Fire Your Financial Advisor: 40 Years of Greed & Exploitation of the American Retiree, and How You Can Fight Back

by Greg Aler

Greed. Exploitation. And so many fees. All hiding in plain sight. That's your financial advisor. Whose services and advice have become the outdated VHS player of retirement.
In Fire Your Financial Advisor: 40 Years of Greed and Exploitation of the American Retiree, and How You Can Fight Back, Greg Aler tells the story of how the financial industry created a trillion-dollar empire by withholding information while over-charging and under-servicing retirees regarding the real risks of retirement. Greg then introduces the Retirement Planner. This is a new guide who was built to replace the financial advisor and address the four largest risks in retirement today: IRA taxes, market risk, fees, and the skyrocketing costs of long-term care.
No longer is retirement just about picking investments. Fire Your Financial Advisor shows that if you want to ensure your life savings are protected, you need a new guide for this new world of retirement.

Genres: Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

Published February 14, 2023

Reviews

[Linda Moore · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author seemed to assume anyone reading this book is easily duped. Most of book focused on generalities and "folksy" analogies. This book was mailed to my spouse, unsolicited. Author may have some valid points however his delivery really doesn't work for me.

[Jim Hendershott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author makes a clear argument for disengaging from retail financial advisors (RFAs), and working with a legitimate retirement planner, instead. My only real criticism is that the book could have been much shorter if he hadn’t spent so much ink reiterating the evils of all RFAs (over and over . . . and over)— as if there are none beyond redemption. That may actually be true, but we don’t need to be told that on almost every page. A more concise argument could have arrived at the same conclusions more quickly, leaving plenty of room for a more fully described plan of action AFTER firing your financial advisor.

[John Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is fast reading and has some important information most people saving something for retirement probably do not know. This self-promoting book was sent to me unsolicited as I was headed to the gym, so I read it because I was just talking with a wonderful relative about being more engaged with his “financial advisor” since he and his wife knew nothing about what their returns or fees were nor did the advisor speak to them for years. To Aler’s credit, he does a good job explaining how this greedy industry got started – and how they take advantage by taking a percentage – a high percentage – off the top plus more from load funds and kick-back incentives. I read the entire book during an extended workout at the gym.

Aler, a graduate from CWRU, gives a short, inclusive history of the formation of the 401 funds, pointing out that the scheme was started for the benefit of corporations to allow them to escape from pensions. This shift moved the new, huge mass of people to be new investors into Wall Street but without the knowledge or training.

The book shares how the landscape has changed over the years. While mutual funds have been largely commission-based since the 1920’s, they are not as necessary today as the convenience they provided decades ago. The author states that before the change from 401 to pensions, the mutual fund industry was hitting the bottom of their existence. The shift to require workers rather than corporations to control retirement funds and shifting the responsibility of earning a good retirement, created the retail financial advisors (RFAs). Due to this shift, mutual funds took off, quadrupling in value between 1980 and 1985. Aler says that “around 1980” less than 6% of Americans bought into mutual funds while now more than half the population has some holdings in a mutual fund. This continued to skyrocket. The author outlines that Charles Schwab and the change in technology made trading easier and cheaper, yet most Americans know little about investments. He also mentions that Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, introduced the first index mutual fund in 1976, allowing people to buy into the Dow Jones or S&P to rise or fall with the market.

The emphasis of this book is how RFAs had unfair and hidden fees stealing a good portion of a retiree's living standards by their substandard services. Load mutual funds steal 5% off the top, leaving the retiree saver with only 95% of their funds to invest and then they take another 1% per year for those same funds. Aler points out that charging 1% of a retiree's funds is not a fair way to collect fees; he makes the comparison to having an oil change charge the customer based on the value of your vehicle. He further points out that RFAs have “sneaky” fees like the “kickback” mutual funds pay them in a complicated manner, again taking from a retiree’s living. He outlines that this unfair system continues because of financial illiteracy (which is so true, even among “educated” people), the monopoly of the industry, the “madness of crowds” since most people use an advisory – all in the backdrop of a stock market that has performed strongly overall during these years. The book gives an example that a retiree with a $500,000 IRA could pay an Edward Jones RFA $6,750 a year on their 1.35% fee or $168,750 over a twenty-five-year retirement. The author also says that if the RFA worked 10 hours a year on one’s account – including the birthday call and one or two meetings – that would mean the retiree is paying their RFA around $1,372.50 an hour for their “services.”

The author also points out that RFAs do not give tax advice, a critical portion of retiree planning. While I get my tax advice from my smart brother, thinking of the impact of a probable death and the tax implication might make one decide to make different decisions on how to withdrawal funds from one’s IRA; taxes rise when the same amount is taken from one’s 401 with one taxpayer versus a married person paying taxes. This is also usually true when one passes on funds to younger people and those funds have to be liquidated.

The folksy style of this book did not work for me but it’s still a quick read and this book is not really focused on people like me whose mother taught him about saving for retirement. The author provides sound information that will help people trying to save for retirement to think through how to do it.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this is an important book for those saving for retirement and in retirement to read. It comes as a surprise to most people that for every $500k of investments they are incurring annuals fees of $5,000 to $10,000 from their advisor and the investments themselves. There are clear options to avoid most of this drag on their investments. They can pay directly for services that better fit their needs and scrutinize the recommendations of their advisor for poor performance against benchmarks and high fees. It is accurate that fees are buried in account statements compared to how any other professional service fee is billed. This book is a useful wake up call that “set it and forget it” is what most advisors and most of us do.

I do think that the author has a tendency for hyperbole and perhaps the history lessons run long. Not all readers will appreciate his humor and not find his examples useful. I just skipped through some sections to get to the meat of his message.

[Mari McR · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fine read for those who have minimal understanding of investing, IRAs, 401ks, etc. However, the author dedicated 91% of his book expounding on the evils of RFAs of the world. It became repetitive as though the reader needs to read the same message numerous times. After a while, it sounded more like a personal vendetta against Edward Jones and the like, starting with the cover where the retiree gives "Edward James" the pink slip.

Only in the last two chapters, 9& 10, does Aler propose the options of Fixed Index Annuities and Asset Protection Trusts. He presents himself (and his company GR) as the caped hero to save the day. Oh brother. I read nearly 200 pages shamelessly bashing the RFA industry only to be presented two options? If Aler (and his team) is a bona fide "hero" (the title of Chapter 10), they would have committed at least 30% of the book to options beyond FIAs and trusts. I will have to look elsewhere for genuine heroic and innovative retirement planning.

[Glen Leavens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well done book with the interest of "small" investors in mind. I agree with some of the points in the book. He believes in "selling the farmland" to generate "income" in retirement and not setting up income producing assets, except for a basic Annuity. This is a comprehensive look at how to plan for retirement, including insurance, taxes and estates/wills. An entertaining read. I appreciated the section on Roth Conversions and why to do them.

[Polly Steeber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains very enlightening information for those who are currently using or thinking about using a financial advisor. It explains a lot of investment terms in simple language and shares information on the transition that was made from pensions to 401ks over the past decades. Most importantly it talks about wrapper fees that add up and cut into investors’ earnings.

[Stefanie Varney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must Read

WOW! Great read for someone in retirement, or planning for retirement. Tell everyone you love to read this book!!! Very inspiring and informative!!!

[Nancy Gildner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book.