Accountants in Schenectady, NY

My first suggestion is posting at /r/personalfinance with your situation since a lot of aspects of getting personal finances in order is straightforward. When it comes to finding an actual advisor, however, there are a few things you want to keep in mind: * A fee only advisor charges you a fee to meet or transact. While it may seem like a bad choice up front, it is a much better choice then an advisor who works on commission. An advisor who works on commission has it in his best interest to steer you toward the investments that give *him* the best return instead of *you*. Often times this is whole life insurance of some means. A fee only advisor knows his paycheck comes from keeping you happy and coming back to him so he wants your money to work the best it can for you. * "Financial Advisor" is an unregulated term. Often times a financial advisor is actually a sales position and not an impartial advisor (again, if their first suggestion is whole life insurance regardless of your situation, walk out since it's rarely the best or first option you should take but is almost always the best commission for a salesman). You should ask anyone you decide to meet with if they are a fiduciary since that *is* a regulated position. Someone who is a fiduciary has fiduciary duty to their clients. This means that legally the advisor must put the need and the goals of the client first, not his or the company's profits. * Anyone who is saying they can beat or out perform the market is lying. Maybe they have beaten or outperformed the market in the past, but there is no way to consistently beat the market no matter how much knowledge or training or experience someone has. Your best investment is to learn for yourself, and take the very simple steps needed to get (inflation adjusted) 6-7% total market returns year over year. Again, /r/personalfinance is the best place to start. Even if you don't want to do it yourself, you can lean the basics so that you won't get fleeced by a supposed "financial advisor." * https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZSpET11ZY this is a pretty great video, even if it's kind of limited in its scope. It highlights a bit of the absurdity of what happens in the world of personal and retirement financial advisors.

Rick Decker, CRC ® Vice President-Citizen's Wealth Management

Jonathan Hernandez with Northwestern Mutual

234-3352

Bill Jerome@Capital Financial services in Socha Plaza

We've go to Don Wilock on Union St for many years. Very happy with his work.