How to Get a Financial Planner Without High Fees or Commissions

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None of our parents invested or talked about it with us so we were really flying blind. In fact, for most of my life, I’d assumed investing was for rich people who had more money than they knew what to do with. 

With that mindset, I figured I’d start with a traditional financial advisor. But after hearing how much they took in commissions and charged in fees for only FOUR investment options, the frugal in me took over and I knew I could do it on my own for cheaper. 

But I was so disappointed that there wasn’t a more affordable option to have a financial planner in your corner. Sure there are a ton of robo-advisors now but most of them still pick from a pool of standard funds.

I wondered if there was a solution to give people the diversified* portfolio they need without sacrificing the cost. In 2019 is that really too much to ask!?

Well, it turns out some other people were working on the solution long before I even knew there was a problem. And it’s called Emperor Investments.

Emperor Investments Review

Emperor Investments uses a combination of technology and real-life people to offer custom portfolios at an affordable price. Which means no salesmen in suits, no crazy commissions, and no “one size fits all” portfolio. In my opinion, it’s truly the best of both worlds.

The crazy commissions I’m talking about are from traditional financial advisors who work for a larger company and charge sales loads of 3-6%. With all the technology on the market right now, any fee or commission over 2% is unnecessary. Personally, I’ll never recommend an investment platform, no matter how brilliant the concept, with a fee of over 1%. 

The alternative is hiring a fee-only financial planner. Instead of taking a commission on every contribution, you pay them upfront for their services. This is way more ethical because their paycheck isn’t determined by what you invest in. 

The downside is that even though it’s more affordable in the long run, it’s more expensive upfront. That’s a legitimate turn off for a new investor.

Emperor uses its synergy of tech and people to bring custom portfolios to people for .6% of assets annually. Compared to the more “hands-off” robo-advisors, Emperor Investments’ annual fee is on the higher side but justifiable because of all the extra non-robo customization that goes into your portfolio.

Lucky for you, if you’re reading this you can get six months of management for free right here!

To start you simply visit the Emperor Invests website and start with a questionnaire about your age, financial plans, income, etc. The technology then determines what kind of portfolio is appropriate for you based on your answers. 

For me, they determined a “Balanced” portfolio of 17 companies was a good fit.

You’ll then finish setting up your account by telling them more about your financial goals, where you want your stocks (IRA, plain ol’ brokerage, etc). Then you can transfer over a minimum of $500 and you’re off to the races!

You can complete this whole process online and get your custom portfolio of dividend-paying stocks in as little as 15 minutes!

How Emperor Invests 

Emperor’s investment methodology is based on research by their Chief Investment Officer, an economics professor with a Ph.D. in Finance and over 40 years of investing experience. 

Emperor uses a three-step approach when deciding which companies to invest in.

First, The technology identifies stocks that meet Emperor’s criteria, including having paid uninterrupted dividends for a very long period. This step is run using new data from every quarter.

Then, the professionals dive deeper into this pool of companies to look for things like a compelling value proposition, strong competitive advantage, and quality management team. The companies that make the cut are called their Dream Team.

Finally, when you sign up, Emperor uses tech again to build an optimized portfolio using stocks from their Dream Team. At this time they consider the price of each stock and which industry it is in.

I love this combination of technology and professional service because it takes the pressure off the new investor while not burdening them with expensive upfront fees or sneaky commissions.

Emperor Investments Management

Emperor blends active and passive investing — Think, a blend of standing in the New York Stock Exchange screaming “sell!” and “buy” with completely passive “buy, hold, fugetaboutit” investing — to get the best value out of these companies.

Once your account is up and running, you can contact Emperor’s portfolio management team during business hours by phone or anytime by email or chat on their website. Even more access than your local advisor without the lofty fee or 5% commission.

Who is Emperor Investments Right For?

Emperor Investments is a great concept but it’s not right for everyone. If you’re a nerd who likes to do things yourself you can assemble your own portfolio of index funds through Vanguard or Fidelity. For those who don’t care about customization, you might be better off trying Betterment.

If you want a custom portfolio beyond a simple index fund and don’t want to get a Ph.D. in economics to do it, Emperor is 100% for you.

In the end, there’s no wrong way to invest. You just have to start. And if you need your hand held to start, then don’t be ashamed of that! You have plenty of time to learn new things and refine your investing method.

Just don’t make the mistake of pouring over books and blogs forever before you start. And you’ll get 6 months of management for free so go do it now!

This article is a sponsored post, paid for by Emperor Investments Inc.  I am not a client of Emperor Investments Inc., so this should not be considered an endorsement or testimonial.

Remember the Content on this site is for general informational purposes only, you should not take any such information or other material as individual legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Please seek out a professional for specific questions and advice.

* Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.  It is a method used to help manage investment risk.

** Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The results of forward-testing does not represent the results of actual trading using client assets and should not be considered indicative of the skill of the adviser. Forward-testing (aka paper trading) fails to address the broad market’s impact on individual securities and generally does not account for cost like slippage, commissions or fees. Forward-testing often includes “formfitting” which is the ability to select ideal entry and exit points. Unless otherwise indicated, data is as of (05/19/2018).

*** The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general.  It is a market value weighted index with each stock’s weight in the index proportionate to its market value.