Posted on: 19 May, 2003
Author: Ulli G. Niemann
How do you invest? What do you really pay? At the end of theday, what are your real results? These are ... ... should be asking ... (but usually don't). Inthis era of more fees How do you invest? What do you really pay? At the end of theday, what are your real results? These are questions smartinvestors should be asking themselves (but usually don't). Inthis era of more fees, misc. charges, holding periods and backend redemptions, even at discount brokers, how are you reallymaking out? Working with a new client brought this all to my attention. Iknow what I found may not apply to everyone; however it willapply to many and very likely apply to you. I need to preface this by saying that, unlike the majority ofregistered investment advisors, I have built my practice overthe past 15 years by dealing with small investors. Many ofthem are first timers because my minimum account size is only$5,000. I targeted this group because I enjoy the educational part of mybusiness. A happy side benefit has been that by providingmillion dollar service to these so called small investors,they naturally refer me to parents, relatives, friends andbusiness associates, often with considerably more assets thanthe original client. What a happy consequence. Having set the stage, here's what happened with my new clientwho we will call John. John was 26, newly married with a oneyear old son. His wife was taking care of the child and John hada good full time job. After selling his house in California andmoving to Florida he had $6,000 left for starting a long-terminvestment program. Though he had been reading my newsletter for about a year, Johndecided to manage his 401k on his own. It was a noble effort butprovided less than desirable results. He then attempted to set up a brokerage account at a majordiscount broker. With his $6,000 he was told that the quarterlyfee would be $45, and, of course, if he sold any mutual fundwithin the first 180 days, there would be an early redemptionfee. $45 per quarter would be equal to an annual fee of 3% of hisstarting balance. John called me somewhat frustrated and saidthat he'd be willing to set up an account with me, but how wouldit make sense if in addition he'd have to pay my advisorymanagement fee? That was a good question because it certainly doesn't make senseto have an account in any type of market environment and payabout 6% in fixed annual fees. However, what John didn't know was that if you have an accountwith a registered investment advisor who is affiliated withcustodial broker, the fee structure changes. What did that mean to him? It meant that I opened the accountfor him as a new client. He now has no annual fees, other thanmy management fee, and his 180 day holding period for mutualfunds is reduced to 90 days, minimizing, if not eliminating, thelikelihood of an early redemption fee. The net result was that he would receive the benefit of myexperience-which he already trusted based on my track record ofpulling clients out of the market in October 2000-and it wouldcost him no more, and likely less, than his discount brokerageaccount. Needless to say, John was very relieved. In essence, he tradedbroker garbage fees for professional management at no additionalcost to him. And, since he itemizes his deductions on his tax return, allfees paid are tax deductible, which is just an added bonus tofactor into the equation. It turned out to be an all around win-win situation for John. Iencourage you to review your situation and see if what lookslike a discount in fees is actually costing you a premium. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com