My parents are approaching retirement (within 5-10 years for both of them). While home for Christmas, my dad offered to take me along to meet with their financial advisor/planner so that I can have a better understanding of their estate in case something happens to them. He mentioned that he charges them 1% of their total retirement to manage their money. I did double check to verify that he charges 1% of the TOTAL money, and not 1% of the growth, and it’s of the total. I‘m not sure what his exact credentials/licensing is, and neither do my parents. I know that they like him personally because he‘s nice, used to be a preacher, and seems to care about what they want to do with their money and what their personal goals are, but to me this feels predatory. 1% of the total fund being managed seems to be, at best, a complete rip off.
Is this normal and I‘m just overreacting, or am I correct that this seems shady? If it is, do you guys have any recommendations for how I approach my parents regarding this? I obviously don‘t want to imply that they‘re dumb, or make them feel defensive about their choices, I just want them to have good financial/retirement practices.
Submitted December 25, 2018 at 01:33PM by Tofon http://bit.ly/2Smk7Z5
