Interesting you would bring it up. I was talking to my financial advisor yesterday about a CD that is maturing and I decided to roll it back over into a CD even though the interest rates are ridiculously low. I want my money to be safe. He said it is a good time to invest your money but there's no way I'm investing my money right now. I've always been ultra conservative in where I put my money and I'm like you, I don't care. I just want to make sure I have what I started with.

I never had a financial advisor and probably never will. My sister employed one when she went through her divorce and the way she talks, she is glad she did. Came away with a lot more money than she thought she would and he advised her on how to invest it. Vique.

It's been said and it's true, if you can't sleep at night after making an investment, better not to make it. It sounds like most of us are experiencing that feeling. I'm doing my research now and will watch what happens in the next three months and then I'm going to make a decision whether to jump in again or not.

The problem is, most 'financial advisors' aren't so much advisors as SALESMEN. You have to look at how they're supporting themselves--if it's from commissions from the products (investments) they're conning--excuse me--convincing--people to buy, then there's a serious conflict of interest there. And they aren't so much advising you as they are moving your money from your pocket to theirs.

In almost every case I've seen, financial advisors are selling something. Personally? I feel I'm the best one to make decisions about my $$$--and while I'm not rich by any means, as a SAHW, I've been able to amass enough money over the past 25+ years to be able to afford to buy us a second home and carry it (out of 'my' money, not our marital accounts) for the forseeable future. I don't think anyone could advise me better on managing the little bits of money that I've made grow to that extent. I haven't even had a full-time job in decades.

And my feeling right now is that it's NOT the time to be doing anything at all iffy with your money. You even have to look very critically at the banks you chose to store your $$$ in.

You may be losing money by investing too conservatively. What has happened recently is very tough to stomach. I've lost about 45%. Over the long haul the market does a lot better than fixed investments. Dollar cost averaging is a safe way to invest. Right now I am putting as much money into the market as I can afford. I am purchasing shares at a discount.
It all comes down to how long you have before you need the money. You should have at least 10 years or more. If losing money keeps you awake at night you don't belong in stocks.
Donna

I agree with you azzalea, these "financial advisors" are "salesmen", they almost remind me of a "car salesman".

I watch a lot of them on tv, most of them are trying to also flog a book they have written about how to make money, when in fact they are the ones making the money by "selling their book". Drives me crazy.

Ali Velchi from CNN is one example, he is always on the news telling people how to invest their money and then he holds up a book he has just written.

I too feel that I am the best one to decide on how to invest my money, I don't need a stranger telling me.

It depends on how they are compensated. I have a fee only advisor. I pay him 1% of my investable assets. He does not make commission on anything he advises me on.
Donna

Well, the term "financial adviser" is used loosely these days. I, too, have an aversion to those guys who obtain some sort of certificate and then set up shop to "advise" people by trying to sell them their annuities and other products.

I have an account with an investment firm, and I think of my stock broker as my "financial adviser" because he gives me advice on my finances. He doesn't work transaction commissions, but instead the firm takes a percentage of my assets as a yearly fee. When I make more money, they make more money.

Like so many others, I lost over 40% of the value of my portfolio this past fall. I certainly don't blame my financial adviser/stockbroker, and I expect the value to come back up. I just hope I'm still around when it does. I noticed a slight rise in the December statement, BTW.

I also have an advisor who takes a percentage of my assets as his fee. He wants to make money, so he steers us well!

DH and I also do some individual stock on our own. We have been putting every spare dollar into buying those stocks. We have done quite well there...

Many 'investments' barely keep up with inflation.

And just how long does it take to earn back the 40 to 45% that you lost. If it takes 3 years to earn that money back, then you are no further ahead, actually you are behind.

I would rather just earn 3 or 4 percent a year and not risk losing my capital.

Mutual fund advisors, are mostly mutual fund salespeople.
I remember years ago when Nortel was tanking along with all the other dot.com stocks. They were saying Buy, Buy Buy!!! all the way down. A lot of people lost their shirts and all their savings when they invested near the top and it went down to pennies.
I know some retired school teachers and they invested their pension in a lot of Nortel cause it was doing so good at the time.
Bad move, but it was a viable stock at the time.

They say stocks go up over the long haul, but you never know when it goes down. And it always goes down regularly, and it might be, like this time around, when you absolutely need it for tuition, retirement or something.

Return OF your investment is more important than Return ON your investment IMO

"It depends on how they are compensated. I have a fee only advisor. I pay him 1% of my investable assets. He does not make commission on anything he advises me on."
Donna

I have the same type of advisor as you, Donna - with all my accounts, through Fidelity - I pay 1% of the value of my assets each fiscal year.

enjoying spring,
This was one of the toughest years in market history. Making 3% in a CD does look good in this market. You can't just look at this bear market and make a comparison. I lost a lot this year, but also made 28% in years prior. In the long haul the market usually does better.
Donna

I don't have one...and I ended the year ahead with my investments. No CDs, no stock.

"And just how long does it take to earn back the 40 to 45% that you lost. If it takes 3 years to earn that money back, then you are no further ahead, actually you are behind."

Well, first off I did not lost 40-45%.

Second, I am in this for the long haul. Over time, stocks have always proven to give the best returns.

So what if it takes three years to rebound (but it already has started, so i don't think it will take that long...)?

In ten years, or 15, or whenever we will need that money, it will be a definite asset for us!

Oh, I forgot to mention...

Most of what we lost is on paper only.

If you go by what we actually contributed, we lost little. The losses are losses only if you sell now.

I thought most financical advisors nowadays are fee related or commissioned based on earnings and not based on commissions of something they may sell you. I know you can find some of those car salesman type guys in the yellow pages, but does anyone here really use one or even know of anyone that uses one? Come on, generally, I think you're giving financial advicers a bad rap.

Bottom line, if you want to take a gamble, right now is a GREAT time. Fact is you may not want to gamble and to each his own, but generally speaking the advisors on tv are probably giving pretty good financial advice.. and not just for individuals but for the economy as a whole.

Several of my stocks are paying good dividends which makes for a 6% yield or more on some of them. I don't care that the stock is down, so long as my ship comes in quarterly.

Sue

High dividend stocks are a great investment.

Our financial advisor works on straight commission -- if she doesn't make us money she doesn't make money (and she just had her 3rd child.) We took a hit in '08, but not anywhere near the market dive of 38% (we're diversified, since we'r in our late 50's.) Our 4 adult kids (late 20's- late 30's) are all hanging in there, knowing the stock market will come back. One son (who has 4 young kids and wants to retire @ 40, in 4 yrs.) is buying a LOT of stocks in companies he thinks will rebound quickly, at bargain prices. (Our financial advisor is the one he's had for years. . . .)

Would you rather pay full price for a suit, or get it at a discount?

Stocks are on sale, now.

While I'm down about 27%, few of the quality stocks have reduced their dividend payment rate ... which means that, if your stock price was 100 and went to 80, and was paying 4 before ... what was earlier 4% return now has grown to 5%.

I've been buying stocks in recent years ... some have suffered small losses: some severe.

Some Canadian banks, about the soundest in the formerly industrialized world, are on sale these days ... and paying about 5% or better.

Also, Canadian Dollar was at par for a while, recently, and now has gone back down to about 80 cents.

I strongly suggest that you U.S.folks hold some of your assets denominated in non-U.S. currencies, as many feel that the U.S. Dollar will be taking a beating, and that before too long. The Chinese are refusing to buy a lot more of your bonds. The Chinese, the Japanese and the Koreans, among whom there is very little love lost, are setting aside their traditional antipathies to one another to figure ways that they can protect themselves from what they believe to be an imminent slide in the value of the U.S. Dollar, and develop alternate markets.

Some Canadian oil and gas unit trusts are paying 10% ... and some up to 20%, but there is to be a reorganization of them in a couple of years.

In the light of all of the stuff that crowds our stores, whose feedstock to manufacture (plus the packaging) is mainly petroleum, if you think that oil prices will stay low ...

... would you like to buy a bridge that connects Manhattan with Brooklyn?

Oh, careful - our governments, short of money, are talking of privatizing water, sewers, etc. - including roads, which may include bridges ... so maybe you will be able to buy it for real, before long!

Oil prices aren't going to stay low - it's a liquid crucial to our economic survival (and many aren't caring that much about our carbon footprint).

Oil stock prices, those of a quality companies, will rise, as well.

If you may need to sell the share soon, maybe don't buy.

Also, there may be a fire sale on stocks later, before they begin to rise on a longer-term basis.

But - who knows where the bottom may be?

So, for assets that you can leave undisturbed for a few years ... when you buy quality companies now, I'm sure that you'll be laughing, later.

As for Nortel - anyone who had more than a small percentaqge of his/her total asset in that (or any) one stock ...

... had cheese for brains!

If you (to my mind, foolishly) put anything near all of your eggs in one basket - better have lots of really good shock absorber in the bottom of the basket ...

...and make darn sure that you don't stumble! (Or walk through darkened rooms). (Or trip over humankind's best friend ... the dog!).

One advisor with whose record I've been familiar for a while, and whose judgement I've come to trust, over 16 years has produced average 5-year returns varying from low of 16.58% in 2,000 ... to a high of 42.16% in 2005 - a difference of 25.58 spread.

If you consider his 10-year average rates of return, the spread is, as one would expect over that longer period, much smaller, at 9.7: from 19.67% in 2007 to 29.37%, again in 2005.

Prior to 2008, in which I expect that they will report a loss, there were two years in which his program suffered losses, 17.4% in 2000 and 15.5% in 2007. Never before losses two years in a row and, since I trust that they have not lost their touch, I believe that they will produce in 2009.

In their initial years, 1992 nd 1993, their growth rate was 50 and 77%, and following the 17% loss in 2000, their growth rate in 2001 was 64.8%, in 2002 47.3% and in 2003 68.4%.

Apart from the two loss years, their rate of growth was under 10% in 5 years - but over 10% in 9 of the 16 years prior to 2008 (for which their record is not yet available to me).

His advisory (i.e. a listing of the the 20 or so fairly low-priced, sometimes beat-up stocks that they know to have good value) costs over $500. per year.

I have offered a good amount of what I consider to be useful advice here over a few years, at no charge.

But, now that I've decided to subscribe, if you think that I'm about to divulge the names of those stocks (unless you're willing to share in the fees) ...

... you're dreaming in technicolour!

Usually, after a substantial drop in the market, there are major gains for two or three, sometimes four years - but usually in a different sector.

Where's the market bottom? No one knows ... but after several rises ... that turn out to have been false starts, when the market drops back down again ...

... it sure is frustrating to see the market take off ... and at speed ... while your money is sitting "safely" in a bank ... earning 3% (if you're lucky). While they make more on it than you do!

What's better than putting your money into the bank?

Buying the bank!

ole joyful

I'm sure glad I didn't have money invested in the bonds/guaranteed investments of Enron and Lehman Bros to name two.

No risk - no reward.

Stocks are proven to outperform OVER TIME.

Joyfulguy, I like your way of thinking. Good facts and informed decisions.