Oh, forgot to share my horror story lol
My PFA came and talked to my anesthesia class as we were graduating. He was working with a lot of the anesthesia providers around the state, and I figured if they worked with him it couldn't be bad, and who else would handle my finances? So I purchased the works, whole life, disability insurance, and let him set up all my retirement accounts through him. Everything seemed to straightforward and great every time I talked to him. I thought I had the best designed and great plan, it wasn't costing me much and was so "simple". I was SET.
And then I started learning things over the next 8 years. I realized he had to be making money somewhere, but I could see where. So I started to find out how they made their money. I found out where the fees were coming from that I didn't see and he didn't explain up front. I realized how much the whole life cost me up front, and how little I had to show for it. I realized even all the additional money I put in was slow to grow due to all the fees, both as the money went in and as fees each year. I realized his choices for accounts were just picking from past performance, he would go with the top performing funds in the last 3 years and rebalance that way. So every year we rebalanced into fund that did the best in the past three years, but that plan was underperforming the market in general, and the plans all had high fees that cut deeply into my returns.
So at our next meeting I explained how I wasn't happy with returns. I showed how I added up every dime I had added to the accounts over the years, and compared that to the current total value. I told him I didn't care how the fees and expenses took place, in the end it was eating much of my returns. I would have done better in the index funds, and without the worry about picking new funds each year and having a very complex balancing.
He did the same as your PFA did to you. He explained away all of my concerns in very slick and professional words. He pulled number out, showed me charts and grafts, talked about where his fees came from and how little they were, talked about risk and future returns, talked about how well other clients had done and how they are about to retire with fortunes, etc, etc. I got confused and started to doubt myself, leaving most of my funds with him for another year and a half. I was busy, and I just didn't want to jump in and risk everything. But then over time I realized it didn't matter what he all said. I was right, he wasn't adding value, he was dragging down the performance of my investments. Period. Why talk to the guy, he was making money and clearly would say anything to keep my business. So I called Vanguard and started the process. I was so relieved to get my money away from my old PFA, and the returns have been great and the funds are easy to control. I now understand my plan, why I do what I do, and the risk doesn't concern me at all. I spent a few years wondering about it before making the jump, and regret that, I should have jumped as soon as I realized I was right, not letting him convince me to keep going for so long.
Finally, let me be clear, he wasn't a "bad" person. If he hadn't come and talked to me I may not have saved as much as I had. We lived pretty frugally and invested a lot of money during my time with him. Sure, we wasted a lot on fees and expenses, but we also set aside a large amount that I otherwise might not have. If I had never switched to Vanguard and got out from him I would have retired just fine. I would have saved up enough and might never have known the amount of money it cost me to be with him. Sure I might have ended up working 5 years longer to get where I wanted, or have 20% less in retirement funds if I retired at the same time, but it would have been fine. I was much better off than all the idiots not saving or setting as much money aside. So I appreciate what they guy did for me. But it wasn't worth those fees once I opened my eyes, so I moved my money. It isn't worth having a grudge against these guys, unless they are really crooks, just realize what they cost and then do the logical thing by managing your own money in a few low fee index funds. Your future self will thank you.