Then, one day, he attended a financial planning seminar hosted by Dain Rauscher senior vice president Maryann Bast. Despite ever-deeper discounts on trades, ever speedier stock quotes, and hours of free financial chatter on TV, a lot of people are signing on with financial advisors. And that's a priceless commodity these days. Tough questions, all. But they don't have to be your headache.
Most people have a hard time really nailing down their goals.
Putting a plan on paper and showing how clients can realize their goals is probably the most important thing we do. Your goals establish the context for every financial move you make from that point on, concurs Arthur Nintzel, a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch in New York City. With three years until retirement, though, the exec realized that he didn't need money at this point, he needed a plan. He trades stock in isolation. Once you know where you want to go, you have to figure out how to get there, and chasing down hot stock picks will not do the trick.