Hi I am a 25 year old recent graduate currently making a $63,000 annual salary in the engineering field. I was talked into financial planning services from a friend who's company works under the parent company Mass Mutual.
I was skeptical at first because they sell whole life insurance and claim to also be financial advisors. I didnt like the thought because obviously there is a conflict of interest. I know they make money off of commission from signing up people to their plans. When I hired them, I told them specifically that I did not want a whole life insurance policy. Im very against it and think money could be used better in other investments. I told them I only wanted financial advising which they charge an annual fee of $1000 to do on top of trading fees, percentage of total investment, etc. I figured it couldn't hurt because I could see what kind of returns I get the first year and then continue or leave accordingly.
When we first started the process they get me scheduled with a check up to see if I qualify for long term disability. They told me the check up was only for that. After I qualified they told me to get the insurance through Mass Mutual without even showing me other competitors rates. when I asked them why we were going through MM they said cause it had the best rates. After I signed up for this they then proceed to talk to me about getting set up to save for retirement. Keep in mind I am perfectly ok with living off of 50-60k a year in retirement. They never even asked me how much I want to live off of after I retire. All they do is give me two retirement saving options to choose from.
Both options get me to the same amount of savings in the end but one involves I set aside $750 monthly and the other involves setting aside around $1600 (about half of my take home pay). Coincidentally the one that involved lower monthly payments was a whole life insurance option which they told me I qualified for because of the medical check up I did for long term disability. The $1600 option involves them setting up a brokerage account for me where they will manage my account for me with an expected return of ~5% annually.
I have never heard of anyone my age having to save 50% of their income to have enough money in retirement and think they are just trying to collect trading fees and commission. I dont know anything about retirement or how much I need to save but I find it hard to believe it would be this much. They never even talked about trying to max out an IRA or anything like that either. Can anyone give me some insight and opinions on this company?
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Submitted December 01, 2020 at 10:06PM by kazekagebunshin https://ift.tt/3lxtkeW
