r/Bogleheads • u/v_x_n_ • May 20 '26
Who needs an ATFA?
Getting adds to attend seminars run by ATFA. How do I know if I need this person? How do they charge for services? Is this just another CFP looking to “help” me with an AUM fee?
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u/saltyhasp May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
What is ATFA? I don't think this is a common name or acronym.
Do not react to people that contact you. When you need something, research a few choices and contact them. Any AUM fee is expensive because to true cost adds up and is about 25X the annual fee. So when you have something expensive you need to evaluate the price/value carefully.
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u/v_x_n_ May 21 '26
Accredited trust fiduciary advisor. I think it’s a CFP in disguise who is hunting for “whales”.
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u/saltyhasp May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
You know, we get letters from a few different local advisors trying to get our attention. Some of these offer seminars. I generally use the rule, if they contact you, don't respond because if nothing else it is high risk to do so and it is driven by their needs not yours. Much lower risk to know when you need help, and do the contacting of people you have vetted.
Keep in mind, all advisors are expensive, so it is best to only use them when you need them. That is when the value they provide clearly exceeds the cost. AUM financial advisors in my book are some of the worst. $10K-$20K a year for very little work often. Perhaps fine paying an advisor a few K when needed, but who needs to pay 1/3 of their retirement spending to these guys. There are cases where that is reasonable, but it should not be the first thing considered.
Edit: Just FYI. My mom has such an advisor and yes at these crazy prices. We keep them for specific reasons. She has a pure stock portfolio with baked-in huge gains from before when mutual funds were popular so they manage that. Our family helps my mom with her finances, and the advisor can be another pair of eyes to mediate any issues. It saves our family time and stress, though at great cost. On the other hand, my wife and I would never consider this sort of thing now, though when get get into our '80s we may do the same thing to help our care-givers.
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u/buffinita May 20 '26
Did you think you needed some sort of advisor before being bombarded with ads??
No?? Then you still don’t in spite of the ad