[am1m]

Originally Posted by deepak_misra

...you dont need to go top someone nearby. This field has worked quite well in online mode.

...align the investments to goals and having an unbiased third person doing this really helps.

Exactly my recent experience with a fee-only financial planner (have posted about that in detail on the 'Retirement Planning' thread). The complete engagement, multiple meetings over months was done online. Actually it was much better that it was online because getting to his registered office would have been a pain and I would have had to take a half-day leave each time! This way, I could have a quick meeting with the planner before work, each time.

And yes, my goal was also to have an unbiased professional opinion of my retirement plan and savings. Was happy with the assessment and plan changes that came out of the exercise.

[srsrini]

Originally Posted by am1m

Exactly my recent experience with a fee-only financial planner (have posted about that in detail on the 'Retirement Planning' thread). The complete engagement, multiple meetings over months was done online. Actually it was much better that it was online because getting to his registered office would have been a pain and I would have had to take a half-day leave each time! This way, I could have a quick meeting with the planner before work, each time.
....

Thank you for the experience share.

Disclaimer: My name is listed in the list that people had referred to, but I do not intend this to be promotional in any way.

After COVID, financial planners have become more comfortable online. I remember a conversation in Jan 2020 where the experienced folks outright rejected the idea that this can be done online - their reasoning was correct. This work requires trust and it did not seem easy to build it online. The shutdown experience changed that and they are also ok with online now.

I am in Bangalore and with the traffic situation, physical meetings are quite difficult to do anyway!

BTW, a small info on the list that was mentioned earlier. That group of planners is committed to charge a flat, transparent fee, and recommend a simple portfolio.

[jigar12975]

Hi DiMaGo,

I recently came across this thread & so do not know if you already have answers.
1. Any investment whether in gold or other asset should be in SIP mode. So that you can do cost averaging.
2. Gold should always be a part of the portfolio and you should invest in SIP mode for long term - 7 years+.
3. Investment are not risk free as asset prices (gold) will fluctuate and be volatile. There could be long periods of lack of movement in price.
4. I personally now prefer gold bars from reputed jewelers post the Government rollback on the sovereign gold bond scheme. ETFs also are less preferred as they do not correctly track the gold prices in the offline market. So it is either gold bars or ETF, no other manner of investment in gold.

Hope I was able to answer some of your queries.