Home
News
ENLARGE
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Judith Chapin doesn’t need to watch the news to know that the economy is in a freefall. The 67-year-old executive administrator with Kelly Services can see the proof herself simply by visiting her retirement portfolio online.
“(One of my) concerns is that I’m not going to have the money to help me when I’m not able to work,” she said. “I’m still working. I love to work and I always really planned to work at least two or three days a week, which is what I’m down to now because I’m healthy and there’s no reason not to. But there could be a time when I might not be able to.”
To assist her in her financial planning, Chapin has enlisted the services of a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch. Like many financial advisers, Chapin’s guides her through the myriad investment choices available at the giant brokerage firm and helps her select appropriate ones for her portfolio. In a volatile economy, where savings and retirement accounts are rapidly shrinking and job losses mount daily, people are turning to professionals to manage their financial lives.
Chapin chose her adviser because he came highly recommended by a close friend and neighbor. She regularly kept tabs on her money by logging in to her accounts and checking the numbers.
George Rau, a financial adviser with Primerica, sees a different picture in his Grand Junction office. More often than not, when his clients come to him for advice, they have no idea where to start getting a handle on their finances.
“When we’re sitting down with families, the number one challenge they have is debt,” he explained in an interview. “They instinctively know that they’re not on track for retirement, but they don’t know how badly they’re off. They don’t know what they need to do, they don’t have a game plan to get (to retirement).”
News reports indicate that Grand Junction residents aren’t alone in their need to rethink their financial situations. National unemployment figures are at a 25-year high. The U.S. Commerce Department reported recently the economy contracted 6.2 percent in the last quarter of 2008.
The Grand Valley may not be experiencing the same painful throes of financial collapse as many other cities and towns across the country, but the local economy remains closely linked to that of everyone else. A shrinking job market, stagnant real estate sales and the slowdown of the energy industry have inspired people to rethink their financial strategies.
Katina E. Mayrose, a financial adviser with Edward Jones, offers different seminars to the general public on various topics, including one she held recently to discuss the economic outlook for 2009.
“I certainly haven’t lost any clients as a result of (the recession),” she said. “There are still people coming as new clients because they’re realizing that there are a lot of things, a lot of investments, that are well-priced. And there are certainly a few more individual stock investors coming out of the woodwork (who) are looking for stocks that are lower priced than maybe what they have been in the past.”
Mayrose added that she’s also had numerous conversations with clients about budgeting and retirement.
Like most financial planners, Mayrose and Rau offer free consultations to new clients. They earn their money through commissions on products that they sell, from insurance policies to the hundreds of mutual funds at the various brokerage firms.
Financial planners who charge a flat fee for their consulting services and who do not receive any commissions, bonuses or other compensation as a result of their client’s implementation of their financial recommendations, are referred to as “fee-only” advisers.
Finding a reputable and ethical financial adviser can be tricky. In a recent article about financial advisers in U.S. News & World Report, Sheryl Garrett, the author of the “Personal Finance Workbook for Dummies,” is quoted as saying, “Anyone can call themselves a financial planner or adviser. No minimum experience or education is required by law.”
John Tufts, a cardiac ultrasound technologist at St. Mary’s Hospital, prefers to avoid financial advisers altogether and manage his own investments. He’s the president of the Western Slope chapter of BetterInvesting, a nonprofit organization that supports investment clubs and provides investment education to the general public.
“After the Enron scandal, I was worried that I could be taken advantage of and lose my retirement savings,” he said. “I heard about BetterInvesting in an article in Consumer Reports and again in another article in the Wall Street Journal. Both sources praised it for teaching beginners the basics of investing.”
Tufts said that he primarily wanted to learn about mutual funds. Eventually, he learned enough about savings and investments to do all of his and his wife’s own financial planning and to offer periodic classes on mutual funds both online and at the library.
“The thing to understand about financial advisers is that they are just like ‘used car salesmen,’” he said. “There are good ones and bad ones, and the only way to tell them apart is to educate yourself to know the difference. When a financial adviser offers you something to invest your money in, the question you need to ask yourself is, ‘Is this a good investment for me or the financial institution he represents?’”
For those who would prefer to leave money management to professionals, however, and who are willing to invest some time into searching for a good financial planner, Primerica’s Rau and Edward Jones’ Mayrose offers some advice. Both strongly recommend meeting with several planners in person to gauge your comfort level with each one.
“See if you really feel comfortable with them,” Rau advised. “Trust your gut instincts whether you feel they are honest people. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t financial advisers who aren’t con men or better actors, but I think the number one thing is to get recommendations from people you know and work with and trust and respect.”
Mayrose agreed. “Don’t be afraid to talk to them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. When I have a potential new client sitting across the desk from me, they’re kind of interviewing me and I’m kind of interviewing them, because probably the most important thing is that you need to make sure that you can communicate effectively with that person.”
Chapin offers her own advice to people just starting out in the workplace and wondering about their money.
“As soon as you start working, as soon as you’re able to get into a 401(k), whether it’s matched by your employer or not, do that. Longevity is what really makes the difference, you know. Even if you have a downturn in the market like we have, if you started early enough, you have enough money in there, you might lose thousands and thousands of dollars, but if you’re young enough, you’re able to rebound. People my age, we don’t have the time. It’s just not there.”
“(One of my) concerns is that I’m not going to have the money to help me when I’m not able to work,” she said. “I’m still working. I love to work and I always really planned to work at least two or three days a week, which is what I’m down to now because I’m healthy and there’s no reason not to. But there could be a time when I might not be able to.”
To assist her in her financial planning, Chapin has enlisted the services of a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch. Like many financial advisers, Chapin’s guides her through the myriad investment choices available at the giant brokerage firm and helps her select appropriate ones for her portfolio. In a volatile economy, where savings and retirement accounts are rapidly shrinking and job losses mount daily, people are turning to professionals to manage their financial lives.
Chapin chose her adviser because he came highly recommended by a close friend and neighbor. She regularly kept tabs on her money by logging in to her accounts and checking the numbers.
George Rau, a financial adviser with Primerica, sees a different picture in his Grand Junction office. More often than not, when his clients come to him for advice, they have no idea where to start getting a handle on their finances.
“When we’re sitting down with families, the number one challenge they have is debt,” he explained in an interview. “They instinctively know that they’re not on track for retirement, but they don’t know how badly they’re off. They don’t know what they need to do, they don’t have a game plan to get (to retirement).”
News reports indicate that Grand Junction residents aren’t alone in their need to rethink their financial situations. National unemployment figures are at a 25-year high. The U.S. Commerce Department reported recently the economy contracted 6.2 percent in the last quarter of 2008.
The Grand Valley may not be experiencing the same painful throes of financial collapse as many other cities and towns across the country, but the local economy remains closely linked to that of everyone else. A shrinking job market, stagnant real estate sales and the slowdown of the energy industry have inspired people to rethink their financial strategies.
Katina E. Mayrose, a financial adviser with Edward Jones, offers different seminars to the general public on various topics, including one she held recently to discuss the economic outlook for 2009.
“I certainly haven’t lost any clients as a result of (the recession),” she said. “There are still people coming as new clients because they’re realizing that there are a lot of things, a lot of investments, that are well-priced. And there are certainly a few more individual stock investors coming out of the woodwork (who) are looking for stocks that are lower priced than maybe what they have been in the past.”
Mayrose added that she’s also had numerous conversations with clients about budgeting and retirement.
Like most financial planners, Mayrose and Rau offer free consultations to new clients. They earn their money through commissions on products that they sell, from insurance policies to the hundreds of mutual funds at the various brokerage firms.
Financial planners who charge a flat fee for their consulting services and who do not receive any commissions, bonuses or other compensation as a result of their client’s implementation of their financial recommendations, are referred to as “fee-only” advisers.
Finding a reputable and ethical financial adviser can be tricky. In a recent article about financial advisers in U.S. News & World Report, Sheryl Garrett, the author of the “Personal Finance Workbook for Dummies,” is quoted as saying, “Anyone can call themselves a financial planner or adviser. No minimum experience or education is required by law.”
John Tufts, a cardiac ultrasound technologist at St. Mary’s Hospital, prefers to avoid financial advisers altogether and manage his own investments. He’s the president of the Western Slope chapter of BetterInvesting, a nonprofit organization that supports investment clubs and provides investment education to the general public.
“After the Enron scandal, I was worried that I could be taken advantage of and lose my retirement savings,” he said. “I heard about BetterInvesting in an article in Consumer Reports and again in another article in the Wall Street Journal. Both sources praised it for teaching beginners the basics of investing.”
Tufts said that he primarily wanted to learn about mutual funds. Eventually, he learned enough about savings and investments to do all of his and his wife’s own financial planning and to offer periodic classes on mutual funds both online and at the library.
“The thing to understand about financial advisers is that they are just like ‘used car salesmen,’” he said. “There are good ones and bad ones, and the only way to tell them apart is to educate yourself to know the difference. When a financial adviser offers you something to invest your money in, the question you need to ask yourself is, ‘Is this a good investment for me or the financial institution he represents?’”
For those who would prefer to leave money management to professionals, however, and who are willing to invest some time into searching for a good financial planner, Primerica’s Rau and Edward Jones’ Mayrose offers some advice. Both strongly recommend meeting with several planners in person to gauge your comfort level with each one.
“See if you really feel comfortable with them,” Rau advised. “Trust your gut instincts whether you feel they are honest people. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t financial advisers who aren’t con men or better actors, but I think the number one thing is to get recommendations from people you know and work with and trust and respect.”
Mayrose agreed. “Don’t be afraid to talk to them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. When I have a potential new client sitting across the desk from me, they’re kind of interviewing me and I’m kind of interviewing them, because probably the most important thing is that you need to make sure that you can communicate effectively with that person.”
Chapin offers her own advice to people just starting out in the workplace and wondering about their money.
“As soon as you start working, as soon as you’re able to get into a 401(k), whether it’s matched by your employer or not, do that. Longevity is what really makes the difference, you know. Even if you have a downturn in the market like we have, if you started early enough, you have enough money in there, you might lose thousands and thousands of dollars, but if you’re young enough, you’re able to rebound. People my age, we don’t have the time. It’s just not there.”
