Trading & Investing
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Fischer Investments
–Oct 7, 2023Looking for feedback from anyone who has worked with Fischer Investments. Their commercials say "we do better when our clients do better." I spoke to a representative, and some of what I was told sounds almost too good to be true, which of course makes me leery. I have a Zoom meeting coming up in a week, and would be helpful to hear from anyone who has invested with them. Feel free to respond to me privately.
Oct 7, 2023Investing Volunteers for Senior Women
–Dec 18, 2022Hello, I wonder if there is some volunteer organization or individual that helps seniors--senior women?--with investing. I am aware of a range of ways to get volunteer help with doing taxes, for example--and I keep wondering if there is an equivalent for investing. I'm familiar with scores of books, YouTube videos, investing groups, and social media sites that offer "advice." I'm not looking for those. I'm looking for someone who will talk to me about my own account and help me do what's needed to get it on the right path. Perhaps someone(s) retired from the field?
Thank you very much,"Ageing Solo"
Dec 18, 2022My 16yo has ADHD and is not interested in much aside from video games, tv shows and tennis. He has been a heavy Magic the Gathering player since he was 9 however he said recently that there's nothing for him anymore til he can play 18yo+ tournaments. He is not currently on the college track (getting through high school is a beast unto itself). The one thing he is interested in that has possible direct career potential is investing. He definitely has a mind for numbers, complex deal points, making money, risk, exploiting opportunities.
I have a Robinhood account which he uses with his own money. He buys and trades quickly, he is not into "traditional" investing (such as buying and holding for a long time), he wants to buy some NFTs, etc. As with many teens, he thinks he knows everything he needs to know and it's hard to convince him otherwise especially from Mom.
The latest post high school idea he shared with me is to live at home and invest for a year, complying with whatever rules I give him. I've been telling him that--at the least!--I would like him to have an investing mentor IRL, not just people he encounters on Discourse and Reddit. Maybe this could be a gap year, and afterward he sees the value of college or his daytrading has taken off? Previously I have told him that post high school, I expect him to work and/or go to school, period; no playing video games all day every day, etc.
Thoughts, ideas? Help! Thank you in advance.
Jan 27, 2022
Fisher takes a pretty hefty percentage fee compared to other firms or individual fiduciary advisors. I haven’t invested with them for that reason. I’d definitely shop around.
Fisher Investments does a lot of commercial advertising and often appears on Google news and their finance pages making different pronouncements. They also send out paper advertisements in the mail. (We have received some ourselves). Usually reputable firms do not have to undertake so much publicity as their reputation is spread by word of mouth. You might be correct in being leery as those who speak loudest and most often cannot always be trusted.
While I have NOT invested with them, here's my take on that pitch line: investment advisors tend to charge a percentage fee, based on the type of investment asset, and the value / amount of that asset. Their percentage fee tends to be highest on stocks, slightly lower for bonds, and lowest of all for "cash" part of the investment account. So ... if you start with $200,000 of stocks, and they're charging you a 1% fee to manage that portfolio of stocks, it would cost you $2,000 that year. If over time the value of the stocks goes up to $300,000, they'd then be charging you $3,000 that year. Thus, when "you do better ... they do better." And no, Fischer is not unique in this regard. This type of fee arrangement is very common for investment firms.
You might also want to consider how ubiquitous their ads are, and how much they must be spending on advertising ... Good luck!