also, the Fidelity customer service in general is excellent when you need it, although I do my stuff mostly on line and only talk to them once or twice a year. Their online bill pay and cash management setup is also good, although so are many other companies. (Not Vanguard's).

Fidelity advisers are OK and generally reasonable people in my experience. They will ( and should, given the Fidelity business model) have a bias to selling actively managed funds. They will also invite you to "market analysis and investment informational seminars" where the solutions to your problems are of course actively managed Fidelity funds.

If you tell them you want index funds and not to call you they will generally leave you alone.

Good luck

W B
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Ged
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Ged »

I have all of my investments at Fidelity. I like their customer service, credit cards, donor advised charity fund, brick and mortar locations, web site features and have a good feeling about their IT security practices, TurboTax integration and think their index funds are good. I currently hold Vanguard Index ETFs in my Fidelity account, although from time to time I use some Fidelity Index ETFs or MFs as well. When my father passed away he had his investments at Fidelity, and as executor of his estate they treated me with great professionalism.

However I would NOT purchase funds recommended by their advisors.

The times I've met with their advisors have always ended with a push to buy high cost funds with opaque fee structures and poor access to historical performance data.

I will say that they do provide decent advice on retirement planning though. The software tools they have for that are pretty good. If you are not comfortable with running DIY tools like ORP on your own etc. visiting an advisor is maybe not a bad idea.

JUST DON'T BUY THE FUNDS THEY RECOMMEND.
bobolinx
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by bobolinx »

I have an account at Fidelity. Their advice varies. But it is a good idea for your father to understand how they are being payed. It is also important for you to understand how your father will appreciate an account "advisor" that he can call and ask questions to. We older folks do like our personalized service and enjoy knowing who is picking up the phone. I had one advisor who could answer standard questions and knew the ways of Fidelity. When asked, he showed me how to find the low-cost Spartan funds, for instance. Unfortunately, he was promoted and the next person was not as easy to ask questions of. The web site is one of the most user-friendly in the business. Good Luck!
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by veggivet »

I have accounts with TD Ameritrade and Fidelity with sufficient assets to have a dedicated 'advisor'. Both know that I follow the Boglehead philosophy (mostly), and they know I will contact them if I need anything from their end. They've been very respectful of my time, and I think they know not to suggest anything that would go against my investment philosophy. I do an annual face to face with my Fidelity guy because his office is very convenient for me just to make sure I'm not overlooking anything with respect to taxes, estate planning, etc.
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Rob5TCP »

sport wrote:You can get low cost funds at Fidelity. You will get low cost funds at Vanguard.
:sharebeer
LeeMKE
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by LeeMKE »

I also have most of our accounts at Fidelity.

Here is a tip to get your advisor on the same page. Take in a copy of your ISP to your meeting.
1) It covers some of the routine ground so the advisor can skip ahead to the issues of importance to you.
2) It provides written notice of your investment strategy and plans. Give them a copy of this.

I am not an attorney. But it made quite an impression when I took this to a Fidelity meeting that I suspect it has significance for them, being on notice of your intentions.

I've had several outstanding advisors, and a couple of youngsters who were just starting out and thought they'd practice their sales pitch on me. The outstanding advisors I call for an annual checkup. The youngsters I thank and don't call them again. The caliber of advisor is matched to your investment balances, so over $100k, then over $500k, and over $1m, etc.

My husband, if something happens to me, will need in person guidance. Vanguard doesn't offer that, and their online presence is difficult to navigate.
I do most everything online, and when I'm working on something new, I often call for help and get excellent advice at Fidelity. This was not my experience when I tried to open two accounts at Vanguard, to the point that their inexpert advice spooked me from moving money to them.

I think Fidelity realizes that at some point I'll spend some money with them, needing more help or annuities, or someone else will take over managing my accounts and let Fidelity manage them for a fee. Right now, I think I'm a loss leader at Fidelity.
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by whodidntante »

Free advice can be the most expensive.
traveltoomuch
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by traveltoomuch »

Lots of old threads on this topic. Here's one from about a year ago where LeeMKE (two posts up) and I both contributed: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=186223&p=2830116&h ... y#p2830116
chinto
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by chinto »

These threads fascinate me. I am a Fidelity customer and have a couple levels of complimentary advisory service from them. I have had only positive interactions. they have yet to try and steer me form my mostly index approach. When I set up the transfer of the woman's account they did not bat any eye when I had them transfer everything into IShares ITOT, I went into a Fidelity office and had the adviser do all the paperwork and all the woman had to do was sign the transfer forms. They then performed a portfolio review an retirement assessment and had no suggestion other than suggesting we contingency plan our beneficiary choices in case something happens to our offspring. I just have not had he negative expediences form Fidelity others have had. The dichotomy of experiences interests me.
WL2034
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by WL2034 »

I have spoken to the Fidelity adviser once, and dealt with the account representatives many times for different transactions in several different departments. I've been pleased with the customer service, overall.

Specifically regarding the adviser, I think it really depends on what advice you are looking for. If you tell them you want help putting together a portfolio of low-cost Spartan index funds, they will help you do that. If you tell them you just want advice putting together the best portfolio they would recommend for you with no other direction, they will likely steer your towards higher-cost active funds. Although they offer a great variety of low-cost index funds, it is not explicitly their focus as it is at Vanguard.

My personal opinion is that if you call Fidelity and ask for the "free" adviser to put together a portfolio for you without providing direction that you want Spartan index funds, you will end up with higher overall fees than if you go with Vanguard and pay 0.3% for the PAS. One other thing to consider is that Fidelity has a robo-adviser program now, Figelity Go -- which is advertised as an "all-in" fee of 0.4% which presumably includes the robo-adviser fee as well as the index fund ER's. Also provides auto-rebalancing, TLH, etc. which might be a viable option depending on how hands-on you wish to be.
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by billfromct »

Vanguard has a few advisor service levels based on the amount of money invested with Vanguard by household (mailing address).

Voyager Select, $500k-$1m assets with Vanguard
Flagship, $1m-$5m assets with Vanguard

I don't think the Voyager Select gets you much, but I have not used those services when my assets with Vanguard were in that asset range.

With Flagship service you get a dedicated "Flagship representative" (Certified Financial Planner) that can answer questions & give you guidance. But I'm sure he/she has thousands of customers so whenever I call with a question, I have to leave a message & she would call me back. Normally I would just talk to another Flagship representative that is available who would answer my questions. I have been very happy with the available Flagship person to answer my questions.

When I get close to retirement, I will probably set up an appointment with my Flagship advisor to make sure I have all my ducks lined up for RMDs, tax withholding, etc.

I would tend to trust a Vanguard advisor knowing he/she would be looking out for my interests vs other company's financial advisors that are more sales oriented & probably are evaluated on how much money they bring into higher cost managed funds.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no additional fees for Flagship services once you hit those household asset levels.

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Bogle_Feet
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Bogle_Feet »

Anytime someone is giving you "free" investing advice you have to understand that somehow some way they must be compensated. People don't work for free. The "free" advisors make their money by executing transactions. So they will be driven to find excuses to get you to bite on investing in a commission-based product like an expensive actively managed mutual fund, annuity, etc.
The only free advice I would ever take is help on determining my bond/stock index fund allocation ratio and an analysis of my spending to make sure that I'm sticking to 4% or less. Once they start recommending specific investment products that's when I cut them off.
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CnC
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by CnC »

I certainly understand that their advice may be colored, I plan on talking any decisions he makes over with him.

I believe we plan to use this resource less as a investment guidence and more as a double check on our decisions.



While I'm on the subject what is a good mix ratio of a 60's man who is currently living off of pension and has ~ 160k in a Roth that is is planning to use if he needs to supplement his pension.

Looking for relatively lower risk 2/5.
10% foreign 30 % s&p index 40% short bond 20% med bond?
dbr
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by dbr »

CnC wrote:I certainly understand that their advice may be colored, I plan on talking any decisions he makes over with him.

I believe we plan to use this resource less as a investment guidence and more as a double check on our decisions.



While I'm on the subject what is a good mix ratio of a 60's man who is currently living off of pension and has ~ 160k in a Roth that is is planning to use if he needs to supplement his pension.

Looking for relatively lower risk 2/5.
10% foreign 30 % s&p index 40% short bond 20% med bond?
If you don't need the money, then you are free to invest any way you want.

Vanguard rates the Life Strategy Income Fund as a "2" risk and it is 20/80 stocks/bonds. Life Strategy Conservative Growth is "3" risk and 40/60.
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Artful Dodger
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Artful Dodger »

I have 1 million + with Fidelity and am in their private client group. I don't know what their service is for those with 100K+. I have used them for 30+ years, with most of my money there except for a short stint at Fisher (another story). I've used them for stock trades, mutual funds, and since 2013 mostly for idex funds but with some significant $ in bonds and some $ in active funds. My experiences have all been positive, and the three advisors assigned to me were all easy to work with and knowledgeable. I'm an experienced investor and never felt pressured to invest in cetain funds. They have been helpful discussing asset allocation, international exposure, and a variety of other issues (trusts, beneficiary issues). Their retirement planning software is pretty robust and easy to use. I wouldn't hesitate to use them for your "double check" and as a resource. I think they are assigned a large group of clients and probably focus more on investment recommendations to the group who wants or needs that service.
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JDCarpenter
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by JDCarpenter »

Artful Dodger wrote:I have 1 million + with Fidelity and am in their private client group. ....
I could probably find this with a little effort, but I'll be lazy and ask. Does Fidelity (like Vanguard) require that the $1,000,000 be in certain investments, or merely in your account(s)?
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Artful Dodger
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Artful Dodger »

JDCarpenter wrote:
Artful Dodger wrote:I have 1 million + with Fidelity and am in their private client group. ....
I could probably find this with a little effort, but I'll be lazy and ask. Does Fidelity (like Vanguard) require that the $1,000,000 be in certain investments, or merely in your account(s)?
To my knowledge, it is just $1mil in assets with Fidelity. Mine are all types: mostly Fidelty index, but also Vanguard index, some managed funds, cash, stock, and bonds.
funinthesun
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by funinthesun »

I have been with Fidelity for 30+ years and have found them to be very knowledgeable when I needed to call them. A year or so ago, they assigned me an advisor and he called me daily for months plus emails. The machine answers my calls and I think he gave up on me! If I need him, I'll call him! l also use Vanguard and they have been great also.
dbr
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by dbr »

funinthesun wrote:I have been with Fidelity for 30+ years and have found them to be very knowledgeable when I needed to call them. A year or so ago, they assigned me an advisor and he called me daily for months plus emails. The machine answers my calls and I think he gave up on me! If I need him, I'll call him! l also use Vanguard and they have been great also.
Why didn't you answer the phone and discuss politely with him that you don't need anything and that you will call him if something comes up?
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Artful Dodger
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Artful Dodger »

funinthesun wrote:I have been with Fidelity for 30+ years and have found them to be very knowledgeable when I needed to call them. A year or so ago, they assigned me an advisor and he called me daily for months plus emails. The machine answers my calls and I think he gave up on me! If I need him, I'll call him! l also use Vanguard and they have been great also.
This is totally opposite of my experience. I usually get one or two contacts yearly, unless they are following up on a question or request I put to them.

I do get semi regular emails notifying me of webinars, or other education events they think might interest me.
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Artful Dodger
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Artful Dodger »

JDCarpenter wrote:
Artful Dodger wrote:I have 1 million + with Fidelity and am in their private client group. ....
I could probably find this with a little effort, but I'll be lazy and ask. Does Fidelity (like Vanguard) require that the $1,000,000 be in certain investments, or merely in your account(s)?
Just a clarification. When I returned to them in 2013, I had maybe $650K in assets to transfer in to the existing $75K or so i had left with them. I was still assigned an advisor, and really haven't noticed much difference in service, though my web login now shows the Private Client Group label. It is possible the PCG entry level was $500K, and is now $1M.
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by TimeRunner »

My account says "Fidelity Premium Services" and shows the name of some guy I've never heard of or met in my local office, but who did file for bankruptcy in 2010 due to getting over his head in credit card debt. Apparently that's not a career showstopper these days. I've gotten one robo-email from him and no calls. 99% of my Roth and TIRA is holding VT ETF. Perhaps that's why he's not calling. 8-)
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funinthesun
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by funinthesun »

dbr wrote:
funinthesun wrote:I have been with Fidelity for 30+ years and have found them to be very knowledgeable when I needed to call them. A year or so ago, they assigned me an advisor and he called me daily for months plus emails. The machine answers my calls and I think he gave up on me! If I need him, I'll call him! l also use Vanguard and they have been great also.
Why didn't you answer the phone and discuss politely with him that you don't need anything and that you will call him if something comes up?
That's what my wife said but I never wanted to take the time. I do need to call him sometime to make a connection and hear what he has to say.
ebweinstein
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by ebweinstein »

Is the free Fidelity service no longer offered? I cannot find it on their site.
HJG0989
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by HJG0989 »

I requested an account rep when I decided to move my Vanguard assets over to my Fido account. He was horrible. He screwed up the transfer and we had to meet twice. He started in on a sales pitch but didn't say what the product was. He tried to pull a bait and switch to get me to call him. What he called an index fund turned out to be their tax managed PAS service. In addition, he couldn't answer basic questions like the difference in the way capital gains are distributed between ETFs and mutual funds. I sent an angry email to the branch manager and told him to remove him as our account rep.

Account reps get a bump in their bonus at Fido for retaining clients and I didn't want him to earn a cent off us. If I ever have another encounter like that I will move my assets to Schwab. I do like Fidos website though.
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nedsaid
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by nedsaid »

Ged wrote: Tue May 23, 2017 4:37 pm I have all of my investments at Fidelity. I like their customer service, credit cards, donor advised charity fund, brick and mortar locations, web site features and have a good feeling about their IT security practices, TurboTax integration and think their index funds are good. I currently hold Vanguard Index ETFs in my Fidelity account, although from time to time I use some Fidelity Index ETFs or MFs as well. When my father passed away he had his investments at Fidelity, and as executor of his estate they treated me with great professionalism.

However I would NOT purchase funds recommended by their advisors.

The times I've met with their advisors have always ended with a push to buy high cost funds with opaque fee structures and poor access to historical performance data.

I will say that they do provide decent advice on retirement planning though. The software tools they have for that are pretty good. If you are not comfortable with running DIY tools like ORP on your own etc. visiting an advisor is maybe not a bad idea.

JUST DON'T BUY THE FUNDS THEY RECOMMEND.
Keep in mind that Fidelity serves all kinds of customers. They can cater to do-it-yourself investors who need minimal guidance, they have Fidelity Go which is a robo advisor, they have the advisors as described in this thread, and they offer loaded Fidelity Advisor funds for investors who have a commission and transaction based relationship with an advisor. So if you want it, Fidelity can get you almost anything you want.

You want a virtual company? You can do anything you need on their website. Want brick and mortar? They have offices all over the country.

I just love this. I am a Fidelity fan but I rarely call them but I might use more of their services in the future.
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Ged
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Ged »

nedsaid wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:37 am
Ged wrote: Tue May 23, 2017 4:37 pm JUST DON'T BUY THE FUNDS THEY RECOMMEND.
I just love this. I am a Fidelity fan but I rarely call them but I might use more of their services in the future.
I really like Fidelity. I have had money with them since my first employer set up a retirement account for me with them in 1978. I have all of my investments with them now. However this is a Bogleheads forum and people should realize that Fidelity will try to give you a sales pitch for their PAS which is definitely a non-Boglehead product. Just say no to that and you are good to go.

Oh and since I wrote the message you cited Fidelity opened a brick and mortar site much closer to me than the one I had been going to previously. Very much appreciated.
sport
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by sport »

nedsaid wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:37 am
Ged wrote: Tue May 23, 2017 4:37 pm I have all of my investments at Fidelity. I like their customer service, credit cards, donor advised charity fund, brick and mortar locations, web site features and have a good feeling about their IT security practices, TurboTax integration and think their index funds are good. I currently hold Vanguard Index ETFs in my Fidelity account, although from time to time I use some Fidelity Index ETFs or MFs as well. When my father passed away he had his investments at Fidelity, and as executor of his estate they treated me with great professionalism.

However I would NOT purchase funds recommended by their advisors.

The times I've met with their advisors have always ended with a push to buy high cost funds with opaque fee structures and poor access to historical performance data.

I will say that they do provide decent advice on retirement planning though. The software tools they have for that are pretty good. If you are not comfortable with running DIY tools like ORP on your own etc. visiting an advisor is maybe not a bad idea.

JUST DON'T BUY THE FUNDS THEY RECOMMEND.
Keep in mind that Fidelity serves all kinds of customers. They can cater to do-it-yourself investors who need minimal guidance, they have Fidelity Go which is a robo advisor, they have the advisors as described in this thread, and they offer loaded Fidelity Advisor funds for investors who have a commission and transaction based relationship with an advisor. So if you want it, Fidelity can get you almost anything you want.

You want a virtual company? You can do anything you need on their website. Want brick and mortar? They have offices all over the country.

I just love this. I am a Fidelity fan but I rarely call them but I might use more of their services in the future.
My first mutual fund was Fidelity Trend. I paid a load of 8.75% because I didn't know any better. I quickly learned. I don't have such a warm and fuzzy feeling towards Fidelity. 8.75% !!!
Dottie57
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Dottie57 »

Yes you will have a free advisor. The FA may try to steer you into an annuity or have good sounding reasons to use managed higher cost funds. Do not bite. Also don’t sign anything that would allow for management by Fidelity or its advisors.

I have not been given a big sell just a small one. FA tried to get me to roll 401k to IRA - I think it looks good to have clents with good balances. He tried to sell me an annuity - declined as it had multiple balances I did not understand.

Youjust have to be strong and say you want established index funds and will dp it your self. Learn to say “No”.

Fidelity web site is good and allows for easy tracking.

Good Luck.
Dottie57
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by Dottie57 »

HJG0989 wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 7:26 pm I requested an account rep when I decided to move my Vanguard assets over to my Fido account. He was horrible. He screwed up the transfer and we had to meet twice. He started in on a sales pitch but didn't say what the product was. He tried to pull a bait and switch to get me to call him. What he called an index fund turned out to be their tax managed PAS service. In addition, he couldn't answer basic questions like the difference in the way capital gains are distributed between ETFs and mutual funds. I sent an angry email to the branch manager and told him to remove him as our account rep.

Account reps get a bump in their bonus at Fido for retaining clients and I didn't want him to earn a cent off us. If I ever have another encounter like that I will move my assets to Schwab. I do like Fidos website though.
FYI, the advisor I was assigned is good. He started the transfer. Showed me how to monitor on the web site. A very nice young man. If he is around when I want to buy an SPIA, I will talk to him. Just not interested in what he has to sell.
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nedsaid
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by nedsaid »

Ged wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:25 am
nedsaid wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:37 am
Ged wrote: Tue May 23, 2017 4:37 pm JUST DON'T BUY THE FUNDS THEY RECOMMEND.
I just love this. I am a Fidelity fan but I rarely call them but I might use more of their services in the future.
I really like Fidelity. I have had money with them since my first employer set up a retirement account for me with them in 1978. I have all of my investments with them now. However this is a Bogleheads forum and people should realize that Fidelity will try to give you a sales pitch for their PAS which is definitely a non-Boglehead product. Just say no to that and you are good to go.

Oh and since I wrote the message you cited Fidelity opened a brick and mortar site much closer to me than the one I had been going to previously. Very much appreciated.
I am shocked, just shocked that there is capitalism going on in there!!
A fool and his money are good for business.
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FIREchief
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by FIREchief »

These threads are always interesting. A few recommendations:
a) ignore any post where somebody says "Fidelity advisor bad" without indicating that their feedback is based on actual personal experience (as opposed to "heard," "read on the forum," "know a guy," etc.)
b) ignore those posts that basically read "yeah, I talked to them once but they just tried to sell me a bunch of stuff I didn't want."
c) pay particular attention to those posts from valued Bogleheads who HAVE ACTUALLY USED the Fidelity service for a number of years.

If you follow the above, I believe you'll get a clear answer based upon first hand experiences of knowledgeable Bogleheads who are (hopefully) like yourself.

Also, I believe that Fidelity refers to your assigned rep as a "Financial Consultant." Not a "Financial Advisor." I've found this to be a very meaningful distinction, and one that I am sure in not coincidental.
I am not a lawyer, accountant or financial advisor. Any advice or suggestions that I may provide shall be considered for entertainment purposes only.
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TimeRunner
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Re: Fidelity and their "free advisor" service?

Post by TimeRunner »

FIREchief wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:47 pm These threads are always interesting.... <snipped>
+1, good advice. Having a relatively-local office is also very nice for notary service, medallion signatures, and form signing in those more-complex situations (like dealing with trust docs, beneficiary IRA distro, etc) where you likely can't do it all on-line and don't want to wait weeks for back-and-forth mailed papers. Schwab is also fine, IMO.
One cannot enlighten the unconscious. | "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine." -Jeff Spicoli
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