Two Dogs with Blindfolds

3) I spoke with three individuals about their retirement and investment account purchases.  As my business is that of financial advisement.  The takeaways from the interviewees is that although there are many different companies, they essentially offer a similar product.  The product being an IRA, Roth IRA, or 401k, etc.  Of course, each person did state they were unsure of the amount of fees they paid for their respective accounts.  Everyone did state that they chose their respective products because they knew the advisor from family, friend referral, or it was just convenient employer sponsored account.

4) Most of the account purchases were done in person, such as the purchaser visited an on-site office, or the manager came to their residence.  However, one person did purchase their account over the phone and with the use of a facsimile machine.

5) It seems that if there is some service provided by the advisor the purchaser is satisfied.  I did not have anyone tell me they regretted their account purchase.

6) Everyone told me of their accounts and employer sponsored pensions.  I did not have any interviewee that was unfamiliar with the information which I was asking.  All persons did admit they should be more interested on how to grow their current funds.  They also freely admitted to not being educated enough on how the process works.

7) My conclusion is that this segment should be more knowledgeable about the various products available to them.  Especially since they will be the next generation to retire behind the baby boomers.  From our conversation, I don’t see a disconnect between the purchase decision; however, I do not believe that enough follow-up has occurred to determine an accurate post-purchase evaluation.  In other words, they are not using their advisor as much as they should.