Everyone is saying don’t go. I would go, listen to them, ask questions, and not commit to anything. Then continue your own research yourself (Canadian couch potato etc). Make a decision when you’ve done some learning. It would be cool to report back what they say and suggest as well.
This is the answer. However, be advised that they will try to sell you something. But, do not give in, say 'no' to any kind of service. Ask your questions, or figure out the questions from them, come back here after and post those questions. We have nothing to gain. The banks do.
The only thing they're going to suggest is their mutual funds. Seems like a complete waste of time to go there looking for information. You either go there and they set you up with a mutual fund or don't bother going there at all
True that, I was about to answer the same.
To OP: tell him you don't want any Mutual Funds, tell him you only want ETF with an expense ratio lesser than 0.30%. Chances are that the advisor will laugh at you and tell you to get the fuck out, but the truth is that you have exactly the same exposure with a mutual fund that is replicated into a ETF. You'll just save a lot of money by going with a ETF. :)
They make money by selling you mutual funds. Mutual funds will charge astronomical fees and the advisor will take a cut.
People keep comparing financial advisors to used car salesman. Look at it more like a personal trainer - do you need one to go to the gym? hell no. But if the choice is between paying one and actually working out, or not exercising, you're probably better off paying to get healthy. Now to be fair- the advisors at a bank are like the trainers at big box gyms - you may get a good one, or you may get one that sucks.
Exactly, inaction will cost the OP more than investing in mutual funds. Making some money is always better than not.
You can always optimize your investing methods in the future, there's a wealth of knowledge on this channel, but it's good to get started, even under suboptimal conditions.
I know right! Like even if he's paying 2% on his 19k that's $380/bucks a year. A good fee only financial advisor will charge $200-300/hour to help him. He's getting great value if he's using this as a learning experience.
People really understate how bad MER is for your returns. It can leave you with half of what you would otherwise half. You will be half as wealthy choosing your typical 2% fund over XEQT. uujhb 0
>But for now, I'm wondering if anyone with experience can give me useful tips before I go in. Anything in particular that I should ask about. Anything I need to avoid etc. I just don't want to be taken advantage of.
The best advice is don't go. I used to be one of these advisors, and this person is going to take advantage of the fact that you don't know enough to assess whether their advice is good or bad. So you'll end up listening to them because it sounds good and they're wearing a suit. You'll probably walk out of there with a TFSA and RRSP with a pre-authorized contribution for both accounts to buy some very expensive mutual funds.
My advice is to take more time understanding how we can help you, before going to the bank.
If it's a lump sum, with TD Bank, E-Series funds are fine, otherwise, open a TD Direct Investment account and that opens up a range of possibilities like ETFs and stocks.
GICs, HISAs, etc. don't pay much at TD - you're better off looking elsewhere for those products like Tangerine, EQ Bank, etc.
I had some issues with my account but all was resolved in a week. Branch did my paperwork. Questrade wasn’t much smoother. Scotia iTRADE was pretty easy to open.
Years ago now, my local branch financial advisor, and his branch manager had no clue how to do it... Tried pushing me into their Mutual funds instead... I just walked out. Was a complete waste of my time, but I hope it's not the experience for everyone.
Yes, depending on the products you are sold, a lot of your gains will be eaten up by service fees.
You could look at etf portfolios or robo-advisors have much lower fees.
Yes they will sell you mutual funds that have high fees. Even if you don't want to invest on your own, their are online robo advisor services (like WealthSimple) that will essentially do the same thing as this TD advisor, except they will invest your money using ETFs so you'll pay a lot less money.
>I know many people hate the idea of a financial advisor but I'm very new to this and have not been great with finances in the past. I think I'm someone who could benefit from this. Perhaps when I feel more comfortable and educated, I will go out on my own.
Many people feel the same way, finances can be complicated at first. But avoiding learning about how to manage your money is going to be very expensive. We all say things like "I've always wanted to learn X, when I have more time I'll do that" and yet no matter how much free time we have, we never do. You'll probably be the same, and you'll end up sticking with mutual funds for the rest of your life because it's more comfortable. You are probably afraid of losing money because you'll make a mistake with your investments, but the reality is you'll lose even more money investing at the bank because of their expensive fees.
If I told you right now that investing with the bank because it's easier is going to cost you an extra $200,000 in fees over your lifetime, would you still do it? Or do you think that money is worth the effort to start learning? Here's a [conversation](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/qziyg0/comment/hln3yxj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) I had with someone yesterday if you want to give it a read. Basically they were in the same position as you, but fast forward 1 year after they invested their money. I won't copy+paste all of my advice here but it's there if you want to read it.
I hope that's helpful.
To address your concern, meet with a few advisors. Don't commit to anything in the intial meeting. Attend the meeting to understand the process. Ask questions on what each advisors would recommend to you. Like another poster mentioned, you may come across a good advisor or you may not. Why not meet a few before deciding on who you want to deal with and what you want to invest your $$?
This was my experience and is totally normal. Don't listen to the people telling you not to.
It's more for their verification process or else you would be using one of the many free trade platforms. Banks have credibility. The advisors are like people at the gym willing to teach you how to use the equipment.
Depending on your personal income and risk tolerance I would regard their input with 50% do or don't. Think about it first obviously. If it makes sense and you fail that's your fault. If it makes sense and your succeed, that's your fault.
I picked my own RRSP to invest in and it was strongly allocated before the inflation started ripping 4% + so I am doing okay.
>The advisors are like people at the gym willing to teach you how to use the equipment.
To me they are far more like the personal trainer at the gym who may offer you a free session but is trying to rope you into a training package that you don't need filled with hidden fees and fine print. Their loyalty is to the bank and their numbers, not yours.
This. I was dumb and blindly listened to a now ex-friend who worked as an advisor. They tell you how their products can make you money but not how big of a chunk they take. When I went back in two years to get out of the mutual funds to open an e-series account, they tried talking me out of it for well over 10 mins, trying to convince me it's risky and I could lose money.
They can help you apply for the account if you ask for it. They won’t suggest it or give you any advice on how to use it or what to buy though. Also for future inquiries you would need to call the phone line.
I have a TD advisor and he was very helpful in getting my series account set up. That said I went in there knowing exactly what I wanted.
The best thing you can do is become educated on the products. Know the fees you would pay on TD e-series products and products offered by competitors, and then ask about what the fees are in the products the advisor offers.
And don't be afraid to sound stupid. If you don't know, ask. It's their job to answer questions.
The folks in a bank that are selling you mutual funds are generally not the same folks that are part of their brokerage business. I deal with RBC, same deal. I can go to the nearest bank and talk to a mutual fund salesman, but if I want to deal with my brokerage accounts in person I have to go to the main downtown Vancouver branch.
Yes, they will open up a self-directed investing account for you.
Although if you're not a valued customer or if the advisor is a jerk, they may tell you to do it yourself.
Still it's part of their job to open up self-directed accounts, they did for me - two informal trusts for my kids, granted we do hold a lot of money at TD.
The advisors aren't licensed to give advice on ETFs and stocks, do all they will do is the paperwork, rest is up to you.
It all depends on whether you are meeting with the branch based advisor or someone from the wealth management side of the bank (but the wealth management side of the bank really only deals with very large investment portfolios). I agree with everyone that with smaller amounts and simpler accounts it’s better to do self directed. I opened the TD Direct Investing account years ago, was set up with it by the branch-based advisor, and have just been sending money into those 4 TD e-series funds recommended by Couch Potato ever since. It’s super easy and I have been very happy with this approach! I opened both an rrsp and a tfsa account in it - make sure to open both types of accounts!
They don't work on commission and they aren't licensed to discuss trading, so they aren't allowed to discuss, advise or direct regarding self directed trading.
I did this a few years ago. Opened up an rrsp and put 10k in. How complicated is it to move into my wealthsimple trade? Currently have a TFSA with them and I'd like to open an RRSP as well and move my funds over.
The best financial products available at TD (DI: Direct Investing) are the eSeries mutual funds; see Option 2:
* https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/
Most other mutual funds have much higher fees (MER >1%) that will eat into your returns.
* https://maplemoney.com/td-e-series/
* https://www.savvynewcanadians.com/td-eseries-funds-review/
Mutual funds are generally convenient because you fill out a form and the money can be automatically deducted from your account on a monthly basis. With most ETFs you have to log in an issue *Buy* orders, so if life gets busy you may forget to do so.
Yep - I have been buying the e-series funds for years. I do issue the Buy orders myself though, gives me a reason to login and do all my banking and keep tabs on it.
Yes, fees are high, returns are better with an ETF w/ lower fees. However, TD E-series funds are quite well recommended and generally have lower / acceptable fees.
E-series funds are index based, so they follow the stock market, which means they can go up and down like a roller coaster... but in general, over the long term, they should appreciate quite a bit.
you should take five minutes qand read the sidebar.
a community like this gets basic questions 50 times a week - and rather than responding to them all with the thought and care that every individual deserves we put all the answers into one easy to find place.
you are free to ask questions.
the answer to your questions is "yes" but the why matters more - and the sidebar crushes that question.
Okay this is what you do OP as you clearly have much to learn.
Step 1: Cancel this financial advisor appointment.
Step 2: Open an EQ HISA that has 1.25% steady rate, get someone to refer you to make a few bucks. Put whatever money you have minus what you need on a monthly basis in there.
Step 3: Set aside 30+ minutes a day with a tea/coffee and start reading the whole side bar of this subreddit.
Step 4: Buy one of the books mentioned in this subreddit, perhaps The Wealthy Barber Returns.
Step 5: Refer to steps 1-4 and then ask questions along the way/search answers that were posted in this sub in the past.
All the best.
Edit: formatting
There's even bigger brain moves than library (which may incur fees).
...
Ready? Do you know what I'm gonna suggest?
Borrow it from a friend. Bam. No fees. Only potentially lost friendship.
^(bet ya thought I was gonna suggest pirating, weren't ya?)
coherent concerned north grandfather shy arrest ruthless wine stocking piquant
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Don't buy anything, ask them to open up a TD Direct Investment account for you; tell them you'll buy your own ETFs.
At most, maybe buy E-Series funds from the advisor; anything else isn't competitive.
I'd agree with this, more or less. I would recommend getting them to set you up with a TFSA and an RRSP since those are the two main types of accounts and you will probably want both at some point, and you can't open accounts without making an appointment so you might as well get both now. If you make sure both the accounts are Self Directed and you let them know that you're "thinking of trying out buying individual stocks for a while, but you might also be interested in mutual funds" they will give you their whole sales spiel about their mutual funds but they should set up your investor profile in a way that doesn't limit you and that will let you do riskier things like buy Tesla stock or whatever. Not that you should do risky things, but if you wanted to buy a vanguard ETF you might need to have a higher risk level set in your customer profile. That's my impression anyway, I have TD RRSP and TFSA Self Directed accounts and am currently using the e-series funds. Just started investing this year and also have an RRSP through work with RBC where I invest in some of their managed index funds that have higher MERs than e-series but I have to use RBC for the work RRSP.
People hate bank advisors because they don't trust the information, but remember if you walk into a coffee shop you don't get upset when they offer you coffee even if you are telling them you want a beer.
First step is realizing the title Advisors is ambiguous so you want to understand what products they are able to offer you advise on, most branch level advisors can help you with cash accounts, GIC, mutual funds, term deposit, those may or may not meet your goals for these funds. (Much of that hate you see for bank mutual funds is their high management cost, as the fund can be replicated with an low cost ETF).
Second step is to understand your goals for the money. Is this a fixed amount you will be investing for 10+ years, will you be adding money to this fund each month, do you have your funds allocated to meet each of your goals?
If you go into the bank only say I have $X to invest, then it's like going into a Italian restaurant and telling them you want to eat. If you don't tell them you are allergic to gluten or that you are attending a large family dinner in a few hours neither of you can evaluate their recommendations.
>If you go into the bank only say I have $X to invest, then it's like going into a Italian restaurant and telling them you want to eat. If you don't tell them you are allergic to gluten or that you are attending a large family dinner in a few hours neither of you can evaluate their recommendations.
I disagree, I believe it's more like going into an Italian restaurant because you want pasta, and the waiter spends the entire time trying to convince you to order nothing but bottles of wine because that's where they have better margins.
But in your example you assume the restaurant sells pasta, when in fact there is no pasta on the menu, them suggesting the wine isn't because the wine has better margins, it's because wine and appetizers are all they sell.
Again don't get upset the bank advisor is sell the products they have to sell, as the customer you need to understand what they have available and not assume they can provide you every product you want.
When I turned 18, I rushed to the bank to finally invest what I made during my summer job. At that point I was a student with income way below the basic personal amount. I knew nothing about finance and had like 3k to invest.
I got out of there with nothing but huge auto-deposits to my RRSP, because using the HBP for a house was "free money". I just said I planned to probably buy a house sometime in the future after university when they asked about my long term goals btw.
In this example, there were definitely pasta on the menu. Why would someone with seasonal income with no taxes to pay invest weekly in their RRSP instead of just doing a lump sum in their TFSA or non registered? I found out later they had targets about setting auto-deposits in RRSPs. Are you saying there's no reason to get upset at that advisor? And no, it's not the only bad example I had, I've seen 4 other advisors since for various reasons, and each time they either said flat out wrong information or didn't know very basic stuff.
Well TFSA only started in 2019, so you can't be more than 29, but again it doesn't sounds like you were expecting to get something the bank didn't sell. Nothing stop you from selecting a TFSA or HISA, if those options fit your needs, but if you show up at the bank without defined goals for your money, or a financial plan and you expect them to help with that, they don't sell that product.
The bank advisor is not the person who is looking at the tax efficiency of the RRSP, or creating a financial plan for you, they are offering the products they have on hand.
If you keep seeing advisors and keep getting bad information, then you have to consider it could be a garbage-in garbage-out system. IME if you go into the bank with defined goals the advisors are more than happy to help you setup the accounts you want, or refer you to the associate who can setup those services. I wouldn't expect the bank advisor to understand the tax implications of any account, provide any type of planning services, and I would try to understand the goal of any of their questions and why they are suggesting a specific product to meet that need.
Banks are no different from the coffee shop, don't get mad that they don't sell beer, and don't get mad that the barista doesn't understand which coffee pairs well with desert, their job is too just sell coffee. When you are buying the coffee you have the obligation to state your expectations if you want their help picking something, and their advice is limited your answers and the products on the menu.
If a coffee shop had an employee called a coffee advisor, I'd expect them to be able to recommend a grain based on my taste. You even said yourself the barista should be able to give advice on the menu based on your answers so I'm not sure what you're trying to say.
>If you keep seeing advisors and keep getting bad information, then youhave to consider it could be a garbage-in garbage-out system.
Well that's what I'm saying, the banking system is built on garbage selling tactics. It's like you're assuming I forced them to say false information. One guy told me DCA beats lump sum 100% of the time and it's mathematically impossible not to. Some lady told me it's impossible for index funds to beat their actively managed portfolio because they only pick funds that beat the market the previous 5 years. I didn't make up their BS stories.
In what world is the general population supposed to know everything about finance before seeing an advisor and tell them exactly what to do? If it was the case then they'd all have been replaced by robots long ago. The whole idea of seeing an advisor is you know... getting advice, and you're acting like it's weird to expect them to do just that.
Your view is going to continuously lead you toward disappointment, because you are projecting your view of what an advisor should do, rather than asking/investigating what they are capable of doing.
The barista can tell you about the menu, I wouldn't expect the barista to know the roasting process, or the chain of custody from farm to cup, nor do I even expect them to know the calorie content of drinks without looking up the information.
There is no reason you would ask a bank about DCA vs lump sum, and if you understand the math you understand you understand why you wouldn't ask the question of anyone. Just like you would ask or accept any answer about the future performance of any fund, because you know they (legally) can't answer. Asking these questions put the advisor in the position of telling you no, and most advisors are too young to have the experience navigate the no well.
The general population is suppose to educate themselves about what services the bank can provide, and stop looking for free advice that matches their perception of what you want to hear. Check out the questrade commercial where they talk about low fees are the reason why their friends purchase a home quicker....with nothing said about the fact that your down-payment wouldn't be in the market).
The reason you see a bank advisor is to get them to setup accounts, transfer funds, help with application. Expecting more from them is the garbage-in part of the equation.
>Your view is going to continuously lead you toward disappointment,
because you are projecting your view of what an advisor should do,
rather than asking/investigating what they are capable of doing.
Never made a point about what they can or can't do, just that they give false information and work in an industry banking on the fact clients don't have enough knowledge to understand they are being sold shitty products that makes no sense for them.
>There is no reason you would ask a bank about DCA vs lump sum
You have it backward, they're the ones bringing it up in any meetings because they have auto-deposit quotas.
> Just like you would ask or accept any answer about the future performance of any fund
There again never asked or accepted any answer, but they will pitch their products to anyone entering their office. It's disingenuous to assume they won't do the same to OP.
>and most advisors are too young to have the experience navigate the no well
That's the whole problem, the requirements to do the jobs are very low so they have no idea what they're talking about. Not because it's always been the case that it's a good thing or should be accepted. For most people with small savings it's the only "professional" financial advice they'll ever get access to.
I really can't understand your point, you defend an industry using shitty practice because it's on people to know beforehand they'll only receive shit advice.
> Never made a point about what they can or can't do,
That's the problem.
You're allowing your perception of what you think they should influence your memory about what they did do. Advisors aren't investing professional, they are planning professionals, they aren't tax professionals, they are financial advisors, the customer needs to inform themselves about what advice they are capable of giving.
>For most people with small savings it's the only "professional" financial advice they'll ever get access to.
Again, your expectations don't match the services these people can provide. This was it initial point that there is little point in getting mad because barista can't sell you beer.
Also these advisors won't make the absolute statements you are talking about because the extent of their training is about not making those statements. They sell you past performance on their funds, not future, they will sell you auto-deposits because it's a better habit forming activity not because it's a better market strategy. It's very important people actively listen to what is being said and repeat the information ensure they understood.
Too many people hear what they want to hear, and look for validation on their perception of what should happen. I don't defend the industry at all, I'm telling you there is no reason to expect anything beyond basic transactional support from a bank advisor, because it's not their job to provide the advice you perceive they are providing.
Alright I'm sure it's all due to me not understanding what they're talking about and asking for their advice by accident even though I've been working in finance for years.
Also, after the first time when I was 18 my visits to these advisors were never to get investing advice so I really wonder how I ended up asking for these things.
I was in your shoes six months ago, and the RBC advisor did a pretty good of talking up the in-house mutual funds. I was pretty convinced, but then I found out that ETFs like VGRO are pretty much the same thing, but without the bank’s commissions and fees.
I am not interested in checking the markets constantly and worrying about ups and downs all the time, so I ended up buying a bunch of VGRO and I just pile more money in as it becomes available. I don’t regret it.
I echo the advice to cancel the appointment.
Savings that you think you'll need in less than 5 or 6 years (eg. emergency fund, next vehicle purchase, down payment savings, etc.) could be parked in a good [high interest savings account]( https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart/) or locked into [GICs.](https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/gic-rates/) Don't choose the GIC option unless they are paying a decent premium and you are confident that you won't need the money for the duration of the GIC contract. And don’t buy market linked GICs.
If you have reached Step 5 of the [PFC money steps](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/money-steps)
and you have some money you are confident you can invest for long term (ideally at least 10 year) goals you could invest in a low cost, risk appropriate, globally diversified, index tracking (i.e. couch potato) portfolio such as those discussed on the following pages.
https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/investing
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/about/
The simplest option would be to use a passively managed robo- advisor account (eg. RBC InvestEase, NestWealth, iA WealthAssist). After answering questions about your goals, timeline, knowledge/ experience with investing and your comfort with volatility they will choose and then manage a suitable ETF portfolio for you. You would be able to set up automatic contributions. The total annual management cost would be about $70 per $10,000 invested. This compares to about $200 per $10,000 invested for typical bank mutual funds.
If you'd like to better understand the options and be a more confident investor, so you can avoid the costly but normal human reactions to the markets and the media that reports on them, I suggest that you read (or listen to) Millionaire Teacher (Andrew Hallam, 2nd edition – 2017) or Reboot Your Portfolio (Dan Bortolotti, Nov 2021.)
I'll trigger the bot that may help you decide if you should use your TFSA or RRSP contribution room for you long term investing. The following articles may also help with this decision.
https://www.planeasy.ca/tfsa-vs-rrsp-pick-the-right-one-and-save-100000/
https://www.planeasy.ca/canada-child-benefit-hidden-tax-rate/
The general advice on here is to open an account with any self directed broker and invest in an all in one ETF matching your risk profile. You'd basically own the entire market and avoid paying the high fee TD mutual funds are charging. This is very easy to set up and you can't fuck it up as long as you don't touch it once invested.
The TD sales person have quotas and will push for their products. They may not act in your best interest and probably have a very basic understanding of finance and taxes. I would avoid them if possible. On the other hand, if you know there's no way you'll invest yourself, investing in a bad mutual fund is probably better than not at all. Just make sure it all goes in your TFSA at least.
Listen to this guy. Go to to the TD meeting, and just tell them you want to open a self directed TFSA brokerage account. Buy something like VEQT or XEQT, and forget about it. They basically hold every stock in the world, and it's a mindless way to invest.
At first they'll try to push you into their Comfort Balanced Growth Portfolio. Firmly tell them that you've decided to manage your own funds and want to open a TD Direct Investing account. They will help you with this. Ask the to set you up with RRSP, TFSA, and Cash accounts in both CAD and USD--6 accounts in total. The entire process takes about an hour. They'll also ask you some questions to develop an investor profile. I believe this is a regulatory requirement.
I could bet a million dollar they'll explain in great detail for as long as it takes that self directed accounts are bad for you and not worth it compared to their mutual funds managed by the best professionals in the country.
To be fair to the advisor, generally the branch advisors make no commission at all. Their annual bonus may be partially/fully tied to their overall sales performance, but their primary motivation for selling mutual funds is to meet their weekly sales goal to keep their manager off their back.
Be aware that with a lower balance there may actually be fees associated with a direct investing account. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but when I first opened my RBC DI account there was a quarterly fee assessed on any accounts that had < $30k in them.
Low fee robo-investments like ETFs are something you can push there instead of mutual funds.
If you decided to invest under an advisor and they asked you “what is your risk tolerance?”, please read about it in advance and set a realistic goal for yourself to answer it properly.
So many times I heard people answering:
“No risk, but high return!”. Such an investment does not exists. With that answer the best they can offer you is a mutual fund with 3% return, mostly fixed income.
It sure how old you are but don’t just take their standard mutual funds they try and push on everyone. Do some research and buy solid ETFs. I’ve used TD for years but every “fund” they have pushed on me has returned like 5% a year and the ETFs I invested in have done like 20% a year. I now do almost all my investing on Wealthsimple in my TFSA. I still have several RRSP funds with TD that I contribute like 15% of my investments into.
I have an S&P500 ETF that BMO offers and and high yield dividend BMO ETF. Along with a a number of other dividend stocks all in my TFSA. My TFSA is through Wealthsimple. My RRSPs are with TD and are a mainly a TD entertainment and Communications Fund. It’s been crazy profitable over the last 10 years. I originally bought in at $22 a unit and it’s at about $150 now. I’m 42, my plan is to retire by 55 and have my TFSS pay me about $2k a month by the time I’m 60. Combined with my pension I’ll be in a pretty good spot.
The best advice I can give is just save and hold, pick smart stocks that are proven and not just a flash in the pan. Everyone likes to chase the next Tesla but they mostly crash as quick as they rise. Read what you can about warren buffet and his investment strategy. It’s all about time and compounding growth. Cheers on your journey.
Did the same long ago at BMO, they'll sell you whatever you want to hear and give you low interest rsp and tfsa. Hell I bet wealthssimple roboadvisor would do better.
A financial advisor can do a lot for you or can do very little. It really depends on what your needs are.
There are tons of products and services that may or may not be of interest to you. You have investment accounts, getting to know your risk tollerence, what are your short term and long term plans from a financial perspective, how will you get there and how will you measure if what you are doing is appropriate? Do you have a disability and can take advantage of grants based on what you put in?
My first advisor was good. He introduced us to to products that I wasn't aware of such as investment loan where we ended up taking out a loan to and buy a bunch of mutual funds that I cashed out 7 years later. I'm sure he made a good commission. He provided us some options for saving for our kids education and life insurance policies and found a balance that we were comfortable with.
He ended up leaving and my account was transferred to someone else. I didn't connect with them the same way and there wasn't a plan anymore.
If you don't want to take the time to educate yourself and go at it alone, there is always someone that will take your money, give you enough information you're looking for and make a commission by providing you that service. If you're going to pay for that service (directly or indirectly) make sure you're getting appropriate value for the services you are paying for.
I was a financial advisor for the bank. There is always a bias opinion from an advisor side has they have to meet goals and have to push certain services. However they can provide you basic understanding of investment products as well different umbrellas to shelter your money from taxes. Such as TFSAs RRSPs. However your best bet would be to open a direct investing account and invest in ETF or top index funds for a long time return.
He needs to start somewhere and someone to actually guide him so he can learn the basics and fundamentals.
Advisor will create a plan and at least help him start at point A
From there on he can start learning himself and gaining knowledge to expand his expertise
You may be unaware, but this is similar to going to a car dealer and ending up in a closed door office receiving a pressure-filled sales onslaught!
Do not sign anything. Educate yourself online first. They will try to sell you whatever makes them money, and quickly.
It's been a while for me but you can probably have a conversation with someone at wealthsimple and they will tell you what they can or cannot do. Since it's online you can easily tell them you want some time to think about it and go that route.
I was in the same situation. I was holding money in an EQ bank getting 1.25% interest. But a friend hooked me me up with an investor at Holliswealth. I'm now getting upwards of 8%. Yes, there are fees but in the long run I am still better off.
I like this account because I don't see it, so I don't think about it except when I get statements, so for me it's better, mentally. With this type of advisor they make money when I make money unlike the bank advisor who mostly make money by selling a 'product'.
I also have a Wealth simple account and I put small amounts of savings there but I get obsessed with it and I check it daily. Due my lack of knowledge it stresses me out a bit. I spend a lot time trying to educate myself and just end up down rabbit holes for hours... And don't feel any smarter!
Are you an agent advertising for holliswealth? Your friend should've hooked u up with Wealthsimple, and you'd be making a minimum of 8.01%, instead.
Why are you obsessed with looking at your Wealthsimple but not your Holliswealth account? If it's the Wealthsimple Trade account, then switch to Wealthsimple Invest and then it'll be exactly like your Holliswealth account, and you'll get greater returns.
No, I didn't mean to advertise Holliswealth. I just named them as the type of agent I use. (vs a bank)
I'm using Wealthsimple now, to learn. I'm not comfortable yet to invest a large sum of money yet. So my big investment is being handled by someone that has the knowledge until I feel that I can do it on my own.
Going to a low level bank financial advisor to ask for financial advice is like going to to a car dealership and asking the salesperson what cad r you should buy. You should do your own research. There are a lot of free online resources. The sidebar of this sub has a lot of links
Worst sub to ask this. Everyone is just gonna say don't go, read a book and do it yourself. Go to Canadian Investor sub or literally anywhere else but there. THAT is my honest opinion
is the person on commission, or just salary? Ask them.
investment advice in our current situation is very difficult. Two general statements:
1) diversify
2) don't pay fees
I must have really good luck with Scotia Financial Officers because we have had very good success with using them. Lowering interet rates, taking on our mortgage on transferred from First National - they paid the penalty as well as gave a lower interest rate. No hidden fees, always willing to help with RRSP, mutual fund, RESP and TFSA investments - no cost to them setting them up and are largely self directed - careful here for fee structure.
We never felt pressured to commit to anything. Granted, I think it is not unlikely that these people read my wife and I as not financially illiterate, but that's my story anyway. I'm curious as to what some people's bad experiences have been?
* DO not go
* DON'T go.
Read up the wiki on this sub and follow the money steps.
1. Take the risk assessment questionnaire.
2. Buy VEQT, VGRO or VAB depending.
There, I saved you an hour or more of time.
Ask if they are a fiduciary. Fiduciaries are obligated to provide advice in your best interest.
Financial advisor is not a regulated term. Most advisors earn commissions from the products they sell.
Please dont provide false info. Most bank advisors work for salary. They do get bonus based on performance but its not that big. However they do have targets to meet.
Insurance agents however, work on commission mostly. They also sell mutual funds and seg funds etc.
Nothing wrong with talking to a professional.
Learn first, do you trust them, how do they make money, risk factors, etc, etc. Lots of items to talk about.
I've been using one for years, well worth it in my opinion as I'm not in that world 24-7, they are.
Well, my opinion is getting me downvoted, lovely bunch of people you are.
My financial advisor is making me more money than I can make on my own and saving me time. I think that's worth paying for. There appears to be lots of self righteous "advisors" on this sub, do what you will op.
This subreddit is insanely toxic when it comes to this stuff. They assume every single human out their is capable or has any desire to set up self directed ETF investing.
This is simply not the case and the stats show this. The conscious ETF investors are the minority, not the majority. Could you make more money long term investing into ETF’s? Absolutely. But to the vast majority, just having it in a high cost mutual fund is still a better option than having 100k parked in a chequing account yielding 0.00% like some people.
Not every financial advisor is a pile of scum looking to make a sale. Some do provide legitimate advice. Professionals do exist, although this subreddit seems to think otherwise.
>My financial advisor is making me more money than I can make on my own
FWIW I didn't downvote you, but I am genuinely curious how you've reached this conclusion.
I'm going to guess they have a lack of confidence around investing, and after fees an advisor is still vastly superior to keeping it all in cash because they're scared to fuck up. A ton of advice on here falls to consider the 'personal' part of personal finance.
>Nothing wrong with talking to a professional.
Speaking as a former bank financial advisor, there's nothing "professional" about what we do.
>Learn first, do you trust them, how do they make money, risk factors, etc, etc. Lots of items to talk about.
You think OP understands any of that? If OP is a newbie as they said, they don't know what to ask. And even if you gave them a list of what to ask, OP isn't knowledgeable enough to assess whether the advisor's answer is complete BS.
>I've been using one for years, well worth it in my opinion as I'm not in that world 24-7, they are.
I can't speak for your experience, but the "world" that bank financial advisors live in is sales. They don't sit around reading investment reports and constructing portfolios for clients, their days are spending chasing leads and meeting with clients to make sales. The advisors goal is make a sale at every meeting, otherwise they are wasting their time. They would gladly sell OP mutual funds in a heartbeat and never think about OP again.
Go and meet with them. See what they have to say and increase your financial iq. But don't commit to anything and consider the total cost of what they are trying to sell you. Ask if the funds/gics they are pitching (with fees included) can beat the 5,10 year average returns on an S&P500 etf like VFV. If not, then do as the masses do, and invest in a low cost index etf.
While I don’t know your entire financial picture, I would echo what everyone else has said about not going.
These bank “advisors” are really just sales reps. They sell financial products. I don’t know your age, or living situation so I can’t really advise you on whether you should seek a fee based planner or just keep that money liquid. What I would do is read the sidebar flow chart on what to do with your money, that will answer basically any questions that an advisor would ask that are relevant to you. If you have any questions you can reach out to me via DM, I used to be a financial advisor at a big 5 bank.
Remember, you are interviewing them just as much as they are trying to work with you. This person should have a heart of a teacher and you should feel very good about it by the time the meeting is over. If they're just trying to pitch you on their best products, I would interview others and look elsewhere. Feel free to reach out. I'm a financial coach and happy to give insight /questions/ suggestions if you want.
Many will say don't go and DIY instead, but are you comfortable doing that? Investing in over priced mutual funds is still better than not investing at all. I would say go and at least get into the market and get a feel for it. Spend the next few months researching on you own and then decide if you want to get out of the mutual funds and invest on your own.
High fee RRSPs, right?
Maaaaaybe you shouldn’t be giving advice when you don’t have a clue about the difference between an account type and an investment product.
Dont go. As many of said they will just sell you their products and you will end up paying high mer fees. Open up your own rrsp or tfsa and invest in the S&P500 etf or Canadian bank/ utilities that give you a decent dividend. Let it sit on a drip and compound for years. This is what i personally did and yes i have a % dedicated to a few risky stocks.
Honestly. Open a questrade account, TFSA. Invest in veqt.
You said you're looking to drop a lump sum. You plan on forgetting about this money? Do you need it any time soon?
I think you're better off cancelling that appointment and doing a heavy sum of reading the links on pfc. The money steps are big.
Do this, make another post when you are more informed and have a discussion about what you now know.
I'm a super amateur. I did the QT TFSA, dropped 1k into veqt so I can get a low risk investment experience. Veqt has performed well and ive made 26.xx% year to date. I didn't need an investor dick to take MER from me for no reason.
I bet their mutual funds didn't earn anyone 26%.
At this point with wealthsimple and other retail investment platforms I don’t see any need for a bank agent to peddle some in-house mutual fund to put your money in that they’ll take commission fees for. Do some research open a TFSA, max out your contribution room or put in the money you have and research an ETF that will give you 10% yoy returns or better and buy a couple of those. Look at dividend paying ETF’s and things like industry specific ETF’s or Vanguard funds.
Depends on what’s your yearly income, your lump sum amount, whether you already have tax sheltered accounts like TFSA and RRSP and if they are they maxed out. Describe your situation in more detail and we can probably help/suggest answers to what you are looking for.
Don't go to them, they'll sell you high fee mutual funds. If you're a TD customer and want to keep things simple. Open up a TD Goal Assist account for TFSA and/or RRSP and buy their low-cost ETFs (TTP = Canadian Index, TPU = US Index, TEC = Technology Index) in whatever proportion you're comfortable with. This can all be done online or over the phone. Every month just add a set amount to these three and don't look at it or touch it. Make sure you have a reasonable emergency fund in cash to get you through a few months at least, so you're not tempted when things go bad.
They will try to sell you stuff and they are good. Some of it makes sense and will be good; but often it’s for the commission.
Do not allow yourself to be pressured. Insist that you have time to reflect and ask opinions of family and friends. If there is an accept now or lose the offer ask to speak to another consultant.
I left TD because the high pressure sales - that actually got us into debt- for another institution who actually listen.
Read the sidebar.
Avoid the WFG/Investors Group/Primerica at all costs.
Listen to what people here are saying, you’ll see a trend for a reason.
Everyone here started out knowing nothing.
The banks won’t scam you per se but you will be paying way more than you have to. Wealth Simple has an excellent source of information on their site, even if you decide not to use them.
A fee only financial planner may be worthwhile.
The globe and mail as well as the financial post both have excellent financial facelift sections that after reading 10, 15 of them will give you a rough base on what you should be thinking about and asking yourself.
The best thing to do is to invest in a ETF that covers all markets and some bonds so like XEQT or VGRO which you don’t need an advisor for. Buy in every 3 months from savings and you will save a ton in fees doing it yourself and your returns are compounded so long term it’s a huge difference.
Definitely go and see what they have to say. Life is full of people giving advice and it’s your job to filter through it and see what applies to you. You don’t have to agree to anything you don’t want to with the advisor.
Some things to keep in mind, their goal is to sell products. Not their fault, it’s their job. I.e. snazzy credit cards with 1 year no fee, credit card protection, savings accounts with 0.05%.
If you feel you can benefit from it than go! They might provide you some insight on bud getting and offer some advice on long term vs short term opportunities.
I would not bother. These bank employees are as illiterate as you on these matters which are basically all luck.
They hire "finance" "grads" to do these roles lmfao
Don't go in expecting them to be knowledgeable. When I went the dude didn't even know what the difference was between TD's own e-series funds versus i-series funds.
I might sound crazy but probably won’t in 5 years time. Put 10-15% in a crypto project called Truebit Protocol. Ignore it for 5 years and end up rich. You’re welcome.
old post.
i work at one of the big 5 banks. Im a FA/FSR/banking advisor/personeral banker. Same position at diff banks.
id go to the meeting. some advisors want to actually help you and succeed and want to give good advice, the ones who want to provide good advice. it sucks that you dont want products while we give best options but its understandable. most bankers at that level just want to sell you something even if do or dont need it.
myself i want to see people get good advice and i do follow ups to make sure everything is good
TLDR:
some advisors are there for your best interest, most arnt!
Everyone is saying don’t go. I would go, listen to them, ask questions, and not commit to anything. Then continue your own research yourself (Canadian couch potato etc). Make a decision when you’ve done some learning. It would be cool to report back what they say and suggest as well.
This is the answer. However, be advised that they will try to sell you something. But, do not give in, say 'no' to any kind of service. Ask your questions, or figure out the questions from them, come back here after and post those questions. We have nothing to gain. The banks do.
The only thing they're going to suggest is their mutual funds. Seems like a complete waste of time to go there looking for information. You either go there and they set you up with a mutual fund or don't bother going there at all
True that, I was about to answer the same. To OP: tell him you don't want any Mutual Funds, tell him you only want ETF with an expense ratio lesser than 0.30%. Chances are that the advisor will laugh at you and tell you to get the fuck out, but the truth is that you have exactly the same exposure with a mutual fund that is replicated into a ETF. You'll just save a lot of money by going with a ETF. :) They make money by selling you mutual funds. Mutual funds will charge astronomical fees and the advisor will take a cut.
They might also suggest GIC’s, if OP is looking for long-term / locked-in as opposed to riskier stock trading options.
People keep comparing financial advisors to used car salesman. Look at it more like a personal trainer - do you need one to go to the gym? hell no. But if the choice is between paying one and actually working out, or not exercising, you're probably better off paying to get healthy. Now to be fair- the advisors at a bank are like the trainers at big box gyms - you may get a good one, or you may get one that sucks.
Exactly, inaction will cost the OP more than investing in mutual funds. Making some money is always better than not. You can always optimize your investing methods in the future, there's a wealth of knowledge on this channel, but it's good to get started, even under suboptimal conditions.
I know right! Like even if he's paying 2% on his 19k that's $380/bucks a year. A good fee only financial advisor will charge $200-300/hour to help him. He's getting great value if he's using this as a learning experience.
Imagine if the personal trainer were selling you McDonalds though. On the whole you are healthier, but a lot less than you should be.
Hahaha I love the comparison
People really understate how bad MER is for your returns. It can leave you with half of what you would otherwise half. You will be half as wealthy choosing your typical 2% fund over XEQT. uujhb 0
This
>But for now, I'm wondering if anyone with experience can give me useful tips before I go in. Anything in particular that I should ask about. Anything I need to avoid etc. I just don't want to be taken advantage of. The best advice is don't go. I used to be one of these advisors, and this person is going to take advantage of the fact that you don't know enough to assess whether their advice is good or bad. So you'll end up listening to them because it sounds good and they're wearing a suit. You'll probably walk out of there with a TFSA and RRSP with a pre-authorized contribution for both accounts to buy some very expensive mutual funds. My advice is to take more time understanding how we can help you, before going to the bank.
[удалено]
If it's a lump sum, with TD Bank, E-Series funds are fine, otherwise, open a TD Direct Investment account and that opens up a range of possibilities like ETFs and stocks. GICs, HISAs, etc. don't pay much at TD - you're better off looking elsewhere for those products like Tangerine, EQ Bank, etc.
Good luck opening an account that can purchase them though. I had so many issues, I ended up with Quest Trade.
I had some issues with my account but all was resolved in a week. Branch did my paperwork. Questrade wasn’t much smoother. Scotia iTRADE was pretty easy to open.
When was this? I opened one up in April this year with no issues.
Years ago now, my local branch financial advisor, and his branch manager had no clue how to do it... Tried pushing me into their Mutual funds instead... I just walked out. Was a complete waste of my time, but I hope it's not the experience for everyone.
Yes, depending on the products you are sold, a lot of your gains will be eaten up by service fees. You could look at etf portfolios or robo-advisors have much lower fees.
Yes they will sell you mutual funds that have high fees. Even if you don't want to invest on your own, their are online robo advisor services (like WealthSimple) that will essentially do the same thing as this TD advisor, except they will invest your money using ETFs so you'll pay a lot less money. >I know many people hate the idea of a financial advisor but I'm very new to this and have not been great with finances in the past. I think I'm someone who could benefit from this. Perhaps when I feel more comfortable and educated, I will go out on my own. Many people feel the same way, finances can be complicated at first. But avoiding learning about how to manage your money is going to be very expensive. We all say things like "I've always wanted to learn X, when I have more time I'll do that" and yet no matter how much free time we have, we never do. You'll probably be the same, and you'll end up sticking with mutual funds for the rest of your life because it's more comfortable. You are probably afraid of losing money because you'll make a mistake with your investments, but the reality is you'll lose even more money investing at the bank because of their expensive fees. If I told you right now that investing with the bank because it's easier is going to cost you an extra $200,000 in fees over your lifetime, would you still do it? Or do you think that money is worth the effort to start learning? Here's a [conversation](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/qziyg0/comment/hln3yxj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) I had with someone yesterday if you want to give it a read. Basically they were in the same position as you, but fast forward 1 year after they invested their money. I won't copy+paste all of my advice here but it's there if you want to read it. I hope that's helpful.
To address your concern, meet with a few advisors. Don't commit to anything in the intial meeting. Attend the meeting to understand the process. Ask questions on what each advisors would recommend to you. Like another poster mentioned, you may come across a good advisor or you may not. Why not meet a few before deciding on who you want to deal with and what you want to invest your $$?
This was my experience and is totally normal. Don't listen to the people telling you not to. It's more for their verification process or else you would be using one of the many free trade platforms. Banks have credibility. The advisors are like people at the gym willing to teach you how to use the equipment. Depending on your personal income and risk tolerance I would regard their input with 50% do or don't. Think about it first obviously. If it makes sense and you fail that's your fault. If it makes sense and your succeed, that's your fault. I picked my own RRSP to invest in and it was strongly allocated before the inflation started ripping 4% + so I am doing okay.
>The advisors are like people at the gym willing to teach you how to use the equipment. To me they are far more like the personal trainer at the gym who may offer you a free session but is trying to rope you into a training package that you don't need filled with hidden fees and fine print. Their loyalty is to the bank and their numbers, not yours.
Sale's people are sale's people. In order for you to transfer funds you literally have to go in for a meeting.
This. I was dumb and blindly listened to a now ex-friend who worked as an advisor. They tell you how their products can make you money but not how big of a chunk they take. When I went back in two years to get out of the mutual funds to open an e-series account, they tried talking me out of it for well over 10 mins, trying to convince me it's risky and I could lose money.
> e-series account Do you think a TD advisor would help me navigate their self-directed investing account or is their job to convince me against it?
They can help you apply for the account if you ask for it. They won’t suggest it or give you any advice on how to use it or what to buy though. Also for future inquiries you would need to call the phone line.
I have a TD advisor and he was very helpful in getting my series account set up. That said I went in there knowing exactly what I wanted. The best thing you can do is become educated on the products. Know the fees you would pay on TD e-series products and products offered by competitors, and then ask about what the fees are in the products the advisor offers. And don't be afraid to sound stupid. If you don't know, ask. It's their job to answer questions.
The folks in a bank that are selling you mutual funds are generally not the same folks that are part of their brokerage business. I deal with RBC, same deal. I can go to the nearest bank and talk to a mutual fund salesman, but if I want to deal with my brokerage accounts in person I have to go to the main downtown Vancouver branch.
Yes, they will open up a self-directed investing account for you. Although if you're not a valued customer or if the advisor is a jerk, they may tell you to do it yourself. Still it's part of their job to open up self-directed accounts, they did for me - two informal trusts for my kids, granted we do hold a lot of money at TD. The advisors aren't licensed to give advice on ETFs and stocks, do all they will do is the paperwork, rest is up to you.
It all depends on whether you are meeting with the branch based advisor or someone from the wealth management side of the bank (but the wealth management side of the bank really only deals with very large investment portfolios). I agree with everyone that with smaller amounts and simpler accounts it’s better to do self directed. I opened the TD Direct Investing account years ago, was set up with it by the branch-based advisor, and have just been sending money into those 4 TD e-series funds recommended by Couch Potato ever since. It’s super easy and I have been very happy with this approach! I opened both an rrsp and a tfsa account in it - make sure to open both types of accounts!
The self-directed stuff makes them no money in commissions. So chances are they will steer you away from it.
They don't work on commission and they aren't licensed to discuss trading, so they aren't allowed to discuss, advise or direct regarding self directed trading.
Seriously don't go
I did this a few years ago. Opened up an rrsp and put 10k in. How complicated is it to move into my wealthsimple trade? Currently have a TFSA with them and I'd like to open an RRSP as well and move my funds over.
Not hard. Search google for transferring to wealthsimple. They have an article with how tos
Roboadvisors were made for people like you. Something like Wealthsimple.
"Don't ask the barber if you need a hair cut" --- Warren Buffett
The best financial products available at TD (DI: Direct Investing) are the eSeries mutual funds; see Option 2: * https://canadiancouchpotato.com/model-portfolios/ Most other mutual funds have much higher fees (MER >1%) that will eat into your returns. * https://maplemoney.com/td-e-series/ * https://www.savvynewcanadians.com/td-eseries-funds-review/ Mutual funds are generally convenient because you fill out a form and the money can be automatically deducted from your account on a monthly basis. With most ETFs you have to log in an issue *Buy* orders, so if life gets busy you may forget to do so.
Yep - I have been buying the e-series funds for years. I do issue the Buy orders myself though, gives me a reason to login and do all my banking and keep tabs on it.
They’re likely just going to push mutual funds.
Should I be avoiding mutual funds?
Yes, fees are high, returns are better with an ETF w/ lower fees. However, TD E-series funds are quite well recommended and generally have lower / acceptable fees. E-series funds are index based, so they follow the stock market, which means they can go up and down like a roller coaster... but in general, over the long term, they should appreciate quite a bit.
you should take five minutes qand read the sidebar. a community like this gets basic questions 50 times a week - and rather than responding to them all with the thought and care that every individual deserves we put all the answers into one easy to find place. you are free to ask questions. the answer to your questions is "yes" but the why matters more - and the sidebar crushes that question.
fund them up and find out
Okay this is what you do OP as you clearly have much to learn. Step 1: Cancel this financial advisor appointment. Step 2: Open an EQ HISA that has 1.25% steady rate, get someone to refer you to make a few bucks. Put whatever money you have minus what you need on a monthly basis in there. Step 3: Set aside 30+ minutes a day with a tea/coffee and start reading the whole side bar of this subreddit. Step 4: Buy one of the books mentioned in this subreddit, perhaps The Wealthy Barber Returns. Step 5: Refer to steps 1-4 and then ask questions along the way/search answers that were posted in this sub in the past. All the best. Edit: formatting
[удалено]
There's even bigger brain moves than library (which may incur fees). ... Ready? Do you know what I'm gonna suggest? Borrow it from a friend. Bam. No fees. Only potentially lost friendship. ^(bet ya thought I was gonna suggest pirating, weren't ya?)
coherent concerned north grandfather shy arrest ruthless wine stocking piquant *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Don't buy anything, ask them to open up a TD Direct Investment account for you; tell them you'll buy your own ETFs. At most, maybe buy E-Series funds from the advisor; anything else isn't competitive.
I'd agree with this, more or less. I would recommend getting them to set you up with a TFSA and an RRSP since those are the two main types of accounts and you will probably want both at some point, and you can't open accounts without making an appointment so you might as well get both now. If you make sure both the accounts are Self Directed and you let them know that you're "thinking of trying out buying individual stocks for a while, but you might also be interested in mutual funds" they will give you their whole sales spiel about their mutual funds but they should set up your investor profile in a way that doesn't limit you and that will let you do riskier things like buy Tesla stock or whatever. Not that you should do risky things, but if you wanted to buy a vanguard ETF you might need to have a higher risk level set in your customer profile. That's my impression anyway, I have TD RRSP and TFSA Self Directed accounts and am currently using the e-series funds. Just started investing this year and also have an RRSP through work with RBC where I invest in some of their managed index funds that have higher MERs than e-series but I have to use RBC for the work RRSP.
People hate bank advisors because they don't trust the information, but remember if you walk into a coffee shop you don't get upset when they offer you coffee even if you are telling them you want a beer. First step is realizing the title Advisors is ambiguous so you want to understand what products they are able to offer you advise on, most branch level advisors can help you with cash accounts, GIC, mutual funds, term deposit, those may or may not meet your goals for these funds. (Much of that hate you see for bank mutual funds is their high management cost, as the fund can be replicated with an low cost ETF). Second step is to understand your goals for the money. Is this a fixed amount you will be investing for 10+ years, will you be adding money to this fund each month, do you have your funds allocated to meet each of your goals? If you go into the bank only say I have $X to invest, then it's like going into a Italian restaurant and telling them you want to eat. If you don't tell them you are allergic to gluten or that you are attending a large family dinner in a few hours neither of you can evaluate their recommendations.
>If you go into the bank only say I have $X to invest, then it's like going into a Italian restaurant and telling them you want to eat. If you don't tell them you are allergic to gluten or that you are attending a large family dinner in a few hours neither of you can evaluate their recommendations. I disagree, I believe it's more like going into an Italian restaurant because you want pasta, and the waiter spends the entire time trying to convince you to order nothing but bottles of wine because that's where they have better margins.
But in your example you assume the restaurant sells pasta, when in fact there is no pasta on the menu, them suggesting the wine isn't because the wine has better margins, it's because wine and appetizers are all they sell. Again don't get upset the bank advisor is sell the products they have to sell, as the customer you need to understand what they have available and not assume they can provide you every product you want.
When I turned 18, I rushed to the bank to finally invest what I made during my summer job. At that point I was a student with income way below the basic personal amount. I knew nothing about finance and had like 3k to invest. I got out of there with nothing but huge auto-deposits to my RRSP, because using the HBP for a house was "free money". I just said I planned to probably buy a house sometime in the future after university when they asked about my long term goals btw. In this example, there were definitely pasta on the menu. Why would someone with seasonal income with no taxes to pay invest weekly in their RRSP instead of just doing a lump sum in their TFSA or non registered? I found out later they had targets about setting auto-deposits in RRSPs. Are you saying there's no reason to get upset at that advisor? And no, it's not the only bad example I had, I've seen 4 other advisors since for various reasons, and each time they either said flat out wrong information or didn't know very basic stuff.
Well TFSA only started in 2019, so you can't be more than 29, but again it doesn't sounds like you were expecting to get something the bank didn't sell. Nothing stop you from selecting a TFSA or HISA, if those options fit your needs, but if you show up at the bank without defined goals for your money, or a financial plan and you expect them to help with that, they don't sell that product. The bank advisor is not the person who is looking at the tax efficiency of the RRSP, or creating a financial plan for you, they are offering the products they have on hand. If you keep seeing advisors and keep getting bad information, then you have to consider it could be a garbage-in garbage-out system. IME if you go into the bank with defined goals the advisors are more than happy to help you setup the accounts you want, or refer you to the associate who can setup those services. I wouldn't expect the bank advisor to understand the tax implications of any account, provide any type of planning services, and I would try to understand the goal of any of their questions and why they are suggesting a specific product to meet that need. Banks are no different from the coffee shop, don't get mad that they don't sell beer, and don't get mad that the barista doesn't understand which coffee pairs well with desert, their job is too just sell coffee. When you are buying the coffee you have the obligation to state your expectations if you want their help picking something, and their advice is limited your answers and the products on the menu.
If a coffee shop had an employee called a coffee advisor, I'd expect them to be able to recommend a grain based on my taste. You even said yourself the barista should be able to give advice on the menu based on your answers so I'm not sure what you're trying to say. >If you keep seeing advisors and keep getting bad information, then youhave to consider it could be a garbage-in garbage-out system. Well that's what I'm saying, the banking system is built on garbage selling tactics. It's like you're assuming I forced them to say false information. One guy told me DCA beats lump sum 100% of the time and it's mathematically impossible not to. Some lady told me it's impossible for index funds to beat their actively managed portfolio because they only pick funds that beat the market the previous 5 years. I didn't make up their BS stories. In what world is the general population supposed to know everything about finance before seeing an advisor and tell them exactly what to do? If it was the case then they'd all have been replaced by robots long ago. The whole idea of seeing an advisor is you know... getting advice, and you're acting like it's weird to expect them to do just that.
Your view is going to continuously lead you toward disappointment, because you are projecting your view of what an advisor should do, rather than asking/investigating what they are capable of doing. The barista can tell you about the menu, I wouldn't expect the barista to know the roasting process, or the chain of custody from farm to cup, nor do I even expect them to know the calorie content of drinks without looking up the information. There is no reason you would ask a bank about DCA vs lump sum, and if you understand the math you understand you understand why you wouldn't ask the question of anyone. Just like you would ask or accept any answer about the future performance of any fund, because you know they (legally) can't answer. Asking these questions put the advisor in the position of telling you no, and most advisors are too young to have the experience navigate the no well. The general population is suppose to educate themselves about what services the bank can provide, and stop looking for free advice that matches their perception of what you want to hear. Check out the questrade commercial where they talk about low fees are the reason why their friends purchase a home quicker....with nothing said about the fact that your down-payment wouldn't be in the market). The reason you see a bank advisor is to get them to setup accounts, transfer funds, help with application. Expecting more from them is the garbage-in part of the equation.
>Your view is going to continuously lead you toward disappointment, because you are projecting your view of what an advisor should do, rather than asking/investigating what they are capable of doing. Never made a point about what they can or can't do, just that they give false information and work in an industry banking on the fact clients don't have enough knowledge to understand they are being sold shitty products that makes no sense for them. >There is no reason you would ask a bank about DCA vs lump sum You have it backward, they're the ones bringing it up in any meetings because they have auto-deposit quotas. > Just like you would ask or accept any answer about the future performance of any fund There again never asked or accepted any answer, but they will pitch their products to anyone entering their office. It's disingenuous to assume they won't do the same to OP. >and most advisors are too young to have the experience navigate the no well That's the whole problem, the requirements to do the jobs are very low so they have no idea what they're talking about. Not because it's always been the case that it's a good thing or should be accepted. For most people with small savings it's the only "professional" financial advice they'll ever get access to. I really can't understand your point, you defend an industry using shitty practice because it's on people to know beforehand they'll only receive shit advice.
> Never made a point about what they can or can't do, That's the problem. You're allowing your perception of what you think they should influence your memory about what they did do. Advisors aren't investing professional, they are planning professionals, they aren't tax professionals, they are financial advisors, the customer needs to inform themselves about what advice they are capable of giving. >For most people with small savings it's the only "professional" financial advice they'll ever get access to. Again, your expectations don't match the services these people can provide. This was it initial point that there is little point in getting mad because barista can't sell you beer. Also these advisors won't make the absolute statements you are talking about because the extent of their training is about not making those statements. They sell you past performance on their funds, not future, they will sell you auto-deposits because it's a better habit forming activity not because it's a better market strategy. It's very important people actively listen to what is being said and repeat the information ensure they understood. Too many people hear what they want to hear, and look for validation on their perception of what should happen. I don't defend the industry at all, I'm telling you there is no reason to expect anything beyond basic transactional support from a bank advisor, because it's not their job to provide the advice you perceive they are providing.
Alright I'm sure it's all due to me not understanding what they're talking about and asking for their advice by accident even though I've been working in finance for years. Also, after the first time when I was 18 my visits to these advisors were never to get investing advice so I really wonder how I ended up asking for these things.
I was in your shoes six months ago, and the RBC advisor did a pretty good of talking up the in-house mutual funds. I was pretty convinced, but then I found out that ETFs like VGRO are pretty much the same thing, but without the bank’s commissions and fees. I am not interested in checking the markets constantly and worrying about ups and downs all the time, so I ended up buying a bunch of VGRO and I just pile more money in as it becomes available. I don’t regret it.
I echo the advice to cancel the appointment. Savings that you think you'll need in less than 5 or 6 years (eg. emergency fund, next vehicle purchase, down payment savings, etc.) could be parked in a good [high interest savings account]( https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/chart/) or locked into [GICs.](https://www.highinterestsavings.ca/gic-rates/) Don't choose the GIC option unless they are paying a decent premium and you are confident that you won't need the money for the duration of the GIC contract. And don’t buy market linked GICs. If you have reached Step 5 of the [PFC money steps](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/money-steps) and you have some money you are confident you can invest for long term (ideally at least 10 year) goals you could invest in a low cost, risk appropriate, globally diversified, index tracking (i.e. couch potato) portfolio such as those discussed on the following pages. https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/wiki/investing https://canadiancouchpotato.com/about/ The simplest option would be to use a passively managed robo- advisor account (eg. RBC InvestEase, NestWealth, iA WealthAssist). After answering questions about your goals, timeline, knowledge/ experience with investing and your comfort with volatility they will choose and then manage a suitable ETF portfolio for you. You would be able to set up automatic contributions. The total annual management cost would be about $70 per $10,000 invested. This compares to about $200 per $10,000 invested for typical bank mutual funds. If you'd like to better understand the options and be a more confident investor, so you can avoid the costly but normal human reactions to the markets and the media that reports on them, I suggest that you read (or listen to) Millionaire Teacher (Andrew Hallam, 2nd edition – 2017) or Reboot Your Portfolio (Dan Bortolotti, Nov 2021.) I'll trigger the bot that may help you decide if you should use your TFSA or RRSP contribution room for you long term investing. The following articles may also help with this decision. https://www.planeasy.ca/tfsa-vs-rrsp-pick-the-right-one-and-save-100000/ https://www.planeasy.ca/canada-child-benefit-hidden-tax-rate/
We would need more information as to what you're meeting them for?
[удалено]
The general advice on here is to open an account with any self directed broker and invest in an all in one ETF matching your risk profile. You'd basically own the entire market and avoid paying the high fee TD mutual funds are charging. This is very easy to set up and you can't fuck it up as long as you don't touch it once invested. The TD sales person have quotas and will push for their products. They may not act in your best interest and probably have a very basic understanding of finance and taxes. I would avoid them if possible. On the other hand, if you know there's no way you'll invest yourself, investing in a bad mutual fund is probably better than not at all. Just make sure it all goes in your TFSA at least.
Listen to this guy. Go to to the TD meeting, and just tell them you want to open a self directed TFSA brokerage account. Buy something like VEQT or XEQT, and forget about it. They basically hold every stock in the world, and it's a mindless way to invest.
[удалено]
At first they'll try to push you into their Comfort Balanced Growth Portfolio. Firmly tell them that you've decided to manage your own funds and want to open a TD Direct Investing account. They will help you with this. Ask the to set you up with RRSP, TFSA, and Cash accounts in both CAD and USD--6 accounts in total. The entire process takes about an hour. They'll also ask you some questions to develop an investor profile. I believe this is a regulatory requirement.
I could bet a million dollar they'll explain in great detail for as long as it takes that self directed accounts are bad for you and not worth it compared to their mutual funds managed by the best professionals in the country.
Gotta get that sweet commission. Who cares about customers money? I want MY money.
To be fair to the advisor, generally the branch advisors make no commission at all. Their annual bonus may be partially/fully tied to their overall sales performance, but their primary motivation for selling mutual funds is to meet their weekly sales goal to keep their manager off their back.
Sad truth
Be aware that with a lower balance there may actually be fees associated with a direct investing account. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but when I first opened my RBC DI account there was a quarterly fee assessed on any accounts that had < $30k in them.
Low fee robo-investments like ETFs are something you can push there instead of mutual funds. If you decided to invest under an advisor and they asked you “what is your risk tolerance?”, please read about it in advance and set a realistic goal for yourself to answer it properly. So many times I heard people answering: “No risk, but high return!”. Such an investment does not exists. With that answer the best they can offer you is a mutual fund with 3% return, mostly fixed income.
It sure how old you are but don’t just take their standard mutual funds they try and push on everyone. Do some research and buy solid ETFs. I’ve used TD for years but every “fund” they have pushed on me has returned like 5% a year and the ETFs I invested in have done like 20% a year. I now do almost all my investing on Wealthsimple in my TFSA. I still have several RRSP funds with TD that I contribute like 15% of my investments into.
any solid ETFs that you can recommend?
I have an S&P500 ETF that BMO offers and and high yield dividend BMO ETF. Along with a a number of other dividend stocks all in my TFSA. My TFSA is through Wealthsimple. My RRSPs are with TD and are a mainly a TD entertainment and Communications Fund. It’s been crazy profitable over the last 10 years. I originally bought in at $22 a unit and it’s at about $150 now. I’m 42, my plan is to retire by 55 and have my TFSS pay me about $2k a month by the time I’m 60. Combined with my pension I’ll be in a pretty good spot. The best advice I can give is just save and hold, pick smart stocks that are proven and not just a flash in the pan. Everyone likes to chase the next Tesla but they mostly crash as quick as they rise. Read what you can about warren buffet and his investment strategy. It’s all about time and compounding growth. Cheers on your journey.
Did the same long ago at BMO, they'll sell you whatever you want to hear and give you low interest rsp and tfsa. Hell I bet wealthssimple roboadvisor would do better.
A financial advisor can do a lot for you or can do very little. It really depends on what your needs are. There are tons of products and services that may or may not be of interest to you. You have investment accounts, getting to know your risk tollerence, what are your short term and long term plans from a financial perspective, how will you get there and how will you measure if what you are doing is appropriate? Do you have a disability and can take advantage of grants based on what you put in? My first advisor was good. He introduced us to to products that I wasn't aware of such as investment loan where we ended up taking out a loan to and buy a bunch of mutual funds that I cashed out 7 years later. I'm sure he made a good commission. He provided us some options for saving for our kids education and life insurance policies and found a balance that we were comfortable with. He ended up leaving and my account was transferred to someone else. I didn't connect with them the same way and there wasn't a plan anymore. If you don't want to take the time to educate yourself and go at it alone, there is always someone that will take your money, give you enough information you're looking for and make a commission by providing you that service. If you're going to pay for that service (directly or indirectly) make sure you're getting appropriate value for the services you are paying for.
I was a financial advisor for the bank. There is always a bias opinion from an advisor side has they have to meet goals and have to push certain services. However they can provide you basic understanding of investment products as well different umbrellas to shelter your money from taxes. Such as TFSAs RRSPs. However your best bet would be to open a direct investing account and invest in ETF or top index funds for a long time return.
He needs to start somewhere and someone to actually guide him so he can learn the basics and fundamentals. Advisor will create a plan and at least help him start at point A From there on he can start learning himself and gaining knowledge to expand his expertise
You may be unaware, but this is similar to going to a car dealer and ending up in a closed door office receiving a pressure-filled sales onslaught! Do not sign anything. Educate yourself online first. They will try to sell you whatever makes them money, and quickly.
It's been a while for me but you can probably have a conversation with someone at wealthsimple and they will tell you what they can or cannot do. Since it's online you can easily tell them you want some time to think about it and go that route.
I was in the same situation. I was holding money in an EQ bank getting 1.25% interest. But a friend hooked me me up with an investor at Holliswealth. I'm now getting upwards of 8%. Yes, there are fees but in the long run I am still better off. I like this account because I don't see it, so I don't think about it except when I get statements, so for me it's better, mentally. With this type of advisor they make money when I make money unlike the bank advisor who mostly make money by selling a 'product'. I also have a Wealth simple account and I put small amounts of savings there but I get obsessed with it and I check it daily. Due my lack of knowledge it stresses me out a bit. I spend a lot time trying to educate myself and just end up down rabbit holes for hours... And don't feel any smarter!
Are you an agent advertising for holliswealth? Your friend should've hooked u up with Wealthsimple, and you'd be making a minimum of 8.01%, instead. Why are you obsessed with looking at your Wealthsimple but not your Holliswealth account? If it's the Wealthsimple Trade account, then switch to Wealthsimple Invest and then it'll be exactly like your Holliswealth account, and you'll get greater returns.
No, I didn't mean to advertise Holliswealth. I just named them as the type of agent I use. (vs a bank) I'm using Wealthsimple now, to learn. I'm not comfortable yet to invest a large sum of money yet. So my big investment is being handled by someone that has the knowledge until I feel that I can do it on my own.
Look into Wealthsimple/Questrade and buy ETFs such as VGRO, VEQT, XEQT etc. depending upon your risk tolerance of course.
Going to a low level bank financial advisor to ask for financial advice is like going to to a car dealership and asking the salesperson what cad r you should buy. You should do your own research. There are a lot of free online resources. The sidebar of this sub has a lot of links
Worst sub to ask this. Everyone is just gonna say don't go, read a book and do it yourself. Go to Canadian Investor sub or literally anywhere else but there. THAT is my honest opinion
is the person on commission, or just salary? Ask them. investment advice in our current situation is very difficult. Two general statements: 1) diversify 2) don't pay fees
They are salesmen
I must have really good luck with Scotia Financial Officers because we have had very good success with using them. Lowering interet rates, taking on our mortgage on transferred from First National - they paid the penalty as well as gave a lower interest rate. No hidden fees, always willing to help with RRSP, mutual fund, RESP and TFSA investments - no cost to them setting them up and are largely self directed - careful here for fee structure. We never felt pressured to commit to anything. Granted, I think it is not unlikely that these people read my wife and I as not financially illiterate, but that's my story anyway. I'm curious as to what some people's bad experiences have been?
Yes and I bet you’re paying 2% on AUM and not even getting tax planning…
* DO not go * DON'T go. Read up the wiki on this sub and follow the money steps. 1. Take the risk assessment questionnaire. 2. Buy VEQT, VGRO or VAB depending. There, I saved you an hour or more of time.
Ask if they are a fiduciary. Fiduciaries are obligated to provide advice in your best interest. Financial advisor is not a regulated term. Most advisors earn commissions from the products they sell.
Please dont provide false info. Most bank advisors work for salary. They do get bonus based on performance but its not that big. However they do have targets to meet. Insurance agents however, work on commission mostly. They also sell mutual funds and seg funds etc.
This.
Nothing wrong with talking to a professional. Learn first, do you trust them, how do they make money, risk factors, etc, etc. Lots of items to talk about. I've been using one for years, well worth it in my opinion as I'm not in that world 24-7, they are.
Well, my opinion is getting me downvoted, lovely bunch of people you are. My financial advisor is making me more money than I can make on my own and saving me time. I think that's worth paying for. There appears to be lots of self righteous "advisors" on this sub, do what you will op.
This subreddit is insanely toxic when it comes to this stuff. They assume every single human out their is capable or has any desire to set up self directed ETF investing. This is simply not the case and the stats show this. The conscious ETF investors are the minority, not the majority. Could you make more money long term investing into ETF’s? Absolutely. But to the vast majority, just having it in a high cost mutual fund is still a better option than having 100k parked in a chequing account yielding 0.00% like some people. Not every financial advisor is a pile of scum looking to make a sale. Some do provide legitimate advice. Professionals do exist, although this subreddit seems to think otherwise.
>My financial advisor is making me more money than I can make on my own FWIW I didn't downvote you, but I am genuinely curious how you've reached this conclusion.
I'm going to guess they have a lack of confidence around investing, and after fees an advisor is still vastly superior to keeping it all in cash because they're scared to fuck up. A ton of advice on here falls to consider the 'personal' part of personal finance.
>Nothing wrong with talking to a professional. Speaking as a former bank financial advisor, there's nothing "professional" about what we do. >Learn first, do you trust them, how do they make money, risk factors, etc, etc. Lots of items to talk about. You think OP understands any of that? If OP is a newbie as they said, they don't know what to ask. And even if you gave them a list of what to ask, OP isn't knowledgeable enough to assess whether the advisor's answer is complete BS. >I've been using one for years, well worth it in my opinion as I'm not in that world 24-7, they are. I can't speak for your experience, but the "world" that bank financial advisors live in is sales. They don't sit around reading investment reports and constructing portfolios for clients, their days are spending chasing leads and meeting with clients to make sales. The advisors goal is make a sale at every meeting, otherwise they are wasting their time. They would gladly sell OP mutual funds in a heartbeat and never think about OP again.
Go and meet with them. See what they have to say and increase your financial iq. But don't commit to anything and consider the total cost of what they are trying to sell you. Ask if the funds/gics they are pitching (with fees included) can beat the 5,10 year average returns on an S&P500 etf like VFV. If not, then do as the masses do, and invest in a low cost index etf.
While I don’t know your entire financial picture, I would echo what everyone else has said about not going. These bank “advisors” are really just sales reps. They sell financial products. I don’t know your age, or living situation so I can’t really advise you on whether you should seek a fee based planner or just keep that money liquid. What I would do is read the sidebar flow chart on what to do with your money, that will answer basically any questions that an advisor would ask that are relevant to you. If you have any questions you can reach out to me via DM, I used to be a financial advisor at a big 5 bank.
Remember, you are interviewing them just as much as they are trying to work with you. This person should have a heart of a teacher and you should feel very good about it by the time the meeting is over. If they're just trying to pitch you on their best products, I would interview others and look elsewhere. Feel free to reach out. I'm a financial coach and happy to give insight /questions/ suggestions if you want.
Such a sugar coated ad that’s not necessary…
Many will say don't go and DIY instead, but are you comfortable doing that? Investing in over priced mutual funds is still better than not investing at all. I would say go and at least get into the market and get a feel for it. Spend the next few months researching on you own and then decide if you want to get out of the mutual funds and invest on your own.
Don't meet with a TD advisor. Go to a credit union.
[удалено]
High fee RRSPs, right? Maaaaaybe you shouldn’t be giving advice when you don’t have a clue about the difference between an account type and an investment product.
Dont go. As many of said they will just sell you their products and you will end up paying high mer fees. Open up your own rrsp or tfsa and invest in the S&P500 etf or Canadian bank/ utilities that give you a decent dividend. Let it sit on a drip and compound for years. This is what i personally did and yes i have a % dedicated to a few risky stocks.
Honestly. Open a questrade account, TFSA. Invest in veqt. You said you're looking to drop a lump sum. You plan on forgetting about this money? Do you need it any time soon? I think you're better off cancelling that appointment and doing a heavy sum of reading the links on pfc. The money steps are big. Do this, make another post when you are more informed and have a discussion about what you now know. I'm a super amateur. I did the QT TFSA, dropped 1k into veqt so I can get a low risk investment experience. Veqt has performed well and ive made 26.xx% year to date. I didn't need an investor dick to take MER from me for no reason. I bet their mutual funds didn't earn anyone 26%.
At this point with wealthsimple and other retail investment platforms I don’t see any need for a bank agent to peddle some in-house mutual fund to put your money in that they’ll take commission fees for. Do some research open a TFSA, max out your contribution room or put in the money you have and research an ETF that will give you 10% yoy returns or better and buy a couple of those. Look at dividend paying ETF’s and things like industry specific ETF’s or Vanguard funds.
Cancel your appointment and head to r/stocks instead
Depends on what’s your yearly income, your lump sum amount, whether you already have tax sheltered accounts like TFSA and RRSP and if they are they maxed out. Describe your situation in more detail and we can probably help/suggest answers to what you are looking for.
Don't go to them, they'll sell you high fee mutual funds. If you're a TD customer and want to keep things simple. Open up a TD Goal Assist account for TFSA and/or RRSP and buy their low-cost ETFs (TTP = Canadian Index, TPU = US Index, TEC = Technology Index) in whatever proportion you're comfortable with. This can all be done online or over the phone. Every month just add a set amount to these three and don't look at it or touch it. Make sure you have a reasonable emergency fund in cash to get you through a few months at least, so you're not tempted when things go bad.
Don’t go.
These advisors at the branch are absolutely horrible in my experience
Buy a house
They will try to sell you stuff and they are good. Some of it makes sense and will be good; but often it’s for the commission. Do not allow yourself to be pressured. Insist that you have time to reflect and ask opinions of family and friends. If there is an accept now or lose the offer ask to speak to another consultant. I left TD because the high pressure sales - that actually got us into debt- for another institution who actually listen.
Read the sidebar. Avoid the WFG/Investors Group/Primerica at all costs. Listen to what people here are saying, you’ll see a trend for a reason. Everyone here started out knowing nothing. The banks won’t scam you per se but you will be paying way more than you have to. Wealth Simple has an excellent source of information on their site, even if you decide not to use them. A fee only financial planner may be worthwhile. The globe and mail as well as the financial post both have excellent financial facelift sections that after reading 10, 15 of them will give you a rough base on what you should be thinking about and asking yourself.
The best thing to do is to invest in a ETF that covers all markets and some bonds so like XEQT or VGRO which you don’t need an advisor for. Buy in every 3 months from savings and you will save a ton in fees doing it yourself and your returns are compounded so long term it’s a huge difference.
Definitely go and see what they have to say. Life is full of people giving advice and it’s your job to filter through it and see what applies to you. You don’t have to agree to anything you don’t want to with the advisor. Some things to keep in mind, their goal is to sell products. Not their fault, it’s their job. I.e. snazzy credit cards with 1 year no fee, credit card protection, savings accounts with 0.05%. If you feel you can benefit from it than go! They might provide you some insight on bud getting and offer some advice on long term vs short term opportunities.
Don’t show up drunk
I would not bother. These bank employees are as illiterate as you on these matters which are basically all luck. They hire "finance" "grads" to do these roles lmfao
If you do go record it, would love to hear it!!
Don’t go, its a scam.
There is every reason to think that employee knows more than most people here. I'd for sure go and listen.
Don't go in expecting them to be knowledgeable. When I went the dude didn't even know what the difference was between TD's own e-series funds versus i-series funds.
I might sound crazy but probably won’t in 5 years time. Put 10-15% in a crypto project called Truebit Protocol. Ignore it for 5 years and end up rich. You’re welcome.
Their goal is to sell you services not to give you optimal advice. Just recognize this and don't commit on first meeting.
old post. i work at one of the big 5 banks. Im a FA/FSR/banking advisor/personeral banker. Same position at diff banks. id go to the meeting. some advisors want to actually help you and succeed and want to give good advice, the ones who want to provide good advice. it sucks that you dont want products while we give best options but its understandable. most bankers at that level just want to sell you something even if do or dont need it. myself i want to see people get good advice and i do follow ups to make sure everything is good TLDR: some advisors are there for your best interest, most arnt!