I met with a Vice President of Fisher Investments, a very large and very well-advertised fee-only investment advisory firm, to see if they would be a good fit to manage my portfolio. It turns out they weren’t, and after they asked why, this was my reply: Frank, Thanks for taking the time ... More on humbledollar.com

You should never hire an FA for performance. You should hire them for comprehensive planning (tax planning, distribution strategies, retirement income analysis, estate concerns, etc.). If they aren’t doing all of that for you, what are you paying for? Edit: to clarify, anyone down playing the value of an advisor is an idiot. Most people (including those here) should be paying an advisor. Just make sure you’re getting real value from it. More on reddit.com

My first question was “How did your fund perform last year?” He said 21% gain after fees. I pointed out that S&P ETFs ($SPY) grew at about 25% underperforming the S&P 500 is not necessarily a crisis, and comparing everything in the world to the S&P 500 is not a fantastic long-term strategy. a properly diversified portfolio will have elements that are disappointing at the moment. Everyone on reddit has been neglecting international stocks lately, because they've underperformed VOO over the last 5-10 years. it's a constant chant of "Just buy VOO, just buy VOO, just buy VOO". but in recent months international stocks are destroying US stocks, often by very large margins. when things change, they can change very quickly and it's often too late to adjust. More on reddit.com

IMO you shouldn’t hire a financial advisor for investment returns. You should be hiring them for other skills like tax, legal advice, experience with small businesses (if you own one). Of course all of those services can be hired a la carte as well, and without the customary 1% fee. If you decide to go with a financial advisor, I recommend going with a flat fee (retainer, not AUM), fee for service ($X for Y services), or hourly. There is no reason to ever let someone charge you for AUM. Edit: not all tax, legal professionals have a good grasp on investing. As a tax professional myself I am often shocked by the lack of investment knowledge of other tax pros. So there can be value to hiring an advisor that does both, but again, there is never a good reason to pay AUM. More on reddit.com