55 retired two years +

[shooter]

I've read this forum for awhile now and decided to join the fun! Like many here my DW and I LBYM'd went debt free in '99 and just put away all we could. DW retired in '08 early and we lived on one salary for a year to see if we could. Then my company "packaged" me out the door after 19 years in early '09. Best thing that could've happened - though it pinched my sense of pride a little. Although many here don't like FA's, we have one and it's worth the cost for our peace of mind - and the fact that she is very, very capable. It may have been said - W*rk is a dirty habit! LOL! When my megacorp booted me out the door I called her "Well, I got layed off today. Do I need to find another job?" Her: "Do you want to?" Me: "No". Her: "Then don't, you have enough to live on comfortalby till ya'll are 100" Me: I'm done!

 

[73ss454]

Hello Shooter and welcome. I'd dump the advisor just in case you live to 110. (heh)

 

[chinaco]

Welcome.


Many of us are DIY oriented and have invested the time and effort to understand it and manage it ourselves....


IMO - Using an adviser much is better than making a bunch of common mistakes that cost you money.


I think most of the people on the forum rail on the commissioned sales people that call themselves advisors (e.g., Insurance Agent). Their motivation is often the commission from the sale.

 

[Coolius]

Welcome to the forum.

Now that you have the time, you can teach yourself the basics of investing and potentially move from the FA to doing it yourself.

Using the FIRECALC on this site, and a good knowledge of your expenses, AA and SWR, you'll be all set.

 

[RobertFrost]

Welcome. Shooter.

Managing investments isn't for everyone - sounds like you've got a good FA.

Maybe you're enjoying a little personal peace AND freedom now.

 

[kyounge1956]

Welcome.


Many of us are DIY oriented and have invested the time and effort to understand it and manage it ourselves....


IMO - Using an adviser much is better than making a bunch of common mistakes that cost you money.


I think most of the people on the forum rail on the commissioned sales people that call themselves advisors (e.g., Insurance Agent). Their motivation is often the commission from the sale.

Welcome!

I second what chinaco says. Just make sure to use a fee-only advisor to eliminate the nagging question that's always there with a commissioned salesperson's advice: "is this recommendation based on what's best for me, or on what generates the biggest commission for the (so-called) advisor?" Many of us have discovered, to our chagrin, that it was the latter.

 

[MBAustin]

Welcome, shooter. I manage most of our investments but still have an advisor to help me keep an eye on things and to get a different perspective. Whatever works for you!

 

[obgyn65]

Welcome, Shooter.

 

[mickeyd]

Hey Shooter.

Welcome here.

Although many here don't like FA's, we have one and it's worth the cost for our peace of mind [/FONT]

Make sure that you understand how much your are actually paying the FA and what services you are actually receiving for the money. You've got the services of over a thousand folks on this forum that can give you more good free advice than what you are paying for with a FA. That said, if you understand what you are getting and what you are paying and still think it's worth the price, stay put.

 

[frayne]

Welcome Shooter and congrats on breaking the strings of employment.

 

[Nords]

Although many here don't like FA's, we have one and it's worth the cost for our peace of mind - and the fact that she is very, very capable.

Here's why many don't like FAs.

When you're busy working & saving for ER, it doesn't seem so much to pay the average FA's average 1% fee for maintaining your portfolio.

When you're ER'd and living off some version of the 4% rule (or less), it suddenly seems like a big deal to be forking over at least a quarter of your portfolio's annual income to the FA. Note that they get pretty much the same fee whether your portfolio is up 15%, up 4%, or down 10%.

But, hey, you could have the FA who proves to be the exception to the rule. And some people are too busy to take care of their portfolios, while others don't care for the emotional stress. But now in ER you can put a much more visible price on the putative value.

 

[WB52]

Shooter,
Congrats on the retirement. FIRE must be fine. I am working toward that goal, hopefully next year (no, really...2012).
Once you became used to the idea of not going off to w*rk every morning, what have you enjoyed the most? What was different than you expected? Have you found that your expenses went up, down, or the same?
Thanks in advance for the input. It kind of makes my megacorp more tolerable.