Anyone have recommendations for a financial advisor in the Houston area? I'm on the southwest side (Bellaire/Meyerland). Not too worried about location, but central is better than out in the burbs.

The people i know whose recommendation I would value most live somewhere other than Houston.

Also looking for ideas of what info to gather, things to think through and questions to prep before meeting/interviewing potential advisors.

I'm 35 married with two kids (2&5). I'm more financially inclined than your average guy, but think I'm at the stage that I need another set of eyes and help to get/stay on track.

Thanks in advance.

Sounds like you're looking for an assessment of your financial plan. I used IMG (Austin Cox And Jonathan Vera). It was great to just get a pulse on where I'm at and where I need to be. They look at everything: work disability, social security, life insurance, wills, etc. They will offer other alternatives for investments, but it's not high pressure or pushy. It was perfect for what I needed. At the end of the plan, you can choose to go year to year (fee based) with them, or just do a one time plan. I liked it because it was objective and not promoted by the next mutual fund salesman that walked in their door.

With all that said, they will recommend attorneys, CPAs, etc. as you need, but do your research as well.

Thanks.

Is there a general consensus here to look for fee-based rather than commissions based advisors? Is there a fee structure that is typical?

Definitely thinking I want a financial plan done and help monitoring/assessing over time.

Any thoughts here as to an advisor at a national brand advisory firm v. independent folks?

There are many different advisor/planner models to serve many different clients/needs. Answers to these questions should guide you to what type of advisor/firm best fits your needs.

1) Do you want a planning based relationship, investment based, or both?
2) Do you want one-time help, or an ongoing relationship?
3) Are you generally a do-it yourself type, but want a little help setting/revisiting overall direction? Alternatively, are you happy to delegate some portions of your financial matters to others?

Once you narrow in on what type of help you need, search for professionals that specialize in helping those types of clients for your level of wealth/complexity. Their services/costs/delivery should then more closely match up with what you can reasonably afford, and allow you to make a choice based on personality fit/experience.

Casey TableTennis said:

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There are many different advisor/planner models to serve many different clients/needs. Answers to these questions should guide you to what type of advisor/firm best fits your needs.

1) Do you want a planning based relationship, investment based, or both?

Both but probably skewed more towards planning

2) Do you want one-time help, or an ongoing relationship?

Ongoing

3) Are you generally a do-it yourself type, but want a little help setting/revisiting overall direction? Alternatively, are you happy to delegate some portions of your financial matters to others?

Been do it yourself to this point mostly using employer provided options like target date funds. At a point where that's probably not enough. Don't want to spend a ton of time managing myself so some delegation is maybe in order. My philosophy is save as much as possible and allocate appropriately. Not really interested in paying a lot of fees on the investment side.

Once you narrow in on what type of help you need, search for professionals that specialize in helping those types of clients for your level of wealth/complexity. Their services/costs/delivery should then more closely match up with what you can reasonably afford, and allow you to make a choice based on personality fit/experience.

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What's the best way of searching this kind of stuff. I'm working the word of mouth angle. There are just so many options. Kind of makes my head spin.

FPA Houston has a planner search. CFP Board has a tool as well. Those will get you to plenty of options that are leaning toward planning based. Investment based, word of mouth is probably the best route.

If the above doesn't help, I'm happy to chat with you to help point you in the right direction.

I'll second Austin Cox and his group. They are awesome and will set you up with a great plan.

I'd recommend Northwestern Mutual.
They do need assessments, analysis,, investments, indurance and the whole schmeer, and they tend to be very relationship-based and not "hard sell".
I know an Ag over there I can put you in touch with if you PM me. First step would be just a lunch or a meeting to see if y'all like each other and get a feel for what you might need help with near term.

I recommend AXA financial planning. They have offices in Houston. A former Aggie and 12 th man has been serving me for the past 10 years.

ZoneClub said:

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Most of the big houses will do an assessment equal to NWM. NWM's focus is mostly insurance, annuities, etc and not investment planning. They call themselves comprehensive goals based wealth mgmt, but they are probably 75%+ insurance.

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This reflects my one experience with NWM. I was lured to a sales pitch over coffee from a business acquaintance who I knew had changed companies but wasn't sure where he had gone. To me it felt like I was being peddled Advocare or Amway with no mention of the company and a lot of sales fluff.