Meeting with a Financial Planner today

[definitelyO]

Any MUST questions for them?

DH and I are 40 with a 6yr old DS

Household income > $200,000

We contribute the IRS max to our 401k and we have company match.
(current total 401K and IRA = $475,000)

DS - we have a 529 account for him with ~ $17,000
We contribute $300/mo

We own 2 homes - total mortgages $2000.

Liquid savings $45,000

My questions would be
1) are we saving enough for retirement? and are our portfolios at the right mix/diversity
2) how else can we save money AND get tax advantages
3) Should we save for DS college via 529 AND ____? so we don't have all our eggs in one basket
4) we don't need that much liquid savings - what should we do with it?

What other questions should we ask?

*I reserve the right delete due to the financial info above. thanks!

[UnderProtest]

You might want to ask about life insurance for you and the kiddo. There should be options for the kiddo that are also college savings plans too. And depending on your family health history you might start to look at long term care insurance.

[definitelyO]

OH - thanks!! DH and I both have life insurance - but I'll ask about it for DS.

[SJ]

Jul 9, 2012 11:20:17 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Are you looking for one-time advice or for a long-term financial advisor? If the latter, I would want to know their investment philosophy, the average size of their client portfolios, their experience with clients in my stage of life, how they are paid, what services I should expect to be included in (and excluded from) their fees, etc.

These are all great.

I would also ensure that they are registered with the SEC (and ask to see their "ADV Brochure" disclosures) and ask if you can speak with current clients to get references.

You can search for their disclosures ahead of time here www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Content/Search/iapd_Search.aspx

[definitelyO]

Jul 9, 2012 11:20:17 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Are you looking for one-time advice or for a long-term financial advisor? If the latter, I would want to know their investment philosophy, the average size of their client portfolios, their experience with clients in my stage of life, how they are paid, what services I should expect to be included in (and excluded from) their fees, etc.

Thanks! right now we're focusing on one time - to make sure we're on track for where we need to be and make any adjustments we need.

This is through Schwab (we have to use them). We aren't looking at having someone manage our funds at this juncture.

[ijack]

I'm totally saving your personal info for later use

[definitelyO]

Jul 9, 2012 12:03:38 GMT -5 ijack said:

I'm totally saving your personal info for later use

:-| no using this against me! LOL