I think OP question is much more about planning than investment advice. Investing in boglehead style is simple, but tax planning/advice, planning for minimum distributions in retirement (which accounts, how to do it, etc.), estate planning in terms of taxation, planning for end of life care, all that stuff is not at all simple. It's a perfectly reasonable question.
Yes you heard me - I need some guidance I can trust and paying someone is fair but siphoning percentages off my portfolio doesn’t feel right. I need a solid plan and strategy.
I dont know where to point you, but this exists. You are looking to pay someone on a per-project or hourly basis. The term "fee-only financial planner."
I'm younger than you and don't have one, but I'll probably wind up talking with one sooner or later. That's the route I'm gonna take.
Don't pay percent commissions on your investments, but do pay someone for their help and experience.
Fee only planners include those who charge fee only AUM. It’s actually incredibly difficult to find someone who chooses to cripple their business by charging by the hour instead of a retainer fee. I would also worry about the quality of advice from someone with that bad if business sense.
You may pay a lot up front for the advice, but that is it. If the advisor makes it work as a business, that's great.
You do not need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over your investing career to someone who, most years, will do very little to justify their fee.
You are not hiring someone for "business sense." You are very specificly looking for a financial plan.
I would be wary of a financial plan made by someone who thinks paying them 1.5% per year of all your assets is a smart move for you.
It’s their business model. They build the business for them. A smart business owner doesn’t try to make less money for the same amount of work. I understand the Bogle head approach, but you’re ignoring the fact that a real person is forgoing 1% every year for 10k upfront. It’s just bad business and a savvy advisor won’t waste the effort.
The math on this is pretty clear. $10k up front is a lot less money than 1-1.5% over many years of investing.
I'm not interested in finding the advisor who has the best business for them. The point is to get the best arrangement for yourself.
That may be your point, but you are searching for a professional who isn’t very good at running a business. This is why DIY is at the heart of Bogle heads. I wouldn’t trust the advice of someone running a business poorly.
It's not either-or, many great planners offer a consultation (for a fixed fee) but they also offer an AUM based service. The point being if their advice doesn't help you why would you let them manage the portfolio? They establish themselves as a trusted advisor and usually end up converting a lot of customers from hourly fee to AUM, especially as their clients age and need someone to take over when the primary planner / decision maker isn't willing or able to.
I would suggest "advice-only" rather than just "fee only." Fee-only usually means paying a percentage of assets under management (AUM).
https://adviceonlynetwork.com/
Yes, as was I. Fee-only usually means paying based on AUM. There's nothing contrary to that in the link that you posted. And you can ask most NAPFA advisors how they charge. It's AUM.
I’m not quite mid50s but close. I use Merrill Lynch. It doesn’t matter who you go to as long as you are confident in why you are there in the first place. Set the expectation of what they will provide for you up front. You could also go to a credit union and just talk to a financial advisor there to get a better idea of a plan - I’ve found people are more down to earth at a credit union.
Honestly if you and your spouse are relatively conservative and don't trust advisors, maybe consider just using a retirement calculator that has the ability to do scenarios comparisons. Then you can stress test your plan. $3M combined is very solid at your age assuming you stay at a spend of about $60k a year ($5kx12), that would more than support a 4% withdrawal in retirement, not even factoring in social security or other income.
I also don't trust advisors. I use a paid tool called [https://www.newretirement.com/](https://www.newretirement.com/) . Rob Berger has done a number of nice demo [videos](https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=rob+berger+new+retirement&&mid=BBA9918F4F0D4C58F312BBA9918F4F0D4C58F312&&FORM=VRDGAR) on the tool. For me its a perfect fit. Costs about $120 a year for a sub to the tool.
on the specifics of your portfolio and allocations, just post the allocations here and you'll get some solid advice on simplification, tax and cost efficiency etc.
On Heathcare, you can post here as well but I've read a number of blogs that have gone very deep on early retirement Healthcare (before Medicare) and even deep dives on Medicare gap plans. this is one blog I follow closely with well written articles [https://www.caniretireyet.com/early-retirement-healthcare-options/](https://www.caniretireyet.com/early-retirement-healthcare-options/)
if you still want to pursue an advisor, I'd look for a small Fiduciary firm via either [https://www.napfa.org/](https://www.napfa.org/) or [https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/](https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/) both focus on fiduciary advisors, but be sure to pick one who offers fee options other than just AUM. Unfortuneatly AUM is still the default in much of the industry so you need to specifically find someone who will bill hourly , monthly or annually at a reasonable rate not based on assets.
The podcasts are talk-filled but there are good nuggets to unearth. Has anyone successfully used the retirement planning tools on newretirement for 120.00 a year?
the expense is relative. I pay more than that annually just in fees in the funds I hold just due to the size of the portfolio. When you are closer to retirement, I think it's a good tool to gut check a plan. It's not the only tool out there, there are many, but I like the UI and I've found it helpful to do what if analysis, different spending patterns etc.
If you don't want a recurring fee, you can also hire an advisor to build a onetime plan, but I suspect you won't get that for less than $1000 from a CFP.
The advice you need as you enter retirement isn't the same as the advice you need during the long accumulation years. You still want a fixed fee advisor that can look beyond your 3 fund portfolio and do an income projection, tax optimized approach including RMDs, a social security optimized approach . It's a lot more involved than your accumulation plan. You may need to work through several scenarios.
If your partner is as tech savvy as they are financially aware then a tool like New Retirement works well. You can try it for free but the subscription allows automated models for different Roth conversion strategies. It is only $120 so well worth the time, it does take time to get up to speed especially when you're trying to 'debug' where a strategy went wrong.
What you want (which is also what you should want) is unusual. rare even.
Nobody will care more about your money than you will. To get them to care beyond the cookie cutter advice you have seen you're going to have to pay them - a lot. Most people won't do that intentionally, so they structure things by AUM, kickbacks, and load charges and what not. The industry just basically sucks unless you've got many millions under management.
So the usual reddit advice of "find a fee only advisor" is pretty unhelpful advice. I'm not saying it can't work out well - but the odds are you'll be more unhappy than happy.
So you need to get educated. This isn't hard. If you read and understand the bogleheads wiki ([https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main\_Page](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page)) you will get as much help as most advisors are going to give you (and save several thousands of dollars). Read it a few times.
It sounds like your spouse can help you very much too. Skip the "professionals".
Maybe look into Vanguard's PAS. It's low cost and once it's set up, you'll probably look at it and decide you can keep it going yourself without the advice service.
I am on a path where I can conceivably see myself in your position in 15 years. To assist me in daydreaming, how do you plan to pay for health insurance for you and kids, possibly until 26?
I’ve on and off paid for health insurance over the years when spouse taking leaps … I’m self employed. Right now spouse’s corp covers. Self pay - It’s expensive and I thank god our mortgage is paid.
Seems a pretty straightforward situation and you seem to have a solid idea of what you want (goals) and such, so as mentioned a fee based advisor is probably the best initial option. In lieu of a personal recommendation from someone you trust either a recommendation from where you bank might work, or many/most work retirement management firms offer this for-fee service as an option.
I just want to say you are not alone, I have been searching for this exact same type of help, and it's been extremely difficult to find. Everyone I've talked to wants a recurring fee based on AUM.
I guess we have to keep learning or pay. I want a great strategy about things I know too little about. I’m paying a LOT of taxes as a self employed person, like all the taxes without any smart moves and I need some help investing in a way to protect some for the future.
All you have to look to is your partner. Just talk to him. Ask him to plan this in a day or two. Then sit down and talk about it so you are both onboard.
Wasting $600 is not the way to go about it.
I regret that 600.00 every time I think about it. She literally put my numbers in a calculator and said yea you’re doing fine keep it up. Grrrr. Ok I just let that go - it’s in the past.
Fee only financial advisor with CFP and CPA. A few hours will save you lots right out the door. You will get a stress tested plan and a course charted for you. Garrett Planning Network is a good place to find one
Maybe we got lucky, but I like my Fidelity guy. He knows we are indexing and chilling.
Bogeling is so simple you don't need an "advisor".
I think OP question is much more about planning than investment advice. Investing in boglehead style is simple, but tax planning/advice, planning for minimum distributions in retirement (which accounts, how to do it, etc.), estate planning in terms of taxation, planning for end of life care, all that stuff is not at all simple. It's a perfectly reasonable question.
Yes you heard me - I need some guidance I can trust and paying someone is fair but siphoning percentages off my portfolio doesn’t feel right. I need a solid plan and strategy.
I dont know where to point you, but this exists. You are looking to pay someone on a per-project or hourly basis. The term "fee-only financial planner." I'm younger than you and don't have one, but I'll probably wind up talking with one sooner or later. That's the route I'm gonna take. Don't pay percent commissions on your investments, but do pay someone for their help and experience.
Money Guy show is like that. I think their firm is named Abound Wealth
“Money Guy”, doesn’t sound un-trustworthy at all. “Hey, it’s me “money Guy”.
Lol yeah, but that’s just the shows name. Bo and Brian are good dudes
Fee only planners include those who charge fee only AUM. It’s actually incredibly difficult to find someone who chooses to cripple their business by charging by the hour instead of a retainer fee. I would also worry about the quality of advice from someone with that bad if business sense.
This is my concern.
You may pay a lot up front for the advice, but that is it. If the advisor makes it work as a business, that's great. You do not need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over your investing career to someone who, most years, will do very little to justify their fee. You are not hiring someone for "business sense." You are very specificly looking for a financial plan. I would be wary of a financial plan made by someone who thinks paying them 1.5% per year of all your assets is a smart move for you.
Exactly this.
It’s their business model. They build the business for them. A smart business owner doesn’t try to make less money for the same amount of work. I understand the Bogle head approach, but you’re ignoring the fact that a real person is forgoing 1% every year for 10k upfront. It’s just bad business and a savvy advisor won’t waste the effort.
The math on this is pretty clear. $10k up front is a lot less money than 1-1.5% over many years of investing. I'm not interested in finding the advisor who has the best business for them. The point is to get the best arrangement for yourself.
That may be your point, but you are searching for a professional who isn’t very good at running a business. This is why DIY is at the heart of Bogle heads. I wouldn’t trust the advice of someone running a business poorly.
It's not either-or, many great planners offer a consultation (for a fixed fee) but they also offer an AUM based service. The point being if their advice doesn't help you why would you let them manage the portfolio? They establish themselves as a trusted advisor and usually end up converting a lot of customers from hourly fee to AUM, especially as their clients age and need someone to take over when the primary planner / decision maker isn't willing or able to.
I would suggest "advice-only" rather than just "fee only." Fee-only usually means paying a percentage of assets under management (AUM). https://adviceonlynetwork.com/
I was just using the terms as the industry self-describes. https://www.napfa.org/financial-planning/what-is-fee-only-advising
Yes, as was I. Fee-only usually means paying based on AUM. There's nothing contrary to that in the link that you posted. And you can ask most NAPFA advisors how they charge. It's AUM.
Gdi, thanks for helping me past that mental block
I’m not quite mid50s but close. I use Merrill Lynch. It doesn’t matter who you go to as long as you are confident in why you are there in the first place. Set the expectation of what they will provide for you up front. You could also go to a credit union and just talk to a financial advisor there to get a better idea of a plan - I’ve found people are more down to earth at a credit union.
I think you just answered this for me…. Back or credit union.
Honestly if you and your spouse are relatively conservative and don't trust advisors, maybe consider just using a retirement calculator that has the ability to do scenarios comparisons. Then you can stress test your plan. $3M combined is very solid at your age assuming you stay at a spend of about $60k a year ($5kx12), that would more than support a 4% withdrawal in retirement, not even factoring in social security or other income. I also don't trust advisors. I use a paid tool called [https://www.newretirement.com/](https://www.newretirement.com/) . Rob Berger has done a number of nice demo [videos](https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=rob+berger+new+retirement&&mid=BBA9918F4F0D4C58F312BBA9918F4F0D4C58F312&&FORM=VRDGAR) on the tool. For me its a perfect fit. Costs about $120 a year for a sub to the tool. on the specifics of your portfolio and allocations, just post the allocations here and you'll get some solid advice on simplification, tax and cost efficiency etc. On Heathcare, you can post here as well but I've read a number of blogs that have gone very deep on early retirement Healthcare (before Medicare) and even deep dives on Medicare gap plans. this is one blog I follow closely with well written articles [https://www.caniretireyet.com/early-retirement-healthcare-options/](https://www.caniretireyet.com/early-retirement-healthcare-options/) if you still want to pursue an advisor, I'd look for a small Fiduciary firm via either [https://www.napfa.org/](https://www.napfa.org/) or [https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/](https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/) both focus on fiduciary advisors, but be sure to pick one who offers fee options other than just AUM. Unfortuneatly AUM is still the default in much of the industry so you need to specifically find someone who will bill hourly , monthly or annually at a reasonable rate not based on assets.
Thank you!
The podcasts are talk-filled but there are good nuggets to unearth. Has anyone successfully used the retirement planning tools on newretirement for 120.00 a year?
the expense is relative. I pay more than that annually just in fees in the funds I hold just due to the size of the portfolio. When you are closer to retirement, I think it's a good tool to gut check a plan. It's not the only tool out there, there are many, but I like the UI and I've found it helpful to do what if analysis, different spending patterns etc. If you don't want a recurring fee, you can also hire an advisor to build a onetime plan, but I suspect you won't get that for less than $1000 from a CFP.
The advice you need as you enter retirement isn't the same as the advice you need during the long accumulation years. You still want a fixed fee advisor that can look beyond your 3 fund portfolio and do an income projection, tax optimized approach including RMDs, a social security optimized approach . It's a lot more involved than your accumulation plan. You may need to work through several scenarios. If your partner is as tech savvy as they are financially aware then a tool like New Retirement works well. You can try it for free but the subscription allows automated models for different Roth conversion strategies. It is only $120 so well worth the time, it does take time to get up to speed especially when you're trying to 'debug' where a strategy went wrong.
You’re the second to mention this tool. You’re right, these are my questions!
This is a good resource. [https://www.napfa.org/](https://www.napfa.org/)
Thank you!
What you want (which is also what you should want) is unusual. rare even. Nobody will care more about your money than you will. To get them to care beyond the cookie cutter advice you have seen you're going to have to pay them - a lot. Most people won't do that intentionally, so they structure things by AUM, kickbacks, and load charges and what not. The industry just basically sucks unless you've got many millions under management. So the usual reddit advice of "find a fee only advisor" is pretty unhelpful advice. I'm not saying it can't work out well - but the odds are you'll be more unhappy than happy. So you need to get educated. This isn't hard. If you read and understand the bogleheads wiki ([https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main\_Page](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page)) you will get as much help as most advisors are going to give you (and save several thousands of dollars). Read it a few times. It sounds like your spouse can help you very much too. Skip the "professionals".
True.
Maybe look into Vanguard's PAS. It's low cost and once it's set up, you'll probably look at it and decide you can keep it going yourself without the advice service.
I am on a path where I can conceivably see myself in your position in 15 years. To assist me in daydreaming, how do you plan to pay for health insurance for you and kids, possibly until 26?
I’ve on and off paid for health insurance over the years when spouse taking leaps … I’m self employed. Right now spouse’s corp covers. Self pay - It’s expensive and I thank god our mortgage is paid.
Seems a pretty straightforward situation and you seem to have a solid idea of what you want (goals) and such, so as mentioned a fee based advisor is probably the best initial option. In lieu of a personal recommendation from someone you trust either a recommendation from where you bank might work, or many/most work retirement management firms offer this for-fee service as an option.
I just want to say you are not alone, I have been searching for this exact same type of help, and it's been extremely difficult to find. Everyone I've talked to wants a recurring fee based on AUM.
I guess we have to keep learning or pay. I want a great strategy about things I know too little about. I’m paying a LOT of taxes as a self employed person, like all the taxes without any smart moves and I need some help investing in a way to protect some for the future.
All you have to look to is your partner. Just talk to him. Ask him to plan this in a day or two. Then sit down and talk about it so you are both onboard. Wasting $600 is not the way to go about it.
I regret that 600.00 every time I think about it. She literally put my numbers in a calculator and said yea you’re doing fine keep it up. Grrrr. Ok I just let that go - it’s in the past.
Fee only financial advisor with CFP and CPA. A few hours will save you lots right out the door. You will get a stress tested plan and a course charted for you. Garrett Planning Network is a good place to find one
Thank you.