Solo 401k, Self-Directed IRA, and Fee-based Financial Planners, part 2

This idea of fee-based financial planning intrigued me, so I dug in a bit further.

You can follow what I did – go to Google and enter “fee-based financial planning” and you’ll see that CNNMoney offers a basic primer, plus NAPFA (from last post) shows up in number 2 spot.

Dig a little deeper with some advanced search methods to find others in this fee-based world. Enter this search string exactly in Google: related:www.napfa.org and you’ll find other organizations that can help you find the right advisor. Or you can just click here and this link will replicate what I did.

By the way, Jane Bryant Quinn in that same article I mentioned last post also highlighted the Garrett Planning Network as one to research. They appear to have a system in place to give you a la carte advice on an hourly basis.

Another online research tip I like to offer my clients is to search by filetype, such as PDF, PPT, or DOC. Often, you’ll come up with off-the-radar documents that professionals create and store on their websites. There’s nothing unethical about this; you can just cut through the chaff faster. Rieva Lesonsky, fellow advisor here, did a piece on this recently for small business owners and entrepreneurs. I’m blogging about some of these same things in the AllBusiness.com sales section as well as for Sales & Marketing Management magazine.

I did this search at Google: self directed retirement checkbook OR control "solo 401k" filetype:pdf which you can copy or just click here The first few PDFs you’ll find provide information on self directed retirement options and the providers who offer them. I do not know these companies or individuals – I’m simply showing you better ways to search on this topic.

Your goal in searching for fee-based would be to find advisors who understand that you want checkbook control of your retirement assets.