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Safest Investment or Place For People In Rockford To Put Their Retirement Money?
When it comes to investing your retirement money no investment is completely without risk. Still when markets get volatile people start to search for more secure options. This can raise important questions: What does it mean to go to cash? When is it ok to pull my money out of the stock market? Will bond funds keep my money safe? [...]
Will’s Vs. Living Trusts: Which Is Best For Retirement?
When it comes to taking care of your Estate Plan many people wonder what is better for them a Will or a Living Trust? This raises many questions such as: Do I need to be wealthy to benefit from a Living Trust? How much money do you need to have a Living Trust? What is the basic reason for having [...]
How to pay less tax on 401k, 401b, IRA or Other Retirement Account withdrawals!
A little over 10 years ago now Time Magazine said right on its front cover that it might be time to retire the 401k plan and one of the reasons was due to the way it is taxed. By the way, if you would like to learn more about why this article was warning us about the 401k plan please [...]
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Helpful Glossary
The Four Financial Advisor Business Models And How They Charge You
The Stock Broker
The Stock Broker business model is one where the Advisor does not charge you ANY fees at all and simply gets paid a commission for selling you a particular investment.
Mutual Fund / A Shares
Product may charge a Front end load of 3.75% to 5.75% on Average* as an upfront off the top charge in addition to annual management fees of about 1.44% per year**
Variable Annuities
Typically don’t carry a front end charge but in addition to annual management fees usually around 1% they may also charge a Surrender Charge of 6% or higher decreasing over a period of years if you take all of your money out.
Mortality and Expense Fees
Most Variable annuities also charge a fee for Life Insurance that can tack on an additional 1% per year or more on top of the other mentioned fees.
The Insurance Agent
The Insurance agent business model works very similarly to the Stock Broker Model above. The Insurance agent Advisor does not charge you ANY fees at all and simply gets paid a commission for selling you a particular Insurance Product.
Fixed Annuities
Most have a back-end surrender charge that decreases over a period of years. You only pay this charge if you take all of your money out early or withdraw more than the allowed percentage in a given year. Typically you have access to 10% without a fee.
- NOTE: Unlike Variable Annuities Fixed Annuities typically don’t have ANY front end or ongoing annual management fees or life insurance costs built in.
- Life Insurance: Most life insurance plans charge Front end fees and back-end fees as well as ongoing costs to cover the charge for the death benefits.
The Fee-Only Advisor
A Fee-only Advisor business model is one where the Advisor charges a fee for advice or for managing money.
The Hybrid Advisor
A Hybrid Advisor is a business model that is a blend of two or more of the business models above.




