How to politely fire my financial advisor

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Armando
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How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Armando »

Medium-term lurker, first time poster.

I'd like to roll over my American Funds IRAs and taxable accounts to Vanguard. I was put into these funds by a financial advisor I've done business with for the past ten years. While I realize that he's in the biz to make money off of my money, I honestly harbor no ill will towards the guy. Apart from the fees, the guy has given me good advice over the years, and, on the whole, isn't an awful human being.

My question, then, is this: how do I politely fire this guy?
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CAsage
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by CAsage »

Contact your new provide (Fidelity or Vanguard, which is getting too big...), give them a copy of your most recent statements with all your accounts, and they will transfer it over. Then send your former Financial Adviser a nice hand written thank you note for his assistance; no reason required. Never explain, it just makes things worse!
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ponyboy
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by ponyboy »

Why be polite? Just fire him and move on with your life. NO explanation needed.
LarryAllen
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by LarryAllen »

ponyboy wrote:Why be polite? Just fire him and move on with your life. NO explanation needed.
Besides just being a decent human being I have learned, repeatedly, it is rarely a good idea to burn a bridge. A polite phone call (if you muster the courage) or a letter is better than just moving the money in my opinion. Would be significantly less awkward when you bump into the guy somewhere.
ved
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by ved »

When I fired my FA several years ago, I wrote an email to him something like this:

Dear FA,

I am consolidating/simplifying all of my and my wife's accounts. In the process, we have also realized that going with no-load, low ER funds was best for us in the future. As such, I have decided and initiated a transfer of all funds (in-kind) from XYZ Advisors to Vanguard Inc.

Please do not make any changes to any of my, my wife's or our joint accounts or the funds in the accounts, effective immediately.

Thank you for helping me start out in investing for my retirement.

Sincerely,
ved

That's it. No explanation needed. Within a week, all my funds were transferred to Vanguard in-kind. Never heard from him again.
noco-hawkeye
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by noco-hawkeye »

I don't like having these discussions, because your advisor is going to try to sell you until the final transfer occurs. They might even become mad at you. Do you really care if they get offended / upset?

I think the hand written note or email is best. I know when I've started a conversation like this, it just becomes a debate or even worse. All you need to say is "thank you for your help".

If you want to be snarky, you can say "thank you for your help, I hope you enjoyed all the money you received from my fees and reduction in my savings" (those are my inside thoughts :wink: )
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HueyLD
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by HueyLD »

CAsage wrote:Contact your new provide (Fidelity or Vanguard, which is getting too big...), give them a copy of your most recent statements with all your accounts, and they will transfer it over. Then send your former Financial Adviser a nice hand written thank you note for his assistance; no reason required. Never explain, it just makes things worse!
+1.
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Toons
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Toons »

Initiate an asset transfer via Vanguard.
https://investor.vanguard.com/account-t ... sfer-money

:happy
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
sschullo
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by sschullo »

HueyLD wrote:
CAsage wrote:Contact your new provide (Fidelity or Vanguard, which is getting too big...), give them a copy of your most recent statements with all your accounts, and they will transfer it over. Then send your former Financial Adviser a nice hand written thank you note for his assistance; no reason required. Never explain, it just makes things worse!
+1.
+2. Agree except for the "getting too big..." opinion.
I have my money in TIAA and Vanguard.
Last edited by sschullo on Tue Jan 10, 2017 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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oldzey
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by oldzey »

Toons wrote:Initiate an asset transfer via Vanguard.
https://investor.vanguard.com/account-t ... sfer-money

:happy
+1

That's what I did - problem solved. :beer
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rob
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by rob »

To quote a recent politician - "You're Fired". :D Seriously... never talk to them - just initiate the move from the target company.
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z-man
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by z-man »

You are just moving what is yours to another institution and no longer need his services. It's not personal, it's business :)
Jack FFR1846
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Here's the easy way if you're rolling into Fidelity (just because it's way easier than Vanguard).

Scan a copy of your last statement and put it into a pdf.
Go onto Fidelity's site and find the place to open a rollover account (easy to find, I just don't remember what it's called).
Fill in the online form.
Attach your PDF.
Print out the 2 signature pages of the online form. Sign the paper and scan them into a pdf.
Attach the pdf of the signature pages.
Submit.

There will then be a progress section for this transfer and you'll know what's going on by simply logging into your account and looking. It tells you very quickly that your application is complete and that Fidelity is waiting for the "from" company. If the "from" company requires some kind of stupid form to be filled out, you can always take that to a Fidelity office and ask them "How do I do this?". I did that with one of my wife's old 403bs that sent a 14 page form to get out $3k. The Fidelity rep filled out the whole thing, notarized it and gave us the addresses to send to the other company and wrote in the correct address for that company to forward funds.

I have never spoken with anyone at the "from" company and we've move 4 or 5 accounts over the last few years.
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bondsr4me
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by bondsr4me »

Armando wrote:Medium-term lurker, first time poster.

I'd like to roll over my American Funds IRAs and taxable accounts to Vanguard. I was put into these funds by a financial advisor I've done business with for the past ten years. While I realize that he's in the biz to make money off of my money, I honestly harbor no ill will towards the guy. Apart from the fees, the guy has given me good advice over the years, and, on the whole, isn't an awful human being.

My question, then, is this: how do I politely fire this guy?
It never hurts to be polite, its living the "Golden Rule".
That said, you do not need to contact your current advisor.
All you have to do is open an account at your new advisor (I would use Vanguard).
I just did this, so I know it works easily. I transferred my IRA from Schwab to Vanguard no issues at all.
I am now working on our joint account, going from Schwab to Vanguard.
When that is done, my wife's IRA goes from Schwab to Vanguard.
I have no complaints with Schwab.... just consolidating/simplifying using Vanguard.
I have not and do not need to contact Schwab. Vanguard does all that for me.
Good Luck to you.
Don
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tadamsmar
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by tadamsmar »

Mine seemed to immediately understand when I said the V-word, Vanguard. Way back in 1999.
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Phineas J. Whoopee
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Phineas J. Whoopee »

There is a maxim, the number is probably apocryphal, that it costs seven times as much to sign a new customer as to retain an existing one. Contacting the adviser before no longer being a customer means it is h/er/is job to do that which is necessary to retain you. They're trained to do it. Many earn extra money when they succeed. The person will try hard, even if only to show, at their quarterly profit/loss review, that they put in the appropriate amount of time and effort.

I agree with the idea of sending a note to the adviser after you see the assets are already with Vanguard, unless, as ved correctly pointed out upthread, the individual or organization has authority to trade in your account. In that case, now would be the time to instruct them to make no further changes, with or without an explanation.

PJW
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foosball
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by foosball »

I scheduled a phone call with my advisor and told them I was ready to manage the assets myself. They were polite and we wished each other good luck. I sent the transfer paperwork later that day.
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renue74
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by renue74 »

I only had my FA for about 2 years and we communicated basically through email.

So, when I moved to Vanguard, I emailed her a nice email thanking her for working with us and telling her we had no issues with her, but we feel that moving to self management was best for our long term.

She was fine with it and never try to sell me on anything or tried to persuade us to stay. This was an independent FA who has many of the prominent doctor's portfolios in town. I think she has about $150M under management...for a very small office, she's doing fine without my portfolio.

After the email to her, I initiated all the transfers at Vanguard. All was fine. No hiccups.

She did use Schwab for her management and they hit me with $25 per account, but that's a small price to pay for freedom.
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Toons
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Toons »

oldzey wrote:
Toons wrote:Initiate an asset transfer via Vanguard.
https://investor.vanguard.com/account-t ... sfer-money

:happy
+1

That's what I did - problem solved. :beer

:sharebeer
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leonard
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by leonard »

CAsage wrote:Vanguard, which is getting too big...
By what measure?
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Earl Lemongrab
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Earl Lemongrab »

There are other choices besides Vanguard. Depending on your account size, you might be able to get a nice transfer bonus and possibly some rebate on fees if needed.
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Taylor Larimore
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Armando:

Leaving our long time financial advisor and "friend" (every good salesperson becomes a "friend") at Merrill Lynch in 1986 was one of the most difficult things we ever did. He used to invite us sailing on his lovely sailboat every year.

Looking back, leaving Merrill Lynch for Vanguard was the best investment decision we ever made.

Best wishes
Taylor

P.S. Our "friend" never took us sailing again. :annoyed
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TSWNY
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by TSWNY »

I was hesitant to fire our FA as well. I wrote her an email explaining that the more I was taking an active role in OUR retirement the more I realized that she can't compete with Vanguard. The more I educated myself on this forum is when I started to resent her for the way our portfolio was set up. After I sent her the email she couldn't even call me herself, her assistant called. That was the final nail in the coffin and we walked away.......After we paid $35 on each of the 24 funds she has us in.
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retiredjg
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by retiredjg »

Armando wrote:My question, then, is this: how do I politely fire this guy?
"Thank you for your assistance in the past. You have been very helpful, but I've decided to move my money to a lower cost (or another) provider."

This is a statement, not a introduction to a discussion. If the "advisor" insists on trying to have a discussion, just keep saying "thanks, but this decision has already been made."

Do not get drawn into a discussion. No matter what you say, you can't win.
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StormShadow
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by StormShadow »

CAsage wrote:Contact your new provide (Fidelity or Vanguard, which is getting too big...), give them a copy of your most recent statements with all your accounts, and they will transfer it over. Then send your former Financial Adviser a nice hand written thank you note for his assistance; no reason required. Never explain, it just makes things worse!
+1 :mrgreen:

A nice clean break. They'll try to convince you to change your mind, of course. But have that conversation after the money's transferred. :beer
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Hawaiishrimp
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Hawaiishrimp »

Taylor Larimore wrote:Armando:

Leaving our long time financial advisor and "friend" (every good salesperson becomes a "friend") at Merrill Lynch in 1986 was one of the most difficult things we ever did. He used to invite us sailing on his lovely sailboat every year.

Looking back, leaving Merrill Lynch for Vanguard was the best investment decision we ever made.

Best wishes
Taylor

P.S. Our "friend" never took us sailing again. :annoyed
With the money you saved, I'm sure you have enough to buy a sail boat for yourself. :sharebeer
I save and invest my money, so money can make money for me, so I don't have to make money eventually.
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Hawaiishrimp
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Hawaiishrimp »

When I fired my FA, I told him straight.

"Commission (1%) is eating too much into my gains. I can no longer allow myself to use this service. Thank you. Please proceed with the transfer."

Basically, I do not see a reason to sugarcoat it.
I save and invest my money, so money can make money for me, so I don't have to make money eventually.
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Sandtrap »

CAsage wrote:Contact your new provide (Fidelity or Vanguard, which is getting too big...), give them a copy of your most recent statements with all your accounts, and they will transfer it over. Then send your former Financial Adviser a nice hand written thank you note for his assistance; no reason required. Never explain, it just makes things worse!
+1
Last edited by Sandtrap on Fri Jan 13, 2017 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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StevieG72
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by StevieG72 »

CAsage wrote:Contact your new provide (Fidelity or Vanguard, which is getting too big...), give them a copy of your most recent statements with all your accounts, and they will transfer it over. Then send your former Financial Adviser a nice hand written thank you note for his assistance; no reason required. Never explain, it just makes things worse!
+1

No need to explain, they should know why!
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.
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Watty
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Watty »

Be sure to get copies of any of the information that you might need before your close the account. Getting copies of old statements or cost basis information will be much more difficult after the account is closed.


If you are married then if he tries to talk you into staying you can use your spouse as an excuse and let him know that the decision is final since that is what your spouse wants.
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JaneyLH
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by JaneyLH »

Hawaiishrimp wrote:
Taylor Larimore wrote:Armando:

Leaving our long time financial advisor and "friend" (every good salesperson becomes a "friend") at Merrill Lynch in 1986 was one of the most difficult things we ever did. He used to invite us sailing on his lovely sailboat every year.

Looking back, leaving Merrill Lynch for Vanguard was the best investment decision we ever made.

Best wishes
Taylor

P.S. Our "friend" never took us sailing again. :annoyed
With the money you saved, I'm sure you have enough to buy a sail boat for yourself. :sharebeer
Yes, we experienced the same. Our financial adviser told me she feared I was making a great mistake. I told her I didn't think so.

I was right. I just checked my "old" set of investments on Morningstar and boy oh boy did I do the right thing!
inbox788
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by inbox788 »

People break up over text

http://thechive.com/2014/09/16/breaking ... 25-photos/

so texting seems like the modern way of doing things. Is there an appropriate emoticon to use? :wink:
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Bogle_Feet
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Bogle_Feet »

Armando wrote:how do I politely fire this guy?
Fire???? You are working with a NON-fiduciary, also known as a salesman! He doesn't legally work for you and your best interests any more than a car salesman! Call up Vanguard and get the paperwork rolling.

In the future NEVER mix friendship with business. NEVER.
rick2427
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by rick2427 »

When I fired my FA several years ago, I wrote an email to him something like this:

Dear FA,

I am consolidating/simplifying all of my and my wife's accounts. In the process, we have also realized that going with no-load, low ER funds was best for us in the future. As such, I have decided and initiated a transfer of all funds (in-kind) from XYZ Advisors to Vanguard Inc.

Please do not make any changes to any of my, my wife's or our joint accounts or the funds in the accounts, effective immediately.

Thank you for helping me start out in investing for my retirement.

Sincerely,
ved
+1
I did something similar last September just before the 3rd quarter ended. I got a call from my FA asking for the reason. I politely advised him that we have decided to invest in low cost index funds ....he quickly agreed to close the account.

Cheers,
Rick
https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1139732#p1139732
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EyeYield
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by EyeYield »

My full service broker was my friend too. I felt I owed him a face to face break up. I went in and told him I was moving my account with him to my existing account with Fidelity. I told him that I want to manage my own account.
We had a long conversation and at one point I started rattling off the authors I have read. When I told him I was reading Jack Bogle, he had a visible facial change and his jaw clenched. It was like he knew the jig was up.
His response was that some people know how to make money and some people know how to manage money. I guess he thought I didn't know how to make money, but I'm making it by him not taking it.
We're still friends and I see him often, but I haven't had the heart to tell him that I did an analysis of how much I would have lost if I had bought his recommendations.
He knows......
I doubt that my leaving had anything to do with it, but he was moved to an office far, far away.
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dwickenh
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by dwickenh »

Taylor Larimore wrote:Armando:

Leaving our long time financial advisor and "friend" (every good salesperson becomes a "friend") at Merrill Lynch in 1986 was one of the most difficult things we ever did. He used to invite us sailing on his lovely sailboat every year.

Looking back, leaving Merrill Lynch for Vanguard was the best investment decision we ever made.

Best wishes
Taylor

P.S. Our "friend" never took us sailing again. :annoyed
Taylor,

Maybe you took all the wind out of his sails!!!!

Best to you,

Dan
The market is the most efficient mechanism anywhere in the world for transferring wealth from impatient people to patient people.” | — Warren Buffett
rustymutt
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by rustymutt »

Don't use the word fired. You don't owe them a thing. Make this as easy on yourself as you can.
I'm my own financial advisor, and had to even threaten to fire myself, if I don't stick to my IPO.
Just take what's yours, and leave.
Even educators need education. And some can be hard headed to the point of needing time out.
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Steelersfan
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Steelersfan »

I didn't "fire" my American Funds' adviser, I just left him. I sold my holdings with an online transaction to my linked checking account, and once the funds had arrived there I bought funds at Vanguard, using my linked checking account there. It was a taxable account. If it had been an IRA I would have contacted Vanguard and had them initiate the transfer.

It was a six figure holding and he never contacted me about it. I thought that was a bit unusual but I wasn't unhappy.
carolinaman
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by carolinaman »

noco-hawkeye wrote:I don't like having these discussions, because your advisor is going to try to sell you until the final transfer occurs. They might even become mad at you. Do you really care if they get offended / upset?

I think the hand written note or email is best. I know when I've started a conversation like this, it just becomes a debate or even worse. All you need to say is "thank you for your help".

If you want to be snarky, you can say "thank you for your help, I hope you enjoyed all the money you received from my fees and reduction in my savings" (those are my inside thoughts :wink: )
I agree that letter or email is best approach. A phone call invites opportunity for adviser to try and get you to change your mind. And no, please do not be "snarky". No reason for that.
livesoft
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by livesoft »

Here is another thread (wih a poll) with some testimonials on leaving advisors:
viewtopic.php?t=144994

Apparently, it is pretty easy to do since they are really expecting it.
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DA200
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by DA200 »

We went to a Fidelity office to initiate a $1M fund transfer from UBS (who was taking 2% for each buy/sell transaction). Five minutes after the Fidelity rep submitted the transfer process, my wife's cell phone started ringing (it was the first time the advisor at UBS had ever called us - we had always called him). Amazing how fast they can react when money is leaving. She did not answer the call, but she did feel compelled to write a short email to him later that day. I didn't even think he deserved the email...
Nowizard
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Nowizard »

If you had a long-term relationship that was beneficial but have reached the point where you have sufficient confidence to take over your own investments or new information that lead you to change due to lower expenses or other reasons, why not thank him/her and simply state you have decided to make a change? You can stick with that "broken record" response if he/she asks for more information. There is no "polite" way to fire anyone when it compromises their desired choices since it always implies criticism of one sort or another. Not fun to disappoint others, but it is helpful to assume that most others are trying to do their best and will make changes if reasons reflect their shortcomings and will feel somewhat better if reasons are related to company policy rather than the individual. Some might even choose to "fire" their employer and find another one where they could experience increased probabilies of keeping clients such as yourself. Is it necessary to do this? Of course not, but many of us would.

Tim
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Sandtrap »

DA200 wrote:We went to a Fidelity office to initiate a $1M fund transfer from UBS (who was taking 2% for each buy/sell transaction). Five minutes after the Fidelity rep submitted the transfer process, my wife's cell phone started ringing (it was the first time the advisor at UBS had ever called us - we had always called him). Amazing how fast they can react when money is leaving. She did not answer the call, but she did feel compelled to write a short email to him later that day. I didn't even think he deserved the email...
+1
Last edited by Sandtrap on Fri Jan 13, 2017 10:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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dbr
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by dbr »

It's not different from any other human relationship. If you intend to be polite you let the person know by an e-mail or a phone call what you intend and you say thank you for their help. If that creates a problem from their end then it may be their behavior will defeat your intentions, but that is not on you. I think a lot of advisors will respond politely in kind and some will attempt a hard sell which you can ignore. The best thing to say is that you want to manage everything yourself. If you don't really mean to be polite, then you say nothing at all to them unless you are somehow forced to.
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fishandgolf
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by fishandgolf »

Toons wrote:Initiate an asset transfer via Vanguard.
https://investor.vanguard.com/account-t ... sfer-money

:happy
Yep.......best way to do this.

Also, be certain you know what you want to transfer. If you are planning to transfer funds that VG doesn't have they might charge you a fee (I think it's like $50.00 per fund). You might want to consider liquidating into cash, then make the transfer. Again....VG can assist you with this.

Good Luck :sharebeer
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Sandtrap
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Sandtrap »

dbr wrote:It's not different from any other human relationship. If you intend to be polite you let the person know by an e-mail or a phone call what you intend and you say thank you for their help. If that creates a problem from their end then it may be their behavior will defeat your intentions, but that is not on you. I think a lot of advisors will respond politely in kind and some will attempt a hard sell which you can ignore. The best thing to say is that you want to manage everything yourself. If you don't really mean to be polite, then you say nothing at all to them unless you are somehow forced to.
+1
Professionals will be professional.
Last edited by Sandtrap on Fri Jan 13, 2017 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Pale Horse
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Pale Horse »

Taylor Larimore wrote:He used to invite us sailing on his lovely sailboat every year.
Very generous of him to share the sailboat you indirectly bought for him.
Afty
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by Afty »

I did it over the phone. I prepared a little spiel and got really worked up about it. In reality, my advisor knew what was coming -- he had already gotten signals when I started asking about fees, index investing, etc. He didn't push back at all and it was actually quite pleasant.
Last edited by Afty on Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
winstonfoot5
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Re: How to politely fire my financial advisor

Post by winstonfoot5 »

Hi Bogleheads,

Also medium-time lurker, first time poster. Really enjoyed this thread and it has motivated me to share my story. Will be interested to hear your thoughts.

Several years ago I had a 6 digit windfall while in grad school when a close family member died. Being borderline financially illiterate and a life-long student, I simply placed the funds under the stewardship of our long-time family financial advisor where they were placed in a taxable brokerage account as actively managed funds/AUM. Now having some level of wealth for the first time in life, I became interested in personal finance and began my financial education (my parents are not professionals, but "blue collar" and equally financially illiterate); I quickly gravitated toward William Bernstein, The Bogleheads Guide to Investing, etc. I now feel confident to be a "DIY" investor and am ready to move on from the financial advisor.

I'm comfortable with the approach to take to inform this advisor that I will be moving my money (as described in this thread), despite how awkward it will be given.

My question for you all is - what advice do you have regarding the mechanics of the move (i.e. going from a taxable account w actively managed funds to somewhere else [i.e. mb Vanguard?]; none of this is tax-protected)? Any advice on the best approach? I'm still quite new at all this and the sum is large enough that I don't want to [mess --admin LadyGeek] this up. But I'd also like to keep things as simple as possible.

thanks for your thoughts!
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Taylor Larimore
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Vanguard Personal Advisor Service

Post by Taylor Larimore »

winstonfoot5:

Welcome to the Bogleheads Forum and thanks for sharing your story.
My question for you all is - what advice do you have regarding the mechanics of the move (i.e. going from a taxable account w actively managed funds to somewhere else [i.e. mb Vanguard?]; none of this is tax-protected)? Any advice on the best approach?
If you have decided to move a large or complex portfolio to Vanguard, especially if the funds are in a taxable account, it is often a good idea to use Vanguard's Personal Advisor Service. Vanguard advisors, who are not paid with commissions, will give you unbiased professional advice and handle the transfer for you. The cost is low, only 0.30%/year. At the end of twelve months you can cancel the service if you feel that you can manage your portfolio yourself.

Best wishes.
Taylor
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
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