John Oliver hits it out of the park with his segment the other night on retirement plans. Specifically he covers the effect of high fees, conflict of interests with your financial advisor and even gives some pretty good tips to get you on the right track. Check it out:
Topics discussed:
Commission based vs. Fee-Only advisors.
Is you financial advisor making decisions about your money based solely on the commission he or she will receive? Fee-Only advisors get no commission on any products that they advise on, so you can be sure to get objective recommendations.
Fiduciary duty
Is your advisor bound to keep your best interests in mind? If you use a financial advisor, find one who is a fiduciary.
Compound interest and advisory fees:
“Think of fees like termites. They’re small, you barely notice them, and they can eat away your future!”
To see for yourself how fees add up, check out our Expense Ratio Calculator
Active vs. Passive management
Active management tends to under perform passively managed funds over time because of costs. Consider low cost, passively managed funds instead. For low cost investment options, see our “Fund Spotlight Series” for fund that fit the bill.
They also show some clips from an old Frontline video, which we posted a couple years ago here: Frontline: Retirement Gamble
