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How many totally manage their own nest egg?
Old 11-15-2019, 04:45 PM   #1
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How many totally manage their own nest egg?

I am curious ... how many folks totally manage their finances themselves ... no FA or service?

We currently have a FA (Raymond James) managing just my IRA. (~$440K).
I also have a 401k and pension that I will be getting plus my wife has a 403B and pension. His fee is 1.3%. I am not excited about that and am thinking of moving everything into Vanguard index funds when I retire next year ... no FA. I would like to be a hands-off investor.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:46 PM   #2
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This needs a poll...


To answer the question, I do.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:49 PM   #3
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Using index funds makes self-management possible - all you'll really need to do, after determining which funds and your allocation to them, is to re-balance periodically.

I manage all our finances myself, but, importantly, I've also identified a FA my wife could work with after my death, should I die before her. This is a person I trust and who is familiar with my approach.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:51 PM   #4
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We do. Seems like most here do.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:54 PM   #5
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I agree that a poll would be more helpful. Otherwise, yes, I manage our finances and investments without any outside assistance.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:54 PM   #6
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I do for both DW and myself.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:55 PM   #7
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Have never had a FA. We do have a CPA to do our taxes. Every year I say "This year we'll do them ourselves!" and then something happens to shake my confidence.
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Old 11-15-2019, 04:55 PM   #8
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We have never paid anyone to run our money and certainly would never pay 1.3%.

Here is a chart that I use with my investment class:




Buy and read "The Coffeehouse Investor" by Bill Schultheis and "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing" by Larimore et al and you will know more than your FA.

Re moving everything to Vanguard Index Funds "next year," you should be there now. Why wait a year, which will almost certainly cost you at least 2% in underperformance? That's more than his fee.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:04 PM   #9
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I manage all of my own finances. A few years ago I moved all of my larger accounts over to Vanguard. I use the main indexes and branch out to some specialised funds for diversity. They offer good tools for research and I love the fact that I only have to look at one screen for my financial picture. Why pay someone for something that I can do.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:06 PM   #10
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I pay a fund manager 4% a year to manage our portfolio. He just happens to be me.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:13 PM   #11
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with the help of good people on this forum and boglehead I am now managing my own account with just 3 funds.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:17 PM   #12
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Solo.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:19 PM   #13
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DIY.... but I am a retired CPA and worked in the finance industry... but it's not rocket science and I think that anyone with a good head on their shoulders can easily DIY.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:26 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vipertom1970 View Post
with the help of good people on this forum and boglehead I am now managing my own account with just 3 funds.
Exactly the same for me. (Plus CD's)
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:27 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by REWahoo View Post
This needs a poll...


To answer the question, I do.
+1
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:30 PM   #16
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I can't afford a financial advisor, though I told my wife that if I get too senile to go to Vanguard and pay the 0.3%
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:31 PM   #17
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Even index funds have managers.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:32 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by vipertom1970 View Post
with the help of good people on this forum and boglehead I am now managing my own account.
I had a FA but after a couple of years when he was making more money off my funds than me. We parted ways but i got a few more than 3 funds.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:32 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by ziggy29 View Post
Even index funds have managers.
Computers, mostly. And index funds don't have advisors, which is the OP's context.
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Old 11-15-2019, 05:38 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by albireo13 View Post
I am curious ... how many folks totally manage their finances themselves ... no FA or service?

We currently have a FA (Raymond James) managing just my IRA. (~$440K).
I also have a 401k and pension that I will be getting plus my wife has a 403B and pension. His fee is 1.3%. I am not excited about that and am thinking of moving everything into Vanguard index funds when I retire next year ... no FA. I would like to be a hands-off investor.
I have never had an FA, a service, or even advice. I am almost entirely self taught. Well, except when I was 5-6 years old my now dead father told me to always diversify. Took me a while to figure that one out. Later when I was first starting out my big brother told me about Vanguard. Then I found "Vanguard Diehards" on the Morningstar site, and when it went a bit crazy I followed over to the (then new) Bogleheads website that splintered off of it. I got most of my understanding of investing from reading and studying books on the Bogleheads book list. That's it in a nutshell. I am a buy and hold index fund investor, with Vanguard and the TSP (=401K).
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