Credit: While you're still thinking about getting your resolutions, life and finances in order, early in the year also marks a great time to think if you are ready to start investing or meet with a financial planner. And lucky you: Advisors now come in an unprecedented variety.
So do clients. People used to only seek help from financial pros if they had upwards of several hundred thousand dollars. In slightly more than a decade, that changed.
No matter if you have $1 million or $1,000 to invest, you still enjoy many options. Let's look at some if you want help with investment planning in 2015:
In-person advisors. Generally you meet with your financial advisor at least once a year to help you determine how to plan and organize your finances. He or she also helps you with investing: buying, selling and re-balancing your investments.
Broker-dealers buy and sell investments for clients and receive commissions as compensation. Registered investment advisors are in investment consulting, are registered either with the Securities and Exchange Commission or a state securities' authorities and may be paid via flat fees or commissions. Fee-only financial advisors (full disclosure: I am one) receive no commissions, trading fees or product reimbursements of any kind.
Among planners' certifications and designations:
- A certified financial planner (CFP) must take college-level financial planning courses, log at least three years' experience in financial planning and pass a 10-hour examination.
- A chartered financial consultant (ChFC) studies college-level insurance, estate planning, retirement funding, investments and others subjects in financial planning.
- A chartered financial analyst ( CFA ) studies security analysis, stocks, bonds, investment management and corporate finance.
In-person financial advisors may be a good fit if you want to delegate the investment planning responsibility; have savings that have grown too large for you to feel comfortable handling it alone; need more attention on goals and strategies; or want a personal relationship with the team that helps oversee your investments.
Digital advisors. A digital advisor works well if are interested in investing and want some professional guidance but aren't ready for the high minimums most traditional advisors require.
Digital advisors are primarily online and typically work with you through, phone, email, text or video chat. Some such advisories, such as my firm's new digital sister company Wela , use investment strategies we long implemented in-person with clients.
In addition to the advantages mentioned, digital advisors are also a good fit if you want to create a global view of all your finances and are sure you'll be comfortable with your interactions being primarily online and mobile
Robo-advisors. Robo (as in "robot")-advisors are a wonderful option if you want low-cost help investing, want to invest for the long term and don't need help with other financial decisions.
These companies, similar to digital advisors in that they request that you invest either low or no-minimum amounts, are 100% online and offer little to no human interaction. They aim to charge even less than digital advisors, typically 0.25% to 0.35% of your assets under management each year.
Both digital and robo-advisors keep all operations digital, facilitating such low fees. The typical process to open an investment account involves you logging on to the site and filling in a questionnaire on your investment tolerances. You then receive suggestions based on the online advisor's algorithms.
And remember: There's no longer any such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to managing your money.
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Wes Moss, CFP, is the chief investment strategist for Capital Investment Advisors and a partner at Wela, both in Atlanta. He hosts "Money Matters," a live financial advice show on Atlanta's News 95-5 and AM 750 WSB Radio. In 2014 Barron's Magazine named him as one of America's top 1,200 Financial Advisors. His newly released book, You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think published by McGraw Hill, is available on Amazon, iTunes and at your local bookstore.
Wes writes weekly about personal finance in the "Bargain Hunter Section" for AJC.com, the site of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Wes is also the editor and writer for About.com's Personal Finance blog. Connect with Wes on Twitter at @WesMoss365 and on Facebook at Wes Moss Money Matters. You can also visit his website, WesMoss.com to learn more about Wes, and take his complimentary Money and Happiness Quiz.
AdviceIQ delivers quality personal finance articles by both financial advisors and AdviceIQ editors. It ranks advisors in your area by specialty, including small businesses, doctors and clients of modest means, for example. Those with the biggest number of clients in a given specialtyrank the highest. AdviceIQ also vets ranked advisors so only those with pristine regulatory histories can participate.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
