Edelman Financial Services LLC

This review is for the person who has 500k+ to invest in the stock market - not a lot - but enough of an investment to expect good service from Edelman Financial Services. I am a professional with a good job. Ten years ago, I knew nothing about the stock market. After starting my own business, I found Edelman and opened a retirement account (SEP) with them. I gave 50k+ a year to Edelman. They promised to invest my money wisely. My Edelman adviser promised to meet me each year to discuss my financial needs and goals; however, I rarely heard from him. I met him one time, at the beginning, when he asked me to sign on the dotted line. After that first (and only) meeting, he put my money in extremely conservative funds. My account consisted of ten funds that were passively managed by other companies. I had to pay Edelman $10,000 a year - to passively manage ten funds that were passively managed by other companies! My Edelman advisor should have noticed that the funds he picked for me made no money and even lost money during the ten year period I stayed with Edelman. When I questioned my adviser about the excessive losses, he always stated that the market was "taking a downturn." Instead of monitoring my losses, my advisor seemed more concerned with his commissions. I do not know if he was officially "churning" my investments, but I do know that he had unusual buying practices. One week he would buy some shares and the next week he would sell the same shares at the same price. This went on for years, week after week. My advisor never ventured outside those ten funds, even though he knew I was not making any money. When I finally had time during Covid to review my account history, I was shocked to see that he bought and sold the same funds over and over again for years, without making any profit. When I told him I wanted to roll over my retirement account into another institution's 401k, he told me to do it myself. When I reminded him that he managed my account, he said he would have Edelman cash out my account and send me a check. I repeated that I wanted to ROLL OVER my retirement account to another institution, NOT cash it out. I told him that the IRS would severely penalize me for early withdrawal if Edelman cashed out my account and sent me a check in my name. We went back and forth on this simple principle. He finally agreed to release the funds directly to the other institution. My account was transferred to a Fidelity retirement account. I slowly sold the laggard funds that my advisor had bought. I reinvested the money in stocks and ETFs, on my own. I looked at high performing ETFs, with solid tech investments. I bought individual stocks to mirror the ETF holdings. I looked at the size/percentage of their respective holdings. I looked at what Bill Gates and Warren Buffett bought and sold. I followed the hedge fund gurus and scrutinized their option choices. I diversified. Since transferring my money out of Edelman a few months ago, I have made over 224k on my stock choices. I left Edelman because I was tired of seeing my money go down the drain. My point is this: do not be afraid to buy stocks on your own. Do not blindly give your money to an institution like Edelman. If you do, make sure you know exactly what they are charging you. Make sure you know what they are investing in, and why. Make sure they are doing things that benefit YOU. My financial advisor seemed like a nice man when I met him, but he did not help me at all. He only benefited himself and Edelman. If he had looked at my finances, he would have seen that I already had a lot of money in conservative assets and real estate. He should have been more aggressive with my money. He never once asked me what I wanted to invest in and never asked me what level of risk I wanted. I wish I had paid closer attention to what Edelman was doing. I made the mistake of trusting them with my money. I do not know if Edelman violated any laws, but I do know that they did not help me. I do not recommend them!

This was years back; while we did get a mortgage without difficulty, we felt their costs were pricey. Had better service and price later at a credit union.

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The person I met met with had prepared for the merriment and reviewed all of my personal information. We had a thorough and quick conversation that answered all of my questions and provided some additional points to ponder.

We went to the seminar in October 2014, and told them we would like to talk to them about using the service. We waited., and waited. OK the Holidays are busy, but they'll call. Nothing. January we e-mailed them a couple of times and got no response. February we call and leave a message. Couple weeks later we get an e-mail from Sean Wintz saying they'll call. No call. We e-mailed back and then he called. Apologized, he had been out sick. OK, they said they would e-mail us a package and set up an appointment for 3/9/15. The ninth rolls around and we have heard nothing. So we called and told Mr. Wintz we were cancelling and why. He said he had told his assistant to send the information out, and they are a good company and that they would be fine without us.

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They have done an excellent job in handling my brokerage account. Mary Davis, my account representative, always returns calls promptly with the information requested. We meet each year or more often if needed to go over my account. She is always available to answer any financially related questions. There is a price to pay for such high quality service, but I get above average returns despite their fee.

We switched from another financial planner because they had better rates. They are very prompt in returning phone calls and answering any questions that you may have. We will continue to use them in the future.

I use their service all the time. Their price is pretty much same as others. Everything has been good and everything has been great. They are very professional. They were very responsive. I got into talk to them very quickly when I need to. They answer my questions. When one is talking about finances, all these are very important.

It did not go well. It was a and quot;come -onand quot; for the Edelmen business. We knew that and were looking for financial advisors and that is why we attended the presentation. However, there was no question and answer session. They did offer appointments, but in order to answer questions or suggest any type of plan it was to be a flat $800. If we decided to use them, then further costs would be determined.

They are absolutely terrific. We have been using them for about fifteen years. They are good about getting back to us. They invest very wisely for us and we have done very well with them. They have planned so well for us that we will be able to retire in comfort. They are very open to people calling or emailing them. They have a terrific website and are all over the country now. Rick Edelman has several books and is listed as the number one financial advisor in America. We see a planner in his office but Rick is very well known. He also has a monthly newsletter. He also has a book that I give out to any young person who is getting married because it has so much useful information in it. It is fee based planning and depends upon the size of your portfolio. You can start an account with a minimum of $5,000.

I've been with him for four years and I am happy. They treat you like you are a client even though they have probably thousands of people they work with for financial planning.

We've been with them for several years. We trust them and they seem to know what they are doing. I would absolutely recommend them and we will continue to use their services.

Overall, things are going very well.

The team, including Jim, are very personable and always willing to help.

Initial interview scheduled promptly after being given checklist for information we needed to provide. We were impressed by the professionalism and felt comfortable discussing financial information. This is an ongoing relationship.

Theyre very professional, but we wont know the results for a few years. Theyre very helpful. The person who owns the company has a show on the radio on Saturday mornings and he has a lot of helpful advice. Even people who dont hire them can get a lot of useful information. There is no charge for an initial consultation. The $800 fee paid was for services we requested from EFS.

They are absolutely outstanding. We have dealt with them for many years. They did an excellent job advising my husband with his retirement plan. They do all aspects of financial planning.