Whether or not your advisor's risk tolerance is the same as yours is of no consequence. They are required by Finra rules to invest consistent with your risk tolerance, not their own. You should also understand that while the advisor may make you think they are actively managing your money, they aren't Everyone in your risk profile is in the same investments, gets rebalanced the same, etc. The single MS advisor in the cube next to his who spends his money on gambling and whores would have you invested in the exact same portfolio.

There is an argument to be made that paying a management fee is a mistake. You might consider a fee only advisor in lieu of your MS situation. They will charge a flat fee (couple grand) and give you a plan and investment advice for you to act on. Might be worth looking into that.

We have found that instead of a financial advisor, we have been happy investing with institutions such as Fidelity and Vanguard. Through Fidelity, we have a person who is able to answer questions for us but we are not locked into paying her a portion of our investable assets.

OP here. Thank you for the tips; this is very helpful. I actually have a Vanguard account myself, so I will look into the digital advisor, financial advisor and probably invest half on my own and the other half with DH's guy. I appreciate the responses!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My financial advisor has seven investment plans to choose from. They vary by risk and they will make recommendations based on your personal situation. They can show you the track record of each plan they offer. I’d check around and do what the PP suggested- take half to another place and evaluate in a year.

Why use an advisor that has "seven investment plans"? Why not use a fee based advisor that is constantly searching for new/good sold investments that are outside the box? I don't just want a plan that say 80/20 split or 30/70 or for ages 40-45. I want ideas and recommendations.

The plans are based on risk tolerance and they reallocate frequently as they watch the market. They’re not just plugging in money to the same funds. I don’t need ideas and recommendations because they’re investing the money for me. I’ve done it both ways and they more than pay for themselves.

Anonymous wrote:My financial advisor has seven investment plans to choose from. They vary by risk and they will make recommendations based on your personal situation. They can show you the track record of each plan they offer. I’d check around and do what the PP suggested- take half to another place and evaluate in a year.

Why use an advisor that has "seven investment plans"? Why not use a fee based advisor that is constantly searching for new/good sold investments that are outside the box? I don't just want a plan that say 80/20 split or 30/70 or for ages 40-45. I want ideas and recommendations.

My financial advisor has seven investment plans to choose from. They vary by risk and they will make recommendations based on your personal situation. They can show you the track record of each plan they offer. I’d check around and do what the PP suggested- take half to another place and evaluate in a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH has a long-standing relationship with a Morgan Stanley advisor; DH's account is relatively small, and they don't have a lot of contact. We suddenly have a bit of money to invest (between $500K and $1M). I am wondering whether we should stick with DH's guy or branch out. A friend sent me a recommendation for a financial advisor who is probably much more hands-on than the Morgan Stanley guy, but also probably takes greater risk.

We are low-to-moderate risk investors with 15 years until retirement; 401ks are healthy and we are continuing to max out our contributions. Mortgage will be paid off and kids will be out of college in 10 years. Should we stick it out with Morgan Stanley? I am inclined to do so, but also set the expectation that I will be much more attentive than DH has been with more assets at stake. The thing I like most about the Morgan Stanley guy is that he is similarly situated to us in terms of childrens' ages, home equity, lifestyle, etc.

So you're going to give this clown financial advisor with Morgan Stanley 1 or 2 percent of your money each year to get returns that are similar to what you can get in low cost index funds and ETFs because they are socially similar to you? Yes, OP, go right ahead and keeping using a financial advisor.

What a stupid thing to say. From the context, it's clear that OP means they have similar investment outlooks. Geez, why do you jerks even post

If you would like access to financial advice: https://investor.vanguard.com/advice/financial-advisor

If you don't need advice beyond a suitable asset allocation, coupled with consistent rebalancing when appropriate: https://investor.vanguard.com/advice/digital-advisor

Both options are far less expensive than your current service provider, are extremely reputable, will result in a much more simple and easier to understand portfolio which will almost certainly be more tax-efficient, all of which should result in superior returns with less volatility.

In support of the previous poster, it really is not hard to invest $500,000 to $1 million on your own through Vanguard or similar. if you are not comfortable without an advisor, choose one of their advisor options, wh ichwill be much, much cheaper than Morgan Stanley.

Anonymous wrote:DH has a long-standing relationship with a Morgan Stanley advisor; DH's account is relatively small, and they don't have a lot of contact. We suddenly have a bit of money to invest (between $500K and $1M). I am wondering whether we should stick with DH's guy or branch out. A friend sent me a recommendation for a financial advisor who is probably much more hands-on than the Morgan Stanley guy, but also probably takes greater risk.

We are low-to-moderate risk investors with 15 years until retirement; 401ks are healthy and we are continuing to max out our contributions. Mortgage will be paid off and kids will be out of college in 10 years. Should we stick it out with Morgan Stanley? I am inclined to do so, but also set the expectation that I will be much more attentive than DH has been with more assets at stake. The thing I like most about the Morgan Stanley guy is that he is similarly situated to us in terms of childrens' ages, home equity, lifestyle, etc.

So you're going to give this clown financial advisor with Morgan Stanley 1 or 2 percent of your money each year to get returns that are similar to what you can get in low cost index funds and ETFs because they are socially similar to you? Yes, OP, go right ahead and keeping using a financial advisor.

So my thoughts are why not take 1/2 of the money to a other advisor and keep the other half with your current advisor and then evaluate a year later.

I think you shouldn’t just give your money to someone passively, especially since your retirement time frame is within 15 years.

DH has a long-standing relationship with a Morgan Stanley advisor; DH's account is relatively small, and they don't have a lot of contact. We suddenly have a bit of money to invest (between $500K and $1M). I am wondering whether we should stick with DH's guy or branch out. A friend sent me a recommendation for a financial advisor who is probably much more hands-on than the Morgan Stanley guy, but also probably takes greater risk.

We are low-to-moderate risk investors with 15 years until retirement; 401ks are healthy and we are continuing to max out our contributions. Mortgage will be paid off and kids will be out of college in 10 years. Should we stick it out with Morgan Stanley? I am inclined to do so, but also set the expectation that I will be much more attentive than DH has been with more assets at stake. The thing I like most about the Morgan Stanley guy is that he is similarly situated to us in terms of childrens' ages, home equity, lifestyle, etc.