{"id":7959,"date":"2024-06-23T17:42:49","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T21:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/what-you-should-ask-your-money-manager-right-now\/"},"modified":"2024-06-23T17:42:49","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T21:42:49","slug":"what-you-should-ask-your-money-manager-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/what-you-should-ask-your-money-manager-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Should Ask Your Money Manager \u2014 Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Profit<\/a>
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Editor\u2019s Note: Mark Ford is the Founder of Early To Rise<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Your money manager \u2014 just like your broker, banker, and insurance agent \u2014 makes his money by selling you a service. If you don\u2019t know exactly what he\u2019s doing for you or how much he\u2019s charging you, you are vulnerable.<\/p>\n

And yet, most investors \u2014 probably 8 out of 10 \u2014 don\u2019t know these things.<\/p>\n

If you hire a plumber to fix a leaky faucet, you know exactly what he\u2019s doing and how much you\u2019re paying him.<\/p>\n

But when your money manager recommends something \u2014 some sort of amazing new investment that guarantees your principle while simultaneously giving you an upside equal to the market \u2014 you probably only vaguely understand the transaction. And you may have no idea he\u2019s being paid multiple times for selling you that deal.<\/p>\n

The financial industry is very good at three things:<\/p>\n

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  1. Inventing financial products that are difficult to understand<\/li>\n
  2. Hiding the fees they charge their customers<\/li>\n
  3. Making sure they get paid even if their customers lose money.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are plenty of regulations in place that are supposed to make such costs transparent, but most of the disclosures are in small print and peppered with legal terms.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019m not suggesting all fees and charges are unfair. In fact, decades of consumer advocacy have reduced the number and types of tricks brokers, financial advisers, and money managers use to fleece their clients.<\/p>\n

    But there are still things to watch out for\u2026<\/p>\n

    Some money managers and financial advisers don\u2019t offer much to their clients. They\u2019ll scratch the surface\u2026 but in the end, they\u2019ll only provide a narrow range of financial services. Make sure what they offer fits your needs and includes diverse asset allocation, stock and bond recommendations, reporting, and so on.<\/p>\n

    Most of them will also charge you a fee for any financial advice. And some will collect commissions on any transactions. All of a sudden, it\u2019ll start costing you to do anything with your managed money \u2014 including just talking about it.<\/p>\n

    Another problem with money managers and financial advisers is they have a predisposition for mutual funds. They like mutual funds because they\u2019re easy. But mutual funds are also very expensive.<\/p>\n

    And that\u2019s not all\u2026<\/p>\n

    With a money manager, you are likely paying other fees, too. My colleague Tim Mittelstaedt at the Palm Beach Research Group has a good friend with a UBS-managed account. Tim studied the fine print, and this is what he found:<\/p>\n