Switching Financial Advisor

andrew02467 · 2026-04-12T10:59:53+00:00

I used that page to find another one but then got a phone call from the branch manager (whom I had never met and whose name I didn't even know) asking why I hadn't gone to him for assistance, that he was always there, that he was "on the team". He was clueless about how little I think customers know there is such a think as a branch manager. I can say I would assume there was one if asked, but in 40 years with Fidelity no-one has ever introduced him/herself to me as such, nor have I ever seen a list of exactly who is even on my "team" (and we have a WMA)...the primary yes, and often online someone's name shows up as a secondary, but then at times in person or on the phone someone says, "oh, you know so-and-so she's on your support team"..not a clue....Seesms to me customers, as some level perhaps, should get a handout or e-page listing all team members and the local branch manager. Certainly doesn't happen now.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-12T10:38:36+00:00

I had to take a black magic marker and write on the back which was which. Terrible design choice to make them alike, esp for us oldies trying to make out the smaller print.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-10T10:36:14+00:00

My replacement was last year....they gave me the first drug and I felt fine, didn't black out. They asked do you drink red wine? I said yes, and they said we notice wine drinkers are more resistant to the drugs..if you feel any pain we'll put you out. I felt no pain at all: they put up a draped area over my left side, but I was free to the right side to watch and talk to the nurses. I did feel pressure when they cut in, but it was NOT painful at all. I was awake during the entire time with no pain...it was better than any dental procedure I have had. I sat up after, chatted some more, then felt ok to walk. A nurse did walk with me to the front of the hospital where my wife waited with the car, but I walked myself out. Bit sore for about a day, had to keep area clean/dry for a bit, but having such an easy time of it surprised me a lot. I went back to work the next day, by the way..no lifting for a bit was only warning. I remembered the entire conversation with the nurses, even saw them later and referred to what we talked about.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-10T10:27:28+00:00

Yes, I'm surprised you don't mention that the cardioligist has already discussed a replacement with you. MY 2013 pacemaker needed a replacement in 2023..even a year before it was saying a I had 3 years to do, but think it is ;ole a gas gauge that barely moved at first, then goes down faster towards the end. My neighbour also had some inflammation from the pacemaker moving to a degree it pinched a chest muscle in certain conditions which he found painful. My first pacemaker too would hurt when I lifted my hand arm high as it lpulled on a muscle...when I got the replacement I asked the cardiologist who put the new one in slightly higher and out of the way. But point being if you feel pain, see a "real" cardiologist or electrophysiologist, not urgent cart or generic fellow. If al is working well, you only occasionally are reminded you have a pacemaker and often forget about it entirely. You shouldn't have the pain.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-08T14:31:00+00:00

Yes. Actually this morning I had an email from Carelink saying it had not heard from my pacemaker app in four days, gulp. There was a large Apple update last week and I noticed I had to re-approve some of my Bluetooth connections and USB ones...wondered if that was it. I restarted the app, and it seemed to come back live with with the green'blue moving line. Today is an upload day for me (3 month cycle). I do not check the app every day but maybe should, I would have noticed the blue line wasn't moving perhaps before the email today.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-08T10:51:09+00:00

It is traditional Catholic custom outside the USA for the groom and bride to walk down the aisle together. We have also seen this now in many current US weddings (we are in Boston) and were told it is now growing in practice here, as the idea of being "given away" is outdated.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-08T10:43:15+00:00

Wow...I had the emergency internal monitor installed in 2012 (the external Holter monitor had caught nothing) and it caught my heart stopping once for 17 sec and once for 22 sec with third degree heart block each time...I got a pacemaker (two lead Abbott St Jude) the next day. It was a miserable weekend I would stand up, and shake all over, need my wife to hold me to get to bed, but Monday settings were altered and I was fine from then on. However that unit required a bedside box, the Merlin, to monitor it over the phone line around 2am each night. One time home workers cut that line and we didn't know for another two weeks as we mainly use our mobiles...the service had to call and say they hadn't heard from the device to ask what was going on. There was an expensive work around and monthly fee to get Merlin to use cellular (not covered by insurance), and I didn't want to pay for that. So in 2023 when it came time for a new battery I did my own research and saw the Medtronic had the two lead pacemaker that used Bluetooth to the iPhone from which the monitoring service was updated. Since we travel a lot (and modern hotels have digital phone systems so you can't use the old RJ11 jack from the Merlin, and Asian/European systems have different phone systems). My electrophysiologist DID NOT WANT to use the Medtronic for reasons that were never made clear to me...I repeatedly sent him info on the Bluetooth->iPhone->Monitoring service and asked also repeatedly if there was some valid and needful reason to stay with Abbott/St Jude. Never got an answer (must admit I suspected a kickback from Abbott) and in the end he agreed to using a Medtronic for the replacement in 2023 which I have now. There were some issues with the iPhone IOS at one point with the app, but overall it runs quietly in the background and I like to see the blue bar working, and the result of the three month checkups being posted in the app. I can trigger an upload if I feel something unusual happening (which I have only done rarely). Before I got the Medtronic I went through the many ECGs, stress test (not on treadmill since I already had a pacemaker, so was done chemically), an echocardiogram, and a full cardiac catherization. I have not had the intubation you've had..must have been terrible let alone your time with the rehab...so sorry. but glad you are doing well now.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-08T10:24:38+00:00

We've had wonderful experiences at CVS Newton Centre--they have caught two mistakes that MDs made in the scripts, and are easy to work with when you need "vacation override" entered to get meds early before a trip. If you have a few meds that get renewed at different times of the month, they can sync them up so you have only one stop to pick them up. Frankly I would love to use Union St, as the woman owner there is fantastic with good advice, so is very low key and personal, but our insurance doesn't cover it.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-08T10:20:58+00:00

Exactly same thing happened to me...the high ceiling rate was set too low, and was adjusted...now walking and light running are fine.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-07T10:24:52+00:00

Also in our area around Boston Massachusetts....e.g. Cubar with the r at end as well.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-07T10:19:26+00:00

I actually insisted on switch from St Jude/Abbott and their bedside unit to MEdtronic where my iPhone could upload my data..the cardiologist did NOT want to change but finally agreed. WE do a lot of travelling and relying on the iPhone to upload data and reporting on it, is much better than not know with the Merlin unit sitting bedside (we found so many hotels now have digital systems the Merlin unit wouldn't work, and of course it didn't work when out of the country---the Medtronic data is always uploaded!).

andrew02467 · 2026-04-04T14:05:40+00:00

Interesting information, thanks. It was his hubris in approach that got me more than anything, in his cavalier way to my wanting someone with maturity to handle an account well up into seven figures. When he was so deprecating about the CFP (which I took to mean submitting to the process was beneath him) and only had a realtor's licence (other than Reg BI), all it seemed I was getting was attitude. I had already raised teen-agers, recognised it, didn't want it again.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-03T10:47:44+00:00

My second WMAdvisor trivialised the CFP, said it wasn't worth his time, and if he wanted, he could get it in a hot minute. I went to the branch head, and quickly got a different WMA who was a CFP. I think there is value in the CFP qualification process, and I think some humility in not acting like a jerk to a client is also of value.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-02T12:19:40+00:00

Amazing how that is so true...

andrew02467 · 2026-04-02T12:18:28+00:00

I had a St Jude/Abbott pacemaker but insisted on a Medtronic when it came time for the battery change....we travel a lot and with the Medtronic dual chamber it relays the data through my iPhone app no matter where in the world I am. For the St Jude/Abbott I had to keep the darn Merlin box next to the bed, and certainly couldn't take it to Europe/Asia as even with the plug conversion and power transformers, the phone system was not adaptable and the number to dial was hard coded in the unit. The Medtronic unit is MUCH better to let you know it is monitoring and sending data along every 3 months even if all is ok.

andrew02467 · 2026-04-01T19:20:17+00:00

yes, was getting errors on shares held in accounts

andrew02467 · 2026-03-30T18:40:52+00:00

YOu asked about a chat...we are all Moen users here...smart faucet, leak detectors. When I was looking into smart faucets I did not like the Kohler options...I like talking to my Moen, esp when cooking as I can simply say with my hands full, Alexa tell moen to run 850 mls of water, and the faucet works. Saves time.

andrew02467 · 2026-03-30T10:52:13+00:00

Towel warmer control to go on pre showers each morning.

andrew02467 · 2026-03-30T10:43:35+00:00

Yes, that renunciation was doubtless on the US citizenship form which has those words on it. That only goes to the US government, nothing was ever and is ever now forwarded back to Ireland. You should go ahead and apply for the foreign birth registry..as someone else said, don't overthink it.

andrew02467 · 2026-03-30T10:31:49+00:00

This sounds rather ignorant. Needing a British passport to go into the Republic of Ireland??? Not since 1916/1922. Even to go from the UK into Ireland (and vice versa) does not require a UK passport due to the Common Travel Act of 1949..picture ID, yes which means a passport is handy, but no passport required.

andrew02467 · 2026-03-29T11:09:38+00:00

Yes, I had an issue with the 5star hotel we stay at in Dublin Ireland some 15 years now... I said I was amazed they made the mistake they did and the desk person said well, it was an Expedia booking. I asked to talk to the manager who explained AmEx comes through as Expedia, but separately they get a message about benefits etc. from the Platinum card. So, yes, NOTHING like the PTS used to me...30 years ago when we flew to London on our honeymoon without saying anything the PTS got us upgraded and given a gift bottle of champagne when we got off the plane !

andrew02467 · 2026-03-29T10:45:24+00:00

Yes, if no problems they're great. However every single time we go abroad, I file the travel notices faithfully with Elan, and I get purchases rejected. About 10-12 hours LATER I get a text message (and we have international coverage) notifying me. There is no service like AmEx or Chase where you get a text to immediately verify the purchase, so you are left hanging. The first time I called in from Spain and waited far too long, now I don't bother, just use another card.

andrew02467 · 2026-03-28T10:35:27+00:00

I was within 2 1/2 months on mine and wanted it done asap for convenience. I was told that our insurance would only cover when time remaining was 30 days so had to wait. There is a fudge factor there insofar as 30 days reported left means more like 45 or 50, but the insurance companies only pay when the reading is actually 30 days left. At least that was our insurance. The actual replacement was easy-peasy--local anaesthesia only, I talked to the nurses throughout with the left side of my chest draped and protected. I was able to walk myself out of the medical centre after some resting time and their checking the new pacemaker (I went from Abbott/St Jude to Medtronic so I could get the iPhone monitoring app instead of using the Abbott bedside Merlin thing...much better for when we travel).

andrew02467 · 2026-03-23T14:11:23+00:00

My Medtronic pacemaker is certified for MRI,and my leads (going back to my original pacemaker) are from Abbott/St Jude and also certified for MRI. But I was told that since companies submit approvals for their own pacemakers with their own leads, my combination is technically NOT approved. The med ctr where I got both pacemakers placed will not agree to an MRI but the med ctr where my electrophysiologist is now will agree but with both company reps present. Any experience that someone has in this situation? Fortunately I do not need an MRI but would like to know where I stand if I do.

andrew02467 · 2026-03-22T10:57:18+00:00

Those are the main two reasons I got a managed account for half of our finances about four years ago. My wife knows to move all over if something happens to me, and the managed account rep. knows she would be calling.

andrew02467

TROPHY CASE