How much would you have to have to pay an FA

[audreyh1]

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Originally Posted by Texas Proud Go back and look at post #13.... I said that a LONG time ago

[audreyh1]

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Originally Posted by youbet +1 OTOH, I think I may be switching from DIY to a CPA for taxes and believe an estate planning attorney and an elder law attorney would be worthwhile.

I plan to switch to those services as I get older anyway - because I don't intend to do them myself anymore once I reach a certain age, regardless of the size of my portfolio.

[Fedup]

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Originally Posted by Milton Don't think so: his recommendation that his non-Berkshire estate - which presumably is decently large - should be invested for his wife's benefit in Vanguard funds was pretty explicit. But I do acknowledge that while he remains alive, he doesn't practice what he preaches.

You can't take everything Warren Buffet said literally. Judging by what he says and what he does with his money and investments.

[Scuba]

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Originally Posted by Milton Don't think so: his recommendation that his non-Berkshire estate - which presumably is decently large - should be invested for his wife's benefit in Vanguard funds was pretty explicit. But I do acknowledge that while he remains alive, he doesn't practice what he preaches.

Yes - for his wife, but his portfolio is not invested in index funds. That was my point.

[traineeinvestor]

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Originally Posted by audreyh1 If you stick to broadly diversified low-cost mutual funds, rebalance only occasionally to maintain your AA, and don't use margin, it's really hard to see where the big screw ups are going to happen..... Keep it simple.

Agree, but my portfolio looks very different from that - mostly directly held real estate and individual stocks (partly a legacy of ultra low cost funds not being available out here in the wild, wild East) + I do use a small amount of margin.

More to the point, I have seen too many wealthy people go broke through one reason or another not to believe that screw ups happen to the best of people.

[Koolau]

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Originally Posted by youbet +1 Yep, the amount seems to keep growing as the discussion goes on! I tend to agree with you on this Audrey, no need for a FA since I plan to continue to simplify as I go on (actually pretty simple now outside of the few percent in my "day at the track" portfolio). OTOH, I think I may be switching from DIY to a CPA for taxes and believe an estate planning attorney and an elder law attorney would be worthwhile.

I agree completely on the CPA or at least what I call a Tax Guy or a Tax Gal. Taxes are a very technical issue with plenty of gotchas to watch for. I've never wanted to tackle taxes myself. I'll gladly pay an expert to do the work. FA on the other hand, I see less and less need for one as I become more conservative in my investing. If I leave some money on the table, I'm very comfortable with that. The only times I've gotten in trouble (think tax issues) was when I followed the advice of an FA. So far, the tax issues I've had with a CPA have been pretty much minimal (last time, CPA told us to pay a penalty that the IRS promptly returned to us, saying we didn't owe it!) Once in a while things go my way when it comes to taxes. YMMV