Do you have a financial planner/wealth advisor?

[max_boost]

lol maybe a real baller can chime in. The ones at the banks are quite ABC in their approach, more like selling you a prepackaged combo. You wanna know who all the multimillionaires are talking to. So ballers plz, are you managing your own $$$ lol

[killramos]

Originally posted by broken_legs
Anyone currently deal with an adviser who can structure Canadian family trusts, Offshore Trusts (NRT), advise on corporate vehicles for tax mitigation, foreign ownership of real property and the likes?

Please send me a PM.

Sounds like you need more of an accountant or a lawyer... Maybe both.

[mazdavirgin]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
So here's a question. If I have some cash to invest do I put it into a mutual fund, an eft or a gif? I believe the max I can put into a GIF is $31K and $6k a year after that but the return seems to be 10%/year.

I'd really like to talk to someone who an advise me on this but I get so many different answers.

Frankly it depends. What's the status of your TFSA or RRSP accounts? IMHO you are best off maxing out your TFSA and putting the remainder into your RRSP. Anything in excess can be held outside of tax sheltered/deferred accounts. You also should self direct your TFSA and RRSP. Use these accounts to buy ETF's. If you are feeling risky then put them all into equities otherwise buy a 60/40 split of equities and bonds. Re balance your portfolio on a yearly basis and voila.

As for 10%/year, run away quick. You don't get returns like without significant risk. If someone is guaranteeing 10% a year they are either straight up liars or running a scam.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by max_boost
lol maybe a real baller can chime in. The ones at the banks are quite ABC in their approach, more like selling you a prepackaged combo. You wanna know who all the multimillionaires are talking to. So ballers plz, are you managing your own $$$ lol

Whoever the multimillionaires are talking to, also won't talk to you unless you have the same multi-millions.

Eons ago when I was in a start-up, there was a group that handle investments for a lot of ballers and we were there looking for extra funding.

Whoever invested in us got burned hard..... We had a good product but got muscled out by MS.

[max_boost]

everyone wants to hit a home run. slow and steady wins the race. more so about wealth preservation for the average folks. just ride the index up and down or find someone who can beat it over the long haul.

[ExtraSlow]

I'm bumping this because my finances are getting more complex, and now as of this year, I have some much more complex tax stuff to deal with.
Not looking for someone who will pick investments for me, just want advice on tax planning, and allocating investments between RRSP, TFSA, RESP, paying down mortgage, Spousal RRSP.

Preferably a fee based advisor, not one of those bank employees.

[gkAeris]

i have a FA, he is the best!

i actually went through 2 FA's before this one, now I transferred all my and my husbands investments to him. the previous FA's put MY money into funds where they would seek the most profit and while i did make gains, they took a 3% cut first (or something like that) or put me into funds that make them the best commission. bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i need an FA because i know NOTHING about investments or savings, and i have no interest in learning it. I figure why not have a "professional" do it, i mean you get a mechanic to fix your car, a dentist to clean your teeth, so i have a FA to do my financial planning while i do what i do best.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
No.... because scam

Two reasons:

1) If somebody was really good at building wealth, they wouldn't be working at an adviser for the average Joe... they would either be working for 7 figures somewhere, or be sitting on a beach enjoying the sun... or a combination of both.

2) Nobody cares about your money more than you.... if they lose 80% of your life savings on a bad bet, oh well.

All of this.

[Manhattan]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak
No.... because scam

Two reasons:

1) If somebody was really good at building wealth, they wouldn't be working at an adviser for the average Joe... they would either be working for 7 figures somewhere, or be sitting on a beach enjoying the sun... or a combination of both.

2) Nobody cares about your money more than you.... if they lose 80% of your life savings on a bad bet, oh well.

A financial advisor makes sense if you're lazy or don't know a thing about investing which is the large majority of the population. So I wouldn't say it's a complete scam. If you're curious about investing and preparing for the future then you are already ahead of the game and could probably save the costs of a financial advisor by investing just a bit of your time to learn about money management.

This is basically what financial advisors do in a nutshell:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ncial-Facelift

[Sugarphreak]

...

[riander5]

Bavarian Beast is mine, very low fees

I also lived vicariously through sugarphreak but he doesnt post trades no mo

[max_boost]

Still looking for a baller recommendation lol someone not to actively manage but someone to sit down once a year and chat with while I control the portfolio.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[codetrap]

.

[carzcraz]

We had a financial planner with BMO Nesbitt Burns.

We were clients for a couple of years with them, but decided to pull out and am currently successfully managing our own investments.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Originally posted by Sugarphreak


I was getting overwhelmed with course work, so I parked most of it in Aberdeen Pacific, Suncor and Cenovus for now, haha.

Come on! Would it kill you to post a half dozen trades, even if only on paper. It kills my inner John C. Bogle to say I followed the previous trades. This is Calgary, we demand our piece of the rising oil tide.

[sneek]

Originally posted by carzcraz
We had a financial planner with BMO Nesbitt Burns.

We were clients for a couple of years with them, but decided to pull out and am currently successfully managing our own investments.

My parents had a financial advisor for many years with CIBC Woodgundy. From what I saw he was far from good considering how sloppy he was with recommendations (Not tax efficient or considerate of fees). Since he left, my parents were able to move their money out of Woodgundy and manage on their own. Sugarphreak is totally right. Nobody cares about your money more than you.

[Jlude]

Originally posted by max_boost
Still looking for a baller recommendation lol someone not to actively manage but someone to sit down once a year and chat with while I control the portfolio.

Like a number of people have said, there is nobody that is going to take care of your money better than you, so if you're looking to make your money work for your, you need to be aggressive in that.

I recently started a property management company under my holding company to buy some properties and rent them out. It's a hastle for sure, but in the end, after paying someone to manage the properties and do a little more paper work, I have better control over steering my finances and profits. Also, and I think this is the biggest thing; the tax savings. You have to be extremely creative to really maximize your tax benefits, again, who is going to do that better than you? I have an accountant who is the founder of a large firm, who I deal with directly and even I have to recommend some things to him. They are certainly not illegal, but might not make CRA very happy. Fuck them though, I'll push this right to the edge, but be careful to not go over.

Anyone who has millions and is just handing it off to someone to manage, without really knowing what that manager is doing, is asking for trouble. If you have made millions, you did so by taking control and making things happen. Why would you then sit back and be hands off on the money you made, it doesn't make sense.

[flipstah]

I'd take advice from Financial Advisors to see if I'm on the right track, but won't leave my money with them.

[bjstare]

It's important to distinguish what tier of FA we're talking about. The ones you'll find in your local branch where you have your savings account aren't exactly part of the all star lineup. However, if you go to a private investment firm, (i.e. one where you have to give them a minimum amount of money to play with, usually well into the 6 figure range) your experience will be much different.

Having said all that, I 100% agree that no one cares more about my money than I do.