Fee Only Financial Advisor Recommendation - Troy, MI Area

[William Nance]

Any recommendations for a fee-only CFP in the metro-Detroit (Troy and outward) area?

My wife and I have begun accumulating savings and have eliminated all of our student loan and other bad debts (2017 was a huge year of change thanks to discovering Bigger Pockets). While we're in a starting position ($25K in cash savings), we are now saving $3K per month and looking to build a plan with an advisor who has personal experience in real estate investing. My thoughts were to begin regularly investing in Vanguard's S&P 500 index fund (VOO) and continue to learn as that grew into a decent capital position (~$100K) to begin investing in smaller MFRs (potentially with a partner currently in MFR who is interested in purchasing with me). I'm happy to admit Set For Life has continued my transformation this year and going toward this point. Becoming job optional with "passive" income as soon as possible (~10 years) being the ultimate goal (i.e. property management company employed to run the assets, but as we haven't started yet we're keeping an open mind and this is why having a CFP who has real estate investments themselves is critical). I already track and budget all our finances and have a basic plan to wealth generation put together, but a second set of professional eyes to correct or reinforce is what we're after.

Long story short, a fee-only CFP with real estate investment experience, interest in clients looking to seriously grow wealth from square one, and who would create a plan we may check in on once a year would be perfect.

[Daniel Lehrman]

Actually, millions and millions of multi-millionaires regularly work closely with CFP® professionals. Believe it or not, millions and millions of people have built wealth with stocks and mutual funds.I work with them every single day.

Stocks and mutual funds are NOT terrible vehicles.You may not have direct control over any particular investment, but if you diversify across thousands of companies through an index fund, control your behavior during downturns, and invest long-term, your risk-adjusted return is actually higher than most RE investments. With RE you have ONE house that you’re putting your bets on.You’re subject to a plethora of other types of risk that are eliminated with an index fund.

Yes, the financial services industry is notorious for high fees.Most “advisors” are just salespeople who are incentivized to sell you products (like annuities) that make them money.So, make sure to ask how an advisor is compensated, and whether they are a fiduciary.Ask if they own RE, but don’t dismiss their intellect because they don’t own their own properties.There’s probably a reason, and you should hear them out.

The point I would hope to get across is that any smart investor who understands risk will own both real estate investments AND low-cost mutual funds.Perhaps you need an hourly CFP?To be honest, what you’re looking isn’t abundant in the CFP world.Let me know if you have any questions.Good luck with your search!