Advise Me Oh Advisor!

1)
I chose an opportunity to offer a service to individuals in the Tampa area.  My service is that of a financial adviser that is paid on a monthly membership fee basis.  I realize there are all sorts of financial service providers; however, most of the advisers I have met are just glorified insurance sales men. In other words, the advisers are interested only in growing your assets, if you have purchased their product because of the percentage fee that is attached.

2)
WHO: Residents in the Tampa area
WHAT: Individuals who need or would like some oversight on day to day financial decisions
WHY:  To help individuals make sound financial decisions and plan for their future

3)
I have deduced from general conversation and media articles that most of America is under prepared for their retirement.  In essence, we have created a vacuum that now requires most individuals to work well into their 70's, on average.  While I still would like to work for enjoyment in my silver years; I do not want to have to work.  The longer an individual is required to work to provide fundamental income, the more taxing the inflation rate on our economic growth.  That is, if more older people are forced to work way beyond retirement, they are essentially taking entry level or possibly upper level jobs from younger persons in the work force.  The influx of job applicants and elimination of positions drives down or causes stagnant wages, which then devalues our buying power as general inflation occurs.  I intend to provide a service as listed above to the greater Tampa area.  Individuals at both ends of the spectrum could benefit from some financial oversight.  I would provide services to individuals based on a tiered monthly membership.  For instance, I could charge a fee based on a general amount of service offered.  Each individual could chose which package best suits their current need.  My end goal is to help individuals understand how to take advantage of time value of money and compound interest.  The who, what, and why remained unchanged.

4)
For the assignment I interviewed six individuals.  The range of individuals were from 20+ years from retirement all the way to a retired individual.  Here are the specific questions that I asked, followed by a summary of the information learned.

• Are you currently employed/retired
• How long until you retire
• Have you used a financial adviser to help you plan for retirement
• Have you used a financial adviser for everyday financial decisions (i.e. car, mortgage, refinance, school)
• Would you use a financial adviser
• Under what circumstances would you use an adviser
• What would be a fair price for counsel
• Would you be willing to pay a monthly membership fee for services
• How satisfied were you with previous financial advice
• Would you be more or less willing to pay monthly fees if the adviser had a fiduciary responsibility 

I learned that the closer to retirement or even retirees did not like the idea of spending a nominal amount monthly to obtain a sound advice.  They thought they were getting a better deal by paying the 1-3% for fund management.  I also discovered that the more active role someone played in their finances, the more they were willing to pay the monthly fee for help.  Also of the interviewed only one person understood what it means to be a fiduciary.  In all, I feel that there is a market that exists, but I will have to target younger individuals.  Therefore, the who has changed to individuals with 10+ years to retirement in the Tampa Bay area.