SINGLE

FINANCE

Jewish Singles
Toronto Trip

Finding A Good
`Money Doctor'

(Ages 25-45)

SUSAN BONDY

July 17119

y

Arranged by The Jewish News,
Community Network for Jewish Singles
and Metro Toronto Singles

Trip includes:
• Round-trip train from Windsor
(9:30 a.m. or 6:10 p.m. departure July 17)

• 2 nights' accommodations at Westin Hotel
(double occupancy)

• Friday night singles Oneg-Shabbat with Toronto singles

• Sightseeing and shopping

• Cocktail dance party with Toronto singles

• Sunday brunch with Toronto singles

• Snack on return train (departs Toronto 3:30 p.m. July 19)

Absolute deadline July 9

$190 Complete

(No Exceptions)

For information, call Jill Cole, 661-1000, ext. 347; or Heidi Press, 352-6858,
evenings before 10.

APPLICATION

Name

Address

Day Phone

Roommate Preference

Make check payable to JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Mail check and application to: JCC-Singles, 6600 W. Maple,
West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Travel arrangements by Can-Am Travel, Inc.

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WWI

ou've worked hard
and managed to
squirrel away a "nest
egg." You want to make your
money grow, but the thought
of jumping in with both feet
scares you. You've heard suc-
cess stories, "fish" stories and
horror stories from your
friends. You would like some
professional advice, but who
can you trust? A broker, an
accountant, a lawyer, a fi-
nancial counselor? The
choices can be paralyzing.
Eventually everybody
reaches the conclusion that
outside help is needed. The
ones who need it -most are
those who don't have the
time (or inclination) to be-
come financial experts. So,
let's go through the necessary
steps to find a reliable in-.
vestment adviser:
In order to choose the right
hand to hold, you have to
differentiate among financial
"specialists." Since anyone
can put out a "financial ad-
viser" or "financial planner"
shingle (the field is, as yet,
totally unregulated), you
must look beyond the title.
What is the person's spe-
cialty and background? For
example:
• A tax accountant generally
seeks to minimize taxes.
The results can be quite
different from maximizing
total return.
• A lawyer is more likely to
advise on wills, estates and
trusts.
• An insurance agent is apt
to be more concerned with
making sure your home,
car, business, possessions
and life are "secure." Al-
though most insurance
companies offer investment
programs, many are tied to
insurance, and the "lingo"
is often complex and confus-
ing.
• A broker's "bag of tricks"
will include a large number
of products — stocks, bonds,
mutual funds (generally
those which change a load
or sales commission),
limited partnerships, com-
modities, and tax-deferred
annuities. Unfortunately,
most brokers get minimal
training in the field of fi-
nancial planning.
But there's another way
to classify financial advisers

Susan Bondy is president of
The Bondy Group, a
consultative service to
corporations on financial
planning and investment
strategies.

— by the way they earn their
money, rather than by what
they sell. There are three
categories:
'general
commission-only planners,
fee-and-commission planners
and fee-only planners.
Commission-only financial
planners will make recom-
mendations "free of charge,"
expecting the client to im-
plement the suggestions
through them so that they
can earn the commission.
Fee and commission finan-
cial planners usually charge
a small fee to review the
client's finances and prepare
a written report. Once the
report has been prepared and
ideas are ready for im-
plementation, the planner
will then receive commissions
from selling the recom-
mended investments.
Fee-only financial planners
do not benefit from the im-
plementation of their advice.
They are paid for their time
— either on an hourly basis
or by an annual fee. How-
ever, because they do not sell
financial products, fee-only
planners have no built-in
conflicts of interest.
With a commission-only
planner, the commission
amount will be in direct
proportion to the amount of
dollars invested. On average,
commissions on insurance
policies vary anywhere from
25 percent to 75 percent of
first-year fees, the commis-
sions on limited partnerships
are about 10 percent to 15
percent, commissions on load
mutual funds and tax-
deferred annuities are any-
where from 3 percent to 8 1 /2
percent. Since commissioned
planners earn the bulk of
their income from those
commissions, they may have
a bias towards the high
commission product.
I'm not implying that an
honest commissioned planner
will recommend an inferior
product because of a high
commission payout. But he
may find it easier to fall in
love with a high payout in-
vestment.
Fee-and-commissions plan-
ners generally charge $250 to
$1,000 for the preparation of
their initial report. Thereaf-
ter, they receive commission
fees from the products they
sell. Some fee and commis-
sion planners are willing to
deduct the initial fee from
the commissions they earn,
while others will request a
separate payment.
Fee-only financial planners