I recently graduated from law school and business school. I have JD and MBA, and I am currently interviewing several financial services companies. I have a huge network of contacts, but mostly young lawyers and owner of small business.
Each has advantages and disadvantages. Northwestern University is really crazy or seems to be swimming (there is no funding plan, 100% fee), and all of their focus seems to concentrate on insurance sales. They did not provide assistance to create potential customers. On the other hand, they have the best location (Great Pittsburgh city center) with great offices, wonderful people and good workouts
Edward Jones pays real wages (which is nice), and they seem to be the most invested. They also provide their own offices and assistants. The downside is that they seem to focus on rural markets, they seem to need to "knock on the door" (I do not know if this is certain)
Omaha is very similar to the northwest, not "graceful". They also do not seem to pay much attention to non-insurance products. However, they provide substantial funding to the new agents.
It sounds like a cliche and the best advice I can offer is planning and doing it. As I told all customers, the ultimate goal of any financial plan is to increase net worth and achieve economic independence. To achieve this goal, we need to plan to develop a strategy that reflects risk tolerance and the current financial situation. As mentioned earlier, your goals are constantly changing as you encounter new life events. For example, to make a child, to start a new job. It is important to update your financial plan at different stages of life in a systematic way and then implement discipline in your financial plan.
It is a failure of the plan not to make a plan as it is in the old proverb. The good news is that it is never too late to plan. After retirement, it is more important than ever to make a sound financial plan. A good financial plan will show you what you need to do to successfully retire. The most common tax deferred retirement accounts such as 401K, 403 (b), IRA, etc. restrict annual donation. One of the advantages of reaching 50 is that it allows the US Internal Revenue Service to "catch up with donations". You can now pay up to $ 6,000, up to $ 24,000 per year for the 401K and 403 (b), and up to $ 1,000 and up to $ 6,500 per year for the IRA.
Before worrying about financial planning, consider planning a full featured life plan. These two should work together, but you need to use the former before the former. If you use a good life plan, you can make economic decisions rather than simply helping to generate wealth. This kind of plan will help you make progress in the most important areas.
For those who have just started a financial plan, heuristics may be useful. To young people who have just started their career, you can get guidance on where to start and where to start. For those who are in the midst of careers and have not yet planned properly, heuristics will be useful. But remember that they only provide general instructions and may not necessarily give you accurate photos. To accomplish this, identify your goals, estimate the needs after inflation adjustment, and find out how much you need to save them. Now make sure that the monthly funds are transferred from your salary to your goal and use the rest to manage your family expenses. In a sense, you first pay for yourself, your goal.