You need an independent advisor to eliminate bureaucracies and prevent problems before they compromise your future

At first glance, it may seem logical to entrust your investments to a bank or custodian advisor. After all, they're reputable institutions with a long history of providing financial services. But scratch beneath the surface, and you'll discover a web of conflicts of interest, bureaucratic red tape, and prioritization of profit growth over your financial well-being.

Marc Alan Wealth Management has analyzed numerous portfolios created by custodians and banks, and came to the conclusion that their financial advisors are not looking out for your best interests. In fact, custodian/banking agents were more concerned with keeping you invested in their company's proprietary products to increase corporate profits instead of putting you into better products offered by their competition. It's common sense that no firm is the best at everything, so a good question to ask yourself is why the custodian primarily recommends their own funds. If you use a Schwab advisor, you will mostly own Schwab Funds; if you use a Vanguard Advisor, you will mostly own Vanguard Funds. To make things less transparent and confusing, you might even own a product that doesn't have the same name as your custodian, but you are still not in the clear.  Custodian/bank advisors have many monetary alliances with third-party firms and even give business to their own subsidiaries. So, they continue to profit even when you see a product issued by another company. Custodians and banks keep you ill-informed of all your better investment choices, which is a shocking reality but one that's all too common.

A bank or custodian organization's goal is to increase their profits and gain share in the marketplace. One of the ways they accomplish this is by hiring their own service agents who call themselves advisors. These advisors support the organization's growth by keeping clients invested in their firm's products. The advisors may use the same platforms and tools as independent advisors, but their priorities are fundamentally different. They are more concerned with meeting sales targets and increasing their own compensation than with helping you achieve your financial goals.

There are various kinds of compensation that creates problems for their clients. For example, if you are working with a fee-based advisor, broker, or insurance agent, you can be in for serious trouble when they push you into products because of the hidden commissions >>read about the dangers here. But things can even get more confusing when working with a Vanguard or Schwab agent at a fixed percentage rate with the promise of no commissions and only salaried employees. Just because they get a salary and no commission, it doesn't mean their interests align with yours. For example, what would happen with the Schwab agent if they put you in all Vanguard and BlackRock funds? It's reasonable that they wouldn't have a job in the near future or wouldn't get that nice year-end bonus. Some funds promote themselves as a non-profit or mutual company where the shareholders own the company. However, the reality is these firms still have a profit motive that comes to light when you look at the ridiculous salaries and bonuses the executives receive. If these non-profits were expected to generate a profit the profits are eliminated by more bonuses.

To maximize corporate wealth, the investment models are created by the parent company, with all of the parent company's lucrative offerings or alliances that pay them ongoing fees. The models may offer an inferior substitute to what you require or may even exclude a specific kind of investment if the parent company didn't create it.

The consequences of this narrow-minded inside-the-box thinking style can be devastating. As a result, when you work with a bank or custodian advisor, you're often stuck in a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach that doesn't consider your unique financial situation or goals. You may be forced to invest in products that are not suitable for you or miss out on opportunities such as making more money on your cash, reducing taxable distributions, or getting ahead of the next market selloff.

But it's not just the lack of personalized attention and self dealing that's the problem. Banks and custodians are massive conglomerates with complex bureaucracies that can make it difficult or impossible to get the help you need when you need it. Imagine trying to get a simple question answered or a problem resolved, only to be passed from one unhelpful representative to another. It's a frustrating and demoralizing experience that can leave you feeling lost and alone. Worse yet, any agent who is great at what they do eventually leaves to work with a registered investment advisor firm, or they get promoted. You are left with an endless supply of churning service agents who either get fired or quit. This infinite cycle of promoting the good ones or having them go independent will leave you with this feeling of being without help, and even if the agents address some basic answers, you will need to know the correct questions to ask and be aware of competing products that they aren't even allowed to comment on.  It is clear the level of quality and thoroughness that can keep you out of trouble is gone.  >> Read the true story of Ron, who struggled with the endless changing of advisors

Think about it like this: Would you hire a lawyer from LegalZoom to represent you in a high-stakes court case? Of course not! You'd want a seasoned, experienced independent attorney who has your best interests at heart and can provide personalized attention to your case. But when it comes to your life savings, many people make the same mistake by entrusting them to a bank or custodian advisor in pursuit of alleged lower costs. The actual cost of working with these agents may only be obvious once the problems present themselves. For example, Marc Alan Wealth Management receives many inquiries during each market sell-off because the custodian advisor's flawed approach is exposed through unnecessary losses. Marc Alan Wealth Management has some favorable views of some products and services from Schwab and Vanguard but believes they are a disaster if you rely solely on their guidance.

>>Read more about problems with Schwab to look out for (Coming soon)

>>Read more about problems with Vanguard to look out for (Coming soon)

>>Problems when you work with a Bank (Coming soon)

So, what's the alternative? Independent advisors, of course! These professionals are dedicated to helping you achieve your financial goals, not making a quick buck or growing an investment firm's profits. They are free to work with you in a way that's tailored to your unique needs and goals, and they are motivated by a desire to help you succeed. For example, an independent advisor won't show you only one firm's product; they will review all the products in the marketplace and present you with options that they believe are the best for you.  If you use an independent advisor and get rid of some conflicts of interest by using a fee-only advisor >>read the difference, you won't have to worry that you only see a product because it pays a nice commission.

When you work with an independent advisor who follows the strict fiduciary standard of fee-only, you're on the same team. You're working together to achieve your financial goals, and you're not being sold a product or service designed to benefit the advisor or the advisor's firm more than you. It's a more personal, more collaborative approach that can lead to better results and a more fulfilling experience. For example,  at Marc Alan Wealth Management, no products pay us any commission or incentive fee to offer them to you.  That means we are free to purchase the best Vanguard, Schwab, BlackRock, or competing existing products.

So, don't make the mistake of entrusting your life savings to a bank or custodian advisor. Instead, seek out an independent advisor such as Marc Alan Wealth Management >>about us, who is dedicated to helping you achieve your financial goals. Your future well-being is at stake, and finding the right independent fee-only (commission-free) professional to help you achieve success is essential.

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