Financial Advisor Selection?

[ChiliPepperGarage]

I know there are a lot of high roller ballers here.

I have a good size chunk of money I want to invest. Right now it is all in a Vangard money market yielding about 4.5%. I'd like to diversify and get a higher return.

I met with a financial advisor today and got some ideas. Going to talk to a couple others too.

My questions is, how do you select a good advisor? Do you trust them to manage the money?

I know I could do a lot of it myself but really don't have interest in becoming a full time financial guy.

 

[SOCALCRICKETT]

I know there are a lot of high roller ballers here.

I have a good size chunk of money I want to invest. Right now it is all in a Vangard money market yielding about 4.5%. I'd like to diversify and get a higher return.

I met with a financial advisor today and got some ideas. Going to talk to a couple others too.

My questions is, how do you select a good advisor? Do you trust them to manage the money?

I know I could do a lot of it myself but really don't have interest in becoming a full time financial guy.

I second this, I would love to find a solid guy to use for long term/short term.

 

[boatnam2]

Been with a few, they don't have any magic, when shit is down its down. My last one had me in a bunch of safe Bond etf's getting hammered plus his 1.5%. I rather be in the S&P, T-Bills and MM, not really much to watch, just my opinion, yea guys will tell you how great they were in the 15 year bull run.

 

[Aces & Eights]

I’m definitely not a baller, but I too am looking at getting some getting some money into an investment portfolio to maximize returns and try and limit tax liabilities. I already spoke with one advisor, they were gonna charge me 1.4 percent to manage a million dollars. There are no guarantees on positive cash flows, the advisor takes that percentage whether I make money or lose money.

I’m going to talk to another advisor or two, in the meantime I’m doing research to see if I can manage my money myself by putting it in a low cost index fund and bonds. I’ve got more learning to do before I act.

I’m also interested in hearing what the money folks here have to say.

 

[Lunatic Fringe]

You're already in Vanguard so why not do a quick risk assessment and go with a variety of their mutual funds?

Types of mutual funds | Vanguard

Want to be more confident about your mutual fund choices? We can help.

investor.vanguard.com

 

[brgrcru]

There all experts and professionals
Until there not

Be careful and 4.5 is not bad
Capital one has good cd rates

With the economy, banks and pretty much everything hanging on by a thread
Be very careful

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

You're already in Vanguard so why not do a quick risk assessment and go with a variety of their mutual funds?

Types of mutual funds | Vanguard

Want to be more confident about your mutual fund choices? We can help.

investor.vanguard.com

I will be talking Vanguard people as well but concerned about having it all in one entity. I'd like to spread it out a bit in case of something major happening with the recent bank failures.

 

[boatnam2]

If I was going to one again it would be KAR in Newport. Kayne, anderson, rudnick

 

[Havasu Catman]

Been with a few, they don't have any magic, when shit is down its down. My last one had me in a bunch of safe Bond etf's getting hammered plus his 1.5%. I rather be in the S&P, T-Bills and MM, not really much to watch, just my opinion, yea guys will tell you how great they were in the 15 year bull run.

I agree with this 100%

When you add up their fees and taxes on realized gains from them selling things mid year it doesn't look as good as advertised.

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

Maybe we need an RDP financial section where we can list different investment opportunities.

 

[hallett21]

Do you have an annual return (percentage) you’re looking for?

Risk tolerance?

Are you looking for someone to invest your money in mutual funds, stocks, the market etc?

Or are you trying to diversify money across precious metals, the market, real estate etc?

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

If I was going to one again it would be KAR in Newport. Kayne, anderson, rudnick

Why them?

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

Do you have an annual return (percentage) you’re looking for?

I'm getting about $2500 / month on $1.25M. I'd like to see a bit more.

Risk tolerance?

Don't know but would like to some in higher risk / higher return, some in medium and some in safe accounts.

Are you looking for someone to invest your money in mutual funds, stocks, the market etc?

Or are you trying to diversify money across precious metals, the market, real estate etc?

I don't know what is best. That is why I need advice.

 

[ekbearly]

Haven’t had success with financial advisors beating S&P 500 index funds/etf and making up for the 1%+ they will charge you. I decided to learn the basics myself. I feel like an advisor could add more value for those who know very little, and don’t want to learn even a little, about investing.

Max out your Roth (back door if necessary) and 401k if you are able. Pick your few funds of choice (I like VOO or similar). And invest more if you have it into same funds in a taxable brokerage account. Do a quick read on tax loss harvesting for the taxable brokerage if you are in a variety of funds or stocks. Not hard or complex to understand. Be patient for the long game and watch it grow. If you have kids, look into 529s as those are now more flexible and can be converted to IRAs down the line.

Others know far more than I do about options, day trading, etc. But for the common man, you can do well with these basics.

 

[ChiliPepperGarage]

Haven’t had success with financial advisors beating S&P 500 index funds and making up for the 1%+ they will charge you. I decided to learn the basics myself. I feel like an advisor could add more value for those who know very little, and don’t want to learn even a little, about investing.

Max out your Roth (back door if necessary) and 401k if you are able. Pick your few funds of choice (I like VOO or similar). And invest more if you have it into same funds in a taxable brokerage account. Do a quick read on tax loss harvesting for the taxable brokerage if you are in a variety of funds or stocks. Not hard or complex to understand. Be patient for the long game and watch it grow. If you have kids, look into 529s as those are now more flexible and can be converted to IRAs down the line.

Others know far more than I do about options, day trading, etc. But for the common man, you can do well with these basics.

That's a lot of Greek there to me.

I'm retired and no kids. Is there an "investing for idiots" book or website somewhere that I can learn about some of this stuff?

 

[ekbearly]

I don’t have experience on the retirement front if you’re looking for income vs growth. A financial advisor could be useful there.

Just don’t let someone charge you more than 1% annually if they are managing $1M+. And, personally, I’d steer away from the planner who also sells insurance or other products.

 

[boatnam2]

Why them?

Couple reasons, pretty solid group if you research them and I know a few people who have the money for their strategy and have done well, when I looked at them but didn't really have the lettuce to make it go.

 

[hallett21]

That's a lot of Greek there to me.

I'm retired and no kids. Is there an "investing for idiots" book or website somewhere that I can learn about some of this stuff?

Charles Schwab is pretty straight forward and they have advisors (they won’t give advice but they will answer any questions about funds etc) you can call. If you’re going to be investing in Mutual or ETF funds this is the route I would go.

They show you the performance of everything by 3 months, 6 months, 1 year etc. They also compare their performance against the S&P500.

In my experience the market guys stay in the market, the precious metals guys are waiting for the end of the world (I kid I kid) and the real estate guys are just gathering investors for their next acquisition.

If any of the above lose money they are all baffled lol. You’re losing 12-25k from the moment you say go with an advisor. Which is roughly your current return. So you need someone to make you 60k a year just to move the needle.

 

[steamin rice]

Give me 1% per year, and I'll show you how to put 60% of your money into a stock market index fund, and 40% of it into bonds. I will then call you once per qtr and adjust as needed to keep the 60/40 allocation.

In my opinion, there's no magic trick to investing besides taking on more risk to potentially obtain a higher return. I would want lower risk investments after retirement unless you have $$ that you are willing to gamble.

I don't see a need to pay a financial guy 1-1.5% to do what you can easily do yourself. If you really want some personal guidance from a professional, then I would use Vanguard's advisors since the charge a lower fee of around 0.3% if I recall correctly.

Check out www.bogleheads.org for a lot of information on how you can do this for yourself.

 

[ekbearly]

Give me 1% per year, and I'll show you how to put 60% of your money into a stock market index fund, and 40% of it into bonds. I will then call you once per qtr and adjust as needed to keep the 60/40 allocation.

In my opinion, there's no magic trick to investing besides taking on more risk to potentially obtain a higher return. I would want lower risk investments after retirement unless you have $$ that you are willing to gamble.

I don't see a need to pay a financial guy 1-1.5% to do what you can easily do yourself. If you really want some personal guidance from a professional, then I would use Vanguard's advisors since the charge a lower fee of around 0.3% if I recall correctly.

Check out www.bogleheads.org for a lot of information on how you can do this for yourself.

I found that they basically recreate an index fund using 500+ individual stocks to make it look like they are doing something unique. 90% of those stocks are S&P 500. They claim they make their money by mitigating losses when the market is down when you question why they underperform the S&P. So you lose upside, pay a percent and then hope that they overperform when things suck. I’m out.

 

[steamin rice]

I found that they basically recreate an index fund using 500+ individual stocks to make it look like they are doing something unique. 90% of those stocks are S&P 500. They claim they make their money by mitigating losses when the market is down when you question why they underperform the S&P. So you lose upside, pay a percent and then hope the they overperform when things suck. I’m out.

I had "a guy" for more than 10 years. He had a fancy office, wore nice suits, and held really nice events for his clients several times per year. I trusted his advice and would follow his suggestions for investments. He had been charging me 1% a year for his service. Eventually, his practice grew, he moved my account to one of his junior advisors, and wanted to raise his fee to 1.5%. I made the move to manage things myself and am very happy that I did.

My investments were just as you described. Lots of small investments across a bunch of funds and individual stocks. From a first look it seemed very complex. When I took the time to understand what I had, I realized that I was basically invested in the S&P500. I still have some $$ in private non-traded funds that I can't sell at the moment, but fortunately it's a relatively small amount.

I do miss the "free" steak dinners at the country club, but overall I'm much further ahead after making the change.

 

[badgas]

I know there are a lot of high roller ballers here.

I have a good size chunk of money I want to invest. Right now it is all in a Vangard money market yielding about 4.5%. I'd like to diversify and get a higher return.

I met with a financial advisor today and got some ideas. Going to talk to a couple others too.

My questions is, how do you select a good advisor? Do you trust them to manage the money?

I know I could do a lot of it myself but really don't have interest in becoming a full time financial guy.

If you are going to get one then make sure they teach you and don't sell you.
Like @ekbearly said you are already at Vangaurd just roll a big chunk into VTAX. No fund managers can beat the Indexes when you factor in all the fees.

I would encourange EVERYONE to read or listen to the audio book of The Simple Path Wealth by J.L. Collins and it will really give you a knowledge of investing that anyone can do.

Stock Series

If you are wondering whether to dive in, give a couple posts a quick read. You’ll capture the blog’s essence. If after reading those The Stock Series is appealing, you will very likely enjoy it all. If by the same token your reaction is, “This doesn’t feel right for me,” it very likely isn’t...

jlcollinsnh.com

 

[cofooter]

Do a little research and do it yourself. These experts are not going to kill the market averages, they will win and lose some like everyone else. You'll do just as good investing in your own on ETFs, bonds, CDs, ets and avoid the cost load!!!

 

[btaco35]

Do a little research on rebuilding a drive. Do a little research on cutting and detailing your gel and do it yourself, it’s so much more cost effective. Everything is relative. Some would rather hire a pro or others like to DIY. No wrong answer.

 

[whiteworks]

What is the difference between a financial advisor and a fiduciary?


A fiduciary financial advisor makes investment decisions with your best interest in mind, while a financial advisor who isn't a fiduciary may recommend products for which they receive a commission or other form of payment.

I’m not a fiduciary or a financial advisor, however it behooves you to know the difference between the two.

I’d look into an index fund, you should “average” 10% over the long haul.

 

[Roosky01]

Find the guy with a bat who lends out for 50% a week in juice and back him?

Honestly, most everyone with say that their guy is the best. I found that interviewing at least 10 of them and you will get a good feel for the one that you want to be "your" guy or girl. If you have a decent egg to invest you will get at least 10 dinners on their dime during the interview process and will help hone your skills for when you are a comfortably wealthy bastard.

And as previously stated, fiduciary only.

 

[farmo83]

Here are my thoughts and Ive dealt with many of them. The key is to be educated yourself.

1. As with anything you get what you pay for (for the most part). What I mean is if they are expensive and have a large minimum AUM( Assets Under Management, this is the minimum you have to give them to manage) and they are still in business there maybe a reason for that vs someone that is dirt cheap.

2. You don't want day trading but you don't want someone who is "set it and forget it" either. I was interviewing one money guy and asked him about monitoring my account and his response was to the effect he picked investments that you didn't have to worry about for 30-35 years. My response was if 30-35 years ago he had put all my money in Sears how happy would I be right now? Also if they are "set it and forget it" you miss out on all the new growth opportunities.

As has been mentioned before. Ask yourself how much risk you're willing to take and what you're willing to put up with. Keep in different kinds of risk as well.

Do the math on what current inflations rates will do to your purchasing power if your not getting a good return on your money, and weigh that against market trends.

 

[boatnam2]

What is the difference between a financial advisor and a fiduciary?


A fiduciary financial advisor makes investment decisions with your best interest in mind, while a financial advisor who isn't a fiduciary may recommend products for which they receive a commission or other form of payment.

I’m not a fiduciary or a financial advisor, however it behooves you to know the difference between the two.

I’d look into an index fund, you should “average” 10% over the long haul.

Good point WW, the few guys i tried were Fiduciary, always had my best interest first, well second after a good com. fee anyways lol

 

[2Driver]

I burned through 4, 2 of which were, were, friends.

They are all the same. Theres no magic potion, if there was they'd all be worth 9 figures Nonone knows, thats why there are 24/7 finance channels all trying to figure it out with a baziilion professional guests all providing conflicting advice.

ETFs are a simple way to diversify and fees are a very small portion of most mutuals fund fees.
Do you want to pay a guy 1% of your total balance plus another 1% to the mutual fund. Then they lose value but generate taxable gains and income for you to pay, then take their combined 2% of your beat up balance and wham your down 6 figures.

Many things an advisor will sell you have their own embedded fees on top of Mr Fiduciary’s fees. You never see them, but if you look you can easily spend 100k on a 1 million dollar portfolio in 5 years on fees.

 

[boatnam2]

I burned through 4, 2 of which were, were, friends.

They are all the same. Theres no magic potion, if there was they'd all be worth 9 figures Nonone knows, thats why there are 24/7 finance channels all trying to figure it out with a baziilion professional guests all providing conflicting advice.

ETFs are a simple way to diversify and fees are a very small portion of most mutuals fund fees.
Do you want to pay a guy 1% of your total balance plus another 1% to the mutual fund. Then they lose value but generate taxable gains and income for you to pay, then take their combined 2% of your beat up balance and wham your down 6 figures.

Many things an advisor will sell you have their own embedded fees on top of Mr Fiduciary’s fees. You never see them, but if you look you can easily spend 100k on a 1 million dollar portfolio in 5 years on fees.

So that Golf wasn't free?

 

[2Driver]

So that Golf wasn't free?

LOL Yeah first sign, never go with the guy who offers to buy lunch, golf or anything else for that matter.

The best BS line is when they try to tell you one of your investments is now yielding double from when they first bought it for you. Yeah that’s because its principal value lost 50% so the “published yield” has doubled if I bought it today at 1/2 price, but thats not what my yield is based from.

I actually had one broker pull that line on me. I told her, you and I both know that is bullshit broker talk and never pull that on me again or we are done…..we eventually were.

 

[boatnam2]

My old guy use to do welcome dinners for you to bring friends, co workers at Capital grille, always 40 people or so. I always made sure to go and enjoy a couple of drinks and a nice dinner, it was nice getting back .oooooooooooo1% back.

 

[Motor Boater]

Vanguard has a bunch of great index funds with great yields. They also have low fees. I’d just call them and put it into a few different funds

 

[adam909]

Its a scary thought but if you can learn to manage it your self and just stay with main big ETFs you will fine.. I wouldnt just jump right in yet.. There still some uncertainties in the market right now..

 

[TBulger]

I’ve tried two that were highly recommended, both lost money. Only made money on real estate and myself, they do well when anyone can do well.

 

[stephenkatsea]

We’ve had an IRA portfolio with Charles Schwab for about 10 years. Nothing glamorous. It’s spread among various areas. Believe CS calls it a longevity/income account. Monthly income has remained satisfactory and steady. Portfolio total value has fluctuated, within about a 10% range, as expected. Recently received a call from our CS guy about a portion of our portfolio. It has produced income, but its overall value has dropped significantly. It’s called the CS preferred fund. Seems these funds are mostly owned by various financial institutions. Given the recent happenings of some institutions which may be likely to continue and get worse, he advised we sell out of that portion. The current depletion of value was approaching over coming income production. Which was definitely a cause for change. For now, total portfolio value remains positive since origination, including all income to us, and fees. We strive to keep it that way, among the ups and downs of the market.

While still working, and prior to 2008, I took our entire 401K, out of stocks etc and put it into the Money Market. Perhaps a bit of dumb luck? Fortunately, during that historic economic downturn, we lost nothing. Our 401K actually gained a little.

For now, Charles Schwab has met our current needs.

 

[2Driver]

We’ve had an IRA portfolio with Charles Schwab for about 10 years. Nothing glamorous. It’s spread among various areas. Believe CS calls it a longevity/income account. Monthly income has remained satisfactory and steady. Portfolio total value has fluctuated, within about a 10% range, as expected. Recently received a call from our CS guy about a portion of our portfolio. It has produced income, but its overall value has dropped significantly. It’s called the CS preferred fund. Seems these funds are mostly owned by various financial institutions. Given the recent happenings of some institutions which may be likely to continue and get worse, he advised we sell out of that portion. The current depletion of value was approaching over coming income production. Which was definitely a cause for change. For now, total portfolio value remains positive since origination, including all income to us, and fees. We strive to keep it that way, among the ups and downs of the market.

While still working, and prior to 2008, I took our entire 401K, out of stocks etc and put it into the Money Market. Perhaps a bit of dumb luck? Fortunately, during that historic economic downturn, we lost nothing. Our 401K actually gained a little.

For now, Charles Schwab has met our current needs.

Your preferred stock portfolio took a hit mostly due to the fact it was propbly holding 4% yielding preffered stock or even less. They work like bonds and 2022 was the worst year on record for bonds. With rates now around 5% old preffered stocks are going to take a hit big time. Preferred stocks are one of the more risky income investments you can buy.

They can be in a number of different industries but a lot are financial stocks You should look at the make up of the portfolio, more importantly the trades they have made in the account the last 30 days. If they had bought Signature bank or SVB those stock went from $25 to 0 and they probably sold them at < $1 to get them off your loss/gain report. If you have other ill banks like first republic its probably close to the value of the bankrupt banks.

My preffereds are off $125K since 12/21. But I also dumped a bunch January of 22 thankfully. Hopefully your portfolio is made up are good companies so when rates go back down the shares will move back towards par or $25. Meanwhile they keep paying qualified interest

 

[Orange Juice]

That's a lot of Greek there to me.

I'm retired and no kids. Is there an "investing for idiots" book or website somewhere that I can learn about some of this stuff?

I’d leave it there for another 3-6 months. Be sure no more than $250k in one account.

This regional bank issue is not over.

April 14th they all start to report earns, and we’ll see what’s left in deposits.

 

[farmo83]

Ironically enough I talked to mine yesterday and afterwards decided to fire him.

 

[BabyRay]

I’m on my third and fourth advisory groups. The first two were not good experiences, as I could see their only interest was in profiting off our hard-earned funds, and not caring if we took ridiculous losses. I bailed from them before it got too ugly, and I’m relatively happy with the third group, but in the interest of “trust but verify”, I invested an influx of cash from a long-term investment with our bank’s wealth management group about a year ago.

One of these groups invests in individual stocks and bonds, and the other in stock and bond funds. Interestingly, the returns are almost identical (I don’t expect high returns, as we’re retired and have invested conservatively). This has had me wondering if, or how badly, I was being taken for a ride. I’ve been hearing a lot about ETF and bond funds for a while, then I start reading this thread, and some of the bogleheads stuff, and it has me thinking the ride is pretty intense (I’d describe it, but I think RD would like to keep this forum safe-for-work).

Anyway, I’m beginning to think I can hit the same gains on my own, and keep almost all of the fees. I’m going to spend at least an hour per day studying, and start testing the waters with a conservative amount of money. My wife and I have discussed it, and her thinking has been moving in the same direction, so If it looks good I’ll start moving funds.

 

[whiteworks]

Just some food for thought. We all know that RDP has a pretty far reach, aswell as an uncanny ability to get to the bottom of bullshit. I’d be very surprised if there are not several financial planners or stock brokers on here. The fact that it’s total crickets from those individuals should give you plenty of insight into how that industry works.

My broker just called, said I need to buy buy buy, he gets a commission. My broker just called he said I need to sell sell sell, he gets a commission, let that sink in for a bit

 

[badgas]

Just some food for thought. We all know that RDP has a pretty far reach, aswell as an uncanny ability to get to the bottom of bullshit. I’d be very surprised if there are not several financial planners or stock brokers on here. The fact that it’s total crickets from those individuals should give you plenty of insight into how that industry works.

My broker just called, said I need to buy buy buy, he gets a commission. My broker just called he said I need to sell sell sell, he gets a commission, let that sink in for a bit

That is why I said you need someone to teach you and not sell you.

We should be making our own decsions, They just execute.

I will say it again read " The Simple path to wealth " by J.L. Collins

 

[BabyRay]

Just some food for thought. We all know that RDP has a pretty far reach, aswell as an uncanny ability to get to the bottom of bullshit. I’d be very surprised if there are not several financial planners or stock brokers on here. The fact that it’s total crickets from those individuals should give you plenty of insight into how that industry works.

My broker just called, said I need to buy buy buy, he gets a commission. My broker just called he said I need to sell sell sell, he gets a commission, let that sink in for a bit

Our advisors don’t get commissions, but if I lose money they still get their fees. That should have pissed me off a long time ago.

 

[stephenkatsea]

Your preferred stock portfolio took a hit mostly due to the fact it was propbly holding 4% yielding preffered stock or even less. They work like bonds and 2022 was the worst year on record for bonds. With rates now around 5% old preffered stocks are going to take a hit big time. Preferred stocks are one of the more risky income investments you can buy.

They can be in a number of different industries but a lot are financial stocks You should look at the make up of the portfolio, more importantly the trades they have made in the account the last 30 days. If they had bought Signature bank or SVB those stock went from $25 to 0 and they probably sold them at < $1 to get them off your loss/gain report. If you have other ill banks like first republic its probably close to the value of the bankrupt banks.

My preffereds are off $125K since 12/21. But I also dumped a bunch January of 22 thankfully. Hopefully your portfolio is made up are good companies so when rates go back down the shares will move back towards par or $25. Meanwhile they keep paying qualified interest

The yield on the preferred stocks were all at least 4%, some were more. The value of our preferred stocks also took a significant hit. In any case, I took the advice of our Schwab advisor. We got out of those preferred stocks.

 

[rivermobster]

I use a guy who's now in AZ. He was in SoCal but moved recently.

He calls me every couple of months just to check in. I'm pretty happy with him.

250k min investment.

PM me if you want his number.

 

[steamin rice]

Our advisors don’t get commissions, but if I lose money they still get their fees. That should have pissed me off a long time ago.

You might be surprised - I forget where to look, but there are some investments that pay a commission to the broker who sells them. They are disclosed in the fine print, but aren't obvious unless you know where to look. My old advisor put me into some funds that I didn't understand, and when I finally got myself educated enough, I realized that some of those private funds paid a 6-8% commission to the broker, which explained why he sold them to me. Shame on me, but at least I learned and changed course. I still have around $50k that is stuck in miscellaneous non-public investments that I can't sell.

 

[Flatsix66]

You can invest the money yourself, keep it super simple, and diversify to keep risk down. Here are some sample portfolios you can do at Vanguard:

https://talkingrealmoney.com/diy-portfolios:

Two ETF Portfolio​

Avantis All-Equity Markets AVGE
Vanguard Total Bond Market BND

Vanguard Two Fund Portfolio​

Vanguard Total World Stock Index VTWAX
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index VBTLX

Fidelity Three Fund Portfolio​

Fidelity Total Market Index (US) FSKAX
Fidelity Total International Index FTIHX
Fidelity Total Bond Index FXNAX

BUT: There are bigger financial-related topics to consider as you get older and this is where a financial advisor can help map out your future to navigate the right strategies to keep your taxes low, medicare costs, social security, withdrawal strategies, asset protection and estate planning.

We were DIY investing our 401k's and a few other accounts and doing fine, but things got more complicated as our wages increased and we had real money to save, we were also becoming more curious about how retirement planning works. We hired a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor (Pure Financial) in our 50's to map everything out from that starting point to make sure we don't run out of money before we die. They charge a one-time fee to make the plan or elect to have them manage one or all your accounts for a fee if you want to plan regularly updated. We learned that we didn't know about what we didn't know about being a financial adult. He gave us a very detailed plan that tells us when we can retire, how much we can draw from our investments without running out of money before we die and when to take social security. He led us to consider asset protection plans (protecting from lawsuits), all our insurance including long-term care planning, charitable giving plans and estate planning.

Is it worth it? I would say the tax avoidance and withdrawal strategies are probably worth $100's of thousands had we not ended up coming to the same plan. But fees added up to. The bottom line is we have the assurance that we are doing the right planning, everything is protected and if I die my wife knows where to go without the stress of having to figure out her financial future from the mess I created.

 

[2Driver]

The yield on the preferred stocks were all at least 4%, some were more. The value of our preferred stocks also took a significant hit. In any case, I took the advice of our Schwab advisor. We got out of those preferred stocks.

Preffereds stock is issued at $25 a share and the published yield is based on Par ie $25.

If you go back and look at the trades they made they more than likely paid over par (over $25) for the shares they bought for you. So even if looks like a 4% yield at $25 they paid up for it. Meaning when it goes below par you lost the premium you paid in addition to the amount under par. That’s why you got beat up I bet.

 

[Activated]

I managed our investment strategies for years while we had 401k’s to invest in and did very well. We always talked about living within our means and having the ability to live off of one salary. My wife was an executive of the company she worked for, had some stock options and so did I where I worked. The grind finally got to us, over 2 decades of flying every week, on call 24 hours a day, working 40 plus days in a row during our busy season had us both wondering wtf we were doing.

My wife quit 1.5 years ago, it started as “taking a break” but after 3 months, we had the discussion that if she wanted to call it quits, have at it but you have to manage the check book. If we dip in to savings, you go back to work. I quit my job 3 weeks ago, I am “taking a break” for the rest of the year until I finally find something I want to do when I grow up. It Is amazing, when the kids are off the payroll how you can live on so much less money. We both worked our asses off for a long time, so I don’t feel guilty but I am wondering what the fuck we are doing. It is not the “normal” way of retiring or living life but we just feel the next 5 years are more important from a family perspective than our last 5. Nobody is getting any younger, including my mom.

Now to the financial advisor part of the question. We met a friends “guy“ about a year ago, talked with him multiple times before we made any commitment. I wouldn’t know how to turn my wifes’ 401k to an IRA, then do a structured note in the IRA which guaranteed us 12.50% percent over the timeframe of the note. He also has access the some private equity companies that invest in apartment buildings. He takes all his clients, takes their smaller investments and rolls them together with this PE firm and now we own apartment buildings and get the advantage of all the write offs. I never would have figured this out.

Do what works for you but I am on the Financial Advisor train for now. We are selling all the river stuff…we don’t have to but are just resetting our life goals. It will be interesting to see what is next.

Headed to the neighbors for happy hour…I might add some to this later but wanted to share.

Fuck it.

 

[pkbullet]

for me paying an advisor .5% to handle tax optimization and annual cash flow is worth it even without the investments side. I also like the fact that my wife has help when I am gone. My guy has help us with all of our financial, trusts, health insurance transisition and is constantly looking forward with the sale of our business pending.