Home Finance “I don’t trust my finance guy.” I’m 67 and trying to live on Social Security of $2.2 Ka a month. I have $500,000 with an advisor who charges 2%, but last year the return was 26%. What’s my move?

“I don’t trust my finance guy.” I’m 67 and trying to live on Social Security of $2.2 Ka a month. I have $500,000 with an advisor who charges 2%, but last year the return was 26%. What’s my move?

by trpliquidation
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"I don't trust my finance guy." I'm 67 and trying to live on Social Security of $2.2 Ka a month. I have $500,000 with an advisor who charges 2%, but last year the return was 26%. What's my move?

Ask: “I am 67 years old and live – or try to live – on Social Security benefits of $2,200 per month. I don’t trust my finance guy. I handed him an IRA of about $500,000 without really digesting how much his 2% AUM fee would make. He invested in about six different funds, Class A, which cost me a lot up front. He charges 2% to add extra money. My return was 26%, but I know this will vary from year to year.

He keeps bugging me about extra money for an individual account (which I currently have on a 5% CD due in March). I need to get out of this situation, but unfortunately I don’t have much knowledge about investing. Even though I probably wouldn’t get a 26% return, can I move that money into an online Vanguard or Fidelity account? Should I let a robo-investor do his thing? What if they don’t accept my money? Should I hire a new financial advisor to help me, and if so, which one?

Do you have a problem with your financial advisor or are you looking for a new one? Email picks@marketwatch.com.

Answer: At the highest level, if you don’t trust your advisor, leave – and that may be especially true in this case because his fee is very high. “A 2% AUM fee is immediately quite high, regardless of whether the advisor only manages your portfolio or provides comprehensive financial planning services. To put you in loaded investment funds, from which he or she also directly benefits, is scandalous in my opinion,” says certified financial planner Bruce Primeau of Avantax. Typically an AUM fee is around 1%, and can sometimes be negotiated downwards from that point.

Plus, the charge you paid for the money is a sunk cost, Primeau says. “In other words, you won’t get that back if you decide to leave your advisor and sell that money. My recommendation is to find an advisor who is a fiduciary to you – and not to the company they work for – who will strive to minimize your costs and invest your portfolio more tax-effectively,” says Primeau. In short, if you work with someone who charges sales fees or commissions, he or she is not a fiduciary because there is a clear conflict of interest that could interfere with what is actually best for you.

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