Have to disagree on realtor … acting for yourself, is having a fool for a client Also, even the type of detailed info that you can get on the MLS (e.g. on multi-unit residential) is much better for brokers than for the public … but, I’m open if you have sources that I haven’t seen?

Not so today. People can now access information on the cost and value of goods and services from a variety of providers. This increases competition which drives down prices. People can now invest via discount brokerages for less than $10 a trade – a fraction of the previous generation’s prices. People can sell their homes without paying a realtor 6%, saving tens of thousands of dollars. Eventually intermediaries will not be needed at all in some industries (like how you can now get insurance directly from insurers without going through an expensive broker).

BTW: I’m doing a f/u post on the impact of the sorts of ‘ordinary fees’ charged on portfolio returns … it’s scary what even 1% can do.

That being said I would never delegate my financial planning to anyone else.

The primary reason why financial advisers provide little value to most individuals is because advisers are typically paid based on how many products they sell or what level of assets they have under management. This means that their income is never to determined by whether they can decipher where the market is going or what stocks are going to do well. Of course this means that their focus leans toward increasing sales or AUM.

Because of this the main value they provide is to help a client diversify his or her assets among different asset classes, but this type of research can easily be done by anyone with an interest in their own future and thus renders any financial adviser obsolete.

Just an opinion.

Your Friend (no quotes required), AJC