Financial advisor???

[Mr Doof]

ive been getting hit up by financial advisors who dont take a fee from me whatsoever..scam? a few of them come from legitimate corps.

1 What bluemarlin said a moment ago above this post.

2 Sweetie-pie had some $ in a wealth management firm. Firm was in part run by family friend and her family had set it up. After some time together, asked if I could see the quarterly and yearly reports and get a looksee at the contracts. Low fees from them were compounded with A) fees charged whenever there was communication between parties B) fees from investment vehicles that were from outside entities....in other words, you pay the mutual fund company their cut and pay the wealth management company, and C) every quarter they were recommending some new thing to diversify into which would incur more fees and it seemed to as if these new ones were always a greater % cost than what she currently had, not to mention the transaction fees and other communications.

Laid it all out for her, and she changed it to Vanguard with similar investment vehicles (medium risk, medium reward, rarely look at). I think this has saved her a couple grand a year in fees.

All that said, financial advisors have their place. If thinking about money gives you hives or you are always investing in pumpkins and selling 'em after Halloween, then get professional help.

 

[CutnSnip]

1 What bluemarlin said

2 Sweetie-pie had some $ in a wealth management firm. Firm was in part run by family friend and her family had set it up. After some time together, asked if I could see the quarterly and yearly reports and get a looksee at the contracts. Low fees from them were compounded with A) fees charged whenever there was communication between parties B) fees from investment vehicles that were from outside entities....in other words, you pay the mutual fund company their cut and pay the wealth management company, and C) every quarter month they were recommending some new thing to diversify which would incur more fees and it seemed to as if these new ones were always a greater % cost than what she currently had, not to mention the transaction fees and other communications.

Laid it all out for her, and she changed it to Vanguard with similar investment vehicles (medium risk, medium reward, rarely look at). I think this has saved her a couple grand a year in fees.

All that said, financial advisors have their place. If thinking about money gives you hives or you are always investing in pumpkins and selling 'em after Halloween, then get professional help.

thanks. yea $ is confusing or rather where to put it. i think im just sit on this chunk of change and add to it until 2022 and see if I have the desire to buy a home then. if not - im going to add some of it to the other investments I have going.

 

[john4surf]

I dealt with 5 or 6 ‘financial advisors’ over the decades. They all seemed to do pretty good for themselves. Not so much for my investments. I have had 0 (ZERO) issues with Vanguard. I ignorantly allowed myself to get into an annuity (run away from annuities, don’t walk)…. Although I didn’t go with Fisher Investments (big internet click and bait advertiser), I looked at their explanation why annuities were not a good move. I’m in the process of moving my annuities investment to Vanguard as I did with my 401K and IRAs. Be advised, Mr Doof hit the nail on the head re how advisors are paid… hint hint their pay comes from your investments whether you’re up or down…. I’m no rocket scientist or financial-smart guy, I learned as I went along and the decisions can be problematic (sleepless nights eg, did I do the right thing or not?) so I can empathize with those of you with a lot of confusion over investments. Google and Glass Door are good to check when going through the decision process. Ameritr*** had more red flags than a North Korean Armed Forces Day parade. https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/ and https://brokercheck.finra.org/ are your friend! John

 

[SurfFuerteventura]

So, no to hookers and blow?



4 a fren

 

[Subway]

I would think hookers and blow qualifies as a financial hardship and would qualify for a no penalty dip into the 401k

 

[HarryLopez2]

Vanguard for 15 years down the line, and some cash on the side to seize opportunity if possible. While cash isn't earning, it is positioned to pounce with no fees/taxes.

 

[Subway]

as a result of this thread I went and reexamined my 401k asset mix. Mostly where it should be, but I looked closer at my Dodge and Cox fund (it was about 10% of my mix) and while it has been tracking the S+P, the fees were WAY higher, so I dumped it all and put it into Vanguards S+P tracker with .033 fee instead of .5

 

[afoaf]

ive been getting hit up by financial advisors who dont take a fee from me whatsoever..scam? a few of them come from legitimate corps.

Morgan Stanley is pretty light on fees.

my dude was at Edward Jones and then jumped to Morgan Stanley because he said the
fees and general set of tools he has available for his book are better there

 

[Sharky]

lmao @ the calculation of what 1% management fees means to your investments over the last ten years. What was the Dow ten years ago? From memory, around 12,000? Ten years later it is 35,000. Good thing you stayed out of the market and saved those management fees!

Disclaimer-Yes, for a few decades I collected 1% (billable quarterly) for managing large pools of pension/profit sharing/high net worth individual money in the equity market. Many a multi millionaire regrets that 1%!

 

[Mr Doof]

I pay a variety of mngt fees via the work retirement plan. Not much choice in the matter, you gotta pay 'em and it does make life easier in a certain sense. But I can read documents, see rates of return, etc, and figure out which mix of vehicles makes the most sense for my situation as I move through time. Glad to pay more for higher returns for a certain % of the mix. Happy to pay less for others in the mix.

Now in my teeny tiny world of extra post tax money, I try to eek out a greater return by using similar methodology, and I definitely try to cut out the middleman. Still don't have a million in the bank, so, can easily admit my way is not the surefire way to financial independence (whatever that really means).

 

[SlicedFeet]

Just because I love derailing threads...

Young people. Never marry a person in debt...think about that one real hard...Not only are they penniless, they are bankrupt. Centuries of stories are written about this one, movies too.

Wealth is such a dick measuring construct. Happiness is in your head. . I bought a Porsche 911 when I was 28, still have it actually and maintenance wise it's the best car I ever owned except for the cost of tires. I was over it after a few years. Worries about dings, etc, not worth it. I found the only time to really go fast and have fun in it are on freeway corkscrew on and off ramps. I'm so over cars. My favorite car is my beat and stained to hell Chevy Tahoe. Full of wax, door dents, big dents, but have maintained it well. I love the look of tools driving up to me in their new Range Rovers thinking their so rad. Those things are the biggest POS.

I think the Greatest generation knew what time it was. Make enough money and join a country club to golf, play tennis, drink at the bar, hook up with younger single country club Floosie's in the Sauna, and jump off a real diving board. To bad those places are a thing of the past...sounds a million times better than dealing with pests in your garden.

 

[grapedrink]

I remember seeing on 60 minutes that diving boards are tough to find and/or the price has a lot of liability insurance built in for the manufacturer

 

[sdsrfr]

Don’t forget about robo-investors.

Wealthfront is one that will charge a small fee to maintain a diversified portfolio but will also tax loss harvest should you be someone who knows what to do witb that.

if you get an invite you get $5k managed fo free.

not investment advice, I just have some freely managed money with wealthfront and sharing the fact that it does exist as another low-fee option for the passive investor. Ymmv.

 

[Havoc]

Just because I love derailing threads...

Young people. Never marry a person in debt...think about that one real hard...Not only are they penniless, they are bankrupt. Centuries of stories are written about this one, movies too.

Wealth is such a dick measuring construct. Happiness is in your head. . I bought a Porsche 911 when I was 28, still have it actually and maintenance wise it's the best car I ever owned except for the cost of tires. I was over it after a few years. Worries about dings, etc, not worth it. I found the only time to really go fast and have fun in it are on freeway corkscrew on and off ramps. I'm so over cars. My favorite car is my beat and stained to hell Chevy Tahoe. Full of wax, door dents, big dents, but have maintained it well. I love the look of tools driving up to me in their new Range Rovers thinking their so rad. Those things are the biggest POS.

I think the Greatest generation knew what time it was. Make enough money and join a country club to golf, play tennis, drink at the bar, hook up with younger single country club Floosie's in the Sauna, and jump off a real diving board. To bad those places are a thing of the past...sounds a million times better than dealing with pests in your garden.

sounds like u made a compromise in work and took the lesser pay route no?

i'm in the same boat and trying to justify while everyone around me is killing it financially lol

 

[HarryLopez2]

Know an Edward Jones guy who made someone I know about 120K last year, took 1%. Well worth it to that person.

And, I also know plenty of people that had what I felt was more than enough money and were super unhappy.

 

[Senor Sopa]

I'm pretty uncomfortable placing my money in the stock market at this point.

That sh!t just seems like some ridiculous complex amusement park to me.

I try to stay grounded in reality, the stock market seems the opposite of that to me.

Buy boogie, guns and ammo.

 

[Senor Sopa]

If we are talking money I will be honest. I’m mid 30s. Wife has a good job and me too. She is early thirties.

Have about 500k in cash holdings. About 300k of that is retirement accounts. Rest in stocks. And we own a rental property next to the beach in Hawaii with about 600-700k in equity. Have another 200k in equity in our primary home.

I never even talked to a financial advisor. Don’t need too. Just put it in vanguard funds based on the withdrawal dates. Don’t even look at the balances or worry about it. Overtime they will grow.

Dollar cost average your investments and invest every paycheck and just forget about it. That’s what I did. Don’t go for single stocks just a index and you’re fine.

If you go for single stocks be ok with losing whatever you deposit.

nvdia up 1000% Turned my financial advisor on to these guys. We were using their stuff in our machines.
crispr up 700% Wife's ex-coworker was doing biz-dev, This is the tech behind Covid.
ball up 800% These guys make all the cans for beer! Good dividend payer, held for years.
Individual stocks are great when using the "fun" money.

My new thing is Lithium mining. I hate it what they do, but the money don't care bout that. An all electric Audi drove by earlier, it sounded so cool.

It's always been a good tip to invest in product you like.

 

[SlicedFeet]

sounds like u made a compromise in work and took the lesser pay route no?

i'm in the same boat and trying to justify while everyone around me is killing it financially lol

 

[dcunited]

You're entirely correct in the notion that money doesn't make one happy. In a previous life I was a big fan of the philosophies of Jesse Livermore..and that guy blew his brains out. Come to think of it a good number of people who I greatly admired for their craft killed themselves. I'm sure there's another thread about that.

Anyway IMO investing isn't about making you happy, it's a hedge against the inflation that historically occurs over time. You can put your cash under a mattress and that's great, but when the cost of goods all around you increases over time it just means you have to work that much smarter/ harder to afford your lifestyle. Sure the market can go down but in the last 150 years (ish) the 5 year return on the primary index (used to be dow, now S&P) I think is twice? And in such circumstances even if you had invested in the greater market (IE the economy as we know it) you still didn't get hurt because everything else around you decreased in price.

It's a hedge..nothing else. And when you consider the S&P is just a composite of publicly traded companies who profit off the consumption of the general public, yeah I'm willing to bet that humanity will continue to buy stuff..whatever that stuff may be.

To grapedrink (I think?) that asked about the roth..yeah roths are great options..just make sure your adjusted gross income falls within the limits of whether you can put money into them.

If your company offers a trad 401k as well as a roth 401k AND after tax contributions, consider the backdoor roth contribution, IE max the traditional 401k, put money into after tax account and immediately convert to roth. Ask your HR/401k provider and they should be able to speak to it more.

To the dodge and cox post, those are generally good funds but why not stick to low cost ETFs. Your goal IMO isn't to beat the market but rather mimic it in the most efficient manner. If you think you can beat it that's a different conversation.

Everyone hear who espouses 'set it and forget it' I think are going in the right direction, just remember some of the most dangerous four words in the business is 'this time it's different.' Markets in general correct 10% once a year, and 20% every 4-5 years. It's easy to be cavalier about this fact until that drop actually occurs, and I promise you there will be gnarly headlines

-eurozone crisis
-fiscal cliff
-Y2K
-Iraq 1
-Iraq 2
-asian contagion

ETC...that will shake your convictions. For anyone starting out get comfortable with the fact that not only MAYBE you will get rolled up a few times, the exercise dictates that in fact you WILL get destroyed. Paddle out with that mentality and it makes you much more stoic.

I like beer.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

I'm so over cars. My favorite car is my beat and stained to hell Chevy Tahoe. Full of wax, door dents, big dents, but have maintained it well.

This. Cosmetic pieces of sh!t that run well are the best. No stress parking, no wash or wax, cracked windshield, tree sap, etc. Bonus for standard key.

I see people at the car wash on the weekends washing and vacuuming away their life and I scratch my head.