Heart-to-heart talk on the cost of receiving investment advice or decades, the true cost of advice has been a `dirty little secret.' Many investors were not aware of what they were paying for hnancial advice. In my opinion, that was by design. F o r those of you who have read previous columns, my views are clear. Industry participants, including investment advisors, mutual fund companies and indus try regulators have done a poor job at provid ing fee transparency. Finally, some small changes have occurred that will at least start providing some of the costs of investing. Now it is time to start considering other costs of hnancial advice. These are the invisible costs of receiving bad advice. If you interviewed two hnancial advisors, which one would you choose? One advisor has an investment manage ment fee of one per cent, as opposed to the other one having an investment management fee of 1.25 per cent. So, decide. W hich one would you choose? The real question is which one will be most benehcial? This requires you to make a consumer deci sion as to the value received, for the amount paid. From an initial cost perspective, the advisor with the lower fee would seem to be the best to i-1 V) F Dollars & Sense Peter Watson Guest Contributor Determining what is in your best interest includes the cost and the beneht of decisions you make. For some reason that logic has escaped many individuals when they are purchasing hnancial advice. Those days should end. Understand the full cost of what you pay for hnancial advice, and weigh that against the full beneht. -- Submitted by Peter Watson of Peter Wat son Investments and Aligned Capital Partners Inc., MBA, CFP, R.F.P, CIM, F C SI, Certified Financial Planner C L CD O =r ro CO o O > m C D choice. Maybe that is not the case. If the more expensive advisor could offer you additional benehts, including better long term investment performance, tax savings, and other tangible benehts, would that advi sor be a better choice? Let's consider the same question when it comes to buying a car. One car is 20 per cent more expensive than a similar car. W hich car would you purchase? The easy answer is the less expensive vehicle. However, a car owner has to consider other costs, including gas mileage efficiency. You would easily pay slightly more for a fuel-efhcient car if it more than compensated you for the higher cost. The very basis of our capitalistic system is that consumers make judgement calls as to what is in their best interest. m CD Q-" CD X > q o x b o 3 " D e liv e rin g hom e co m fo rt fro m o u r fa m ily to y o u rs sin c e 1967 " N ow O pen! O a k v i l l e 's o n l y B r i t i s h s t o r e APPLEBY SYSTEM S FIREPLACE, HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING CONTRACTORS The biggest & BEST selection of all your favorite British products and hand made, award winning butchery & bakery items in store! E A S T E R HAS ARRIVED! All your favourites now in stock Like us on Facebook! Special offers & much more! facebook.com/britishgrocer1 C H E C K N EW O U T O U R W E B S IT E ! OAKVILLE 905.825.1893 BURLINGTON 905.335.3203 2086 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE C o m e S e e O u r SH O W R O O M mybritishgrocer.com Find all your favourites online! Mon - Fri. 8am - 5pm; Saturday 11am - 4pm Monday to Saturday 10am- 5:30pm , Sunday 10am - 5pm · (905) 845 2748 259 Lakeshore Road East (Opposite the Church), Oakville, ON L6J 1H9 mybritishgrocer.com