I'm looking for someone to come in and look at my current investments and help me figure out if I am screwing things up or wasting time.



I'm pretty much an idiot in all this, and I don't have time or the knowledge to do this well.

This is a simple way, go to a Bank of Americas branch that has a Merrill person inside, show him/her your statements and see what they say. Now that person most likely is new in the business but has access to everything Merrill has, he just doesn't always know what he's doing. But it's a start. Now here's why I said that. Each of those in-the-bank guys has an older Merrill broker they work with and if your portfolio catches his attention you may get to see someone who theoretically knows what they're doing. Say what you will about big firm FA's but you don't stay at those firms for 20-30 years by not knowing how to invest money. And you won't
get some investment that's guaranteed to do X or Y and wind up with your money in limbo later down the road. You may or may not beat the market, that depends on what you're in, but to me the last reason to meet with an FA is because you want to beat the market. It's to get peace of mind.

I have investments, 529 for kids, fidelity account with money in stocks, some money in crypto, a nm account with some sort of life insurance that turns into money at 65.

The point is when things are talked about my brain goes to mush at a certain point. I need someone to walk me through this and help me with the tax implications of having a couple of businesses as well.

Give me a shout.
I'll get you pointed in the right direction regardless of if we end up doing business long term.

Holistic Planning is a fee only RIA.
We provide investment advice, tax advice and tax return preparation and estate planning.
www.holisticplanning.com

I Worked for ML and that's the last thing of ever do. Their FAs are nothing but salesman. Most don't even have a Finance or accounting degree.

And most of those in Branch FAs are the training cohort.

Type them up and post it here!

Bayou City said:

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I Worked for ML and that's the last thing of ever do. Their FAs are nothing but salesman. Most don't even have a Finance or accounting degree.

And most of those in Branch FAs are the training cohort.

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You're mostly right, but there are excellent FA's in every firm, one just has to find them. And if an FA wants to stay with ML for a long time they need an extra designation...CFA, CFP, a mini-degree from Wharton, MBA. The same holds true for those who USED TO work for ML, they can't sell.
Those guys in the BoA branches are training, that's true, but they are also trained to hand off prospects who are candidates for better service than they'll get from some trainee in a branch. They can also open up a free trading account for the DIY folks. I haven't paid a stock commission in forever.