ABOUT HOSTS

Joe Anderson
ABOUT Joseph

As CEO and President, Joe Anderson has created a unique, ambitious business model utilizing advanced service, training, sales, and marketing strategies to grow Pure Financial Advisors into the trustworthy, client-focused company it is today. Pure Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), was ranked 15 out of 100 top ETF Power Users by RIA channel (2023), was [...]

Alan Clopine
ABOUT Alan

Alan Clopine is the Executive Chairman of Pure Financial Advisors, LLC (Pure). He has been an executive leader of the Company for over a decade, including CFO, CEO, and Chairman. Alan joined the firm in 2008, about one year after it was established. In his tenure at Pure, the firm has grown from approximately $50 [...]

Published On
September 26, 2015

In this podcast, find out how to choose the best financial advisor for your personal needs and goals. Understand the difference between a fee-only and fee-based firm and where the lines can be blurred. Joe and Al tell you the most important question you should ask your advisor to make sure you won’t get scammed (4:20). Also on today’s podcast: 10 questions to ask yourself before retiring abroad and client cases demonstrating key financial strategies.


1:34 “Stockbrokers are not fiduciaries and are held to a much lower ethical standard, called the suitability standard”

2:17 “One way [an advisor is compensated] is fee-only, and this type of advisor doesn’t accept any commissions whatsoever…this is really what you want because this individual is going to be on the same side of the table as you. Fiduciary means they have to recommend advice that is the absolute best advice for you, not what’s going to work best for them”

2:46 “Fee-based is a term that hybrid companies use, since the advisor can receive both fees and commissions, and that’s where it gets tricky because it sounds like fee-only”

4:20 “The question to ask: are you a fee-only financial advisor who acts as a fiduciary 100% of the time?”

8:35 “Retiring is one thing, but staying retired is something completely different”

12:58 “Medicare and most insurance policies won’t cover care outside the U.S. Though you can buy high-deductible policies that provide major medical coverage, if you become a resident of another country you may be covered by that country’s health system or you may find the cost of paying out of pocket for local care reasonable”

14:54 “How hard is it to establish residency [in a foreign country]?”

16:11 “You will likely pay taxes in the country which you live, and you have to pay taxes on that same income in the United States but you will get a tax credit for some or all of your U.S. taxes”

17:06 “Even if you establish residency abroad, you will still need a U.S. mailing address. The cheapest option is to use a relative’s address”

19:23 “As you near retirement, tax planning becomes more important than ever”

24:55 “You look at the tax return, you go to page 2 line 43 (that’s taxable income, which by the way is your most important tax line on your whole return because it shows you what your tax bracket is), look at that number, then go to your tax table to figure out what your tax bracket is”

26:42 “When you’re in that low of a bracket and you’re going to be in a higher bracket later, you want to do a Roth conversion”

32:45 “In the decades to come we will witness millions of elderly Americans, the Baby Boomers and others slipping into poverty, too frail to work, too poor to retire”

33:15 “…a catastrophic outcome for at least a significant percentage of our elderly population is inevitable (independent experts)”

34:29 “Health insurance is quite expensive and it’s not going to go down any time soon, so you want to make sure you’re prepared”

36:35 “At some point, lack of savings, lack of employment opportunities and failing health will catch up with the overwhelming majority of the nation’s elders”

37:50 “It’s never too late to start; we’ve seen people who have come in to our office in their 60’s with zero dollars saved, ten years later they have a nice nest egg and they can live off their means and they’re fine”