Cheesehead
Recycles dryer sheets
Hello,
I have been lurking for a year and just signed up. I'm self employed, 59 and would like to retire in perhaps four years, my wife is 55, a teacher and will retire at 60. We hope to have $900K in investments, she will be getting a pension of around $50K a year and my SS will be around $21K, so in sum perhaps somewhere around $90-$100K a year we hope to have in retirement. The one problem area I foresee besides health insurance is we only have around $75K in equity in our home that is worth around $400K. Our present allocation is:
17% US STOCKS
6% INTERNATIONAL STOCKS
37% BONDS
40% CASH
But the MAIN question I have, and the reason I signed up today is this:
I think I finally found a hourly fee only, certified financial planner, I can trust. He does not sell anything which was my most important criteria and he is with the Garrett network. I met him when he gave a seminar at the local high school about social security strategies and he really knows his stuff. He is a numbers man, had his own insurance agency and put out his shingle as a FP about eight years ago. I am a good judge of character and he passes my smell test. But on our family crest is "Fides Nome", trust no one.
I researched him on the CFP site and there were no disciplinary actions against him and nothing negative on Google. But when I asked him for references he said he couldn't legally give me any, his attorney said they would be considered "testimonials". Since I have a trust issue how can I trust someone who doesn't have references?
We met for 90 minutes and he explained how he does his planning, mainly in indexes which I also prefer, but unlike the newsletters I have been following (Bob Brinker, Fidelity Monitor, Fidelity Insight) there is no way to judge his performance. So how does one judge an FP? Especially the kind that work only on an hourly fee?
The initial plan would be around $2700 (15 hrs x $180 each) which I found acceptable. There would be an annual asset reallocation for about $1400. I have done "OK" handling my own investments thus far, perhaps making 5% lately, we are conservative and don't trust Wall Street. But now that we are about four years from retiring I don't want to screw anything up and it does get complex with all the retirement scenarios the teacher's pension fund offers and when I should take SS, plus how to definitely get at least 4% out of the nest egg, so I need a pro now, no more DIY.
So, in sum, if you have experience with this I could use some advice. How can I vet this planner who I would like to use but I don't trust someone I don't know. Too many scandals lately...
Thanks!
I have been lurking for a year and just signed up. I'm self employed, 59 and would like to retire in perhaps four years, my wife is 55, a teacher and will retire at 60. We hope to have $900K in investments, she will be getting a pension of around $50K a year and my SS will be around $21K, so in sum perhaps somewhere around $90-$100K a year we hope to have in retirement. The one problem area I foresee besides health insurance is we only have around $75K in equity in our home that is worth around $400K. Our present allocation is:
17% US STOCKS
6% INTERNATIONAL STOCKS
37% BONDS
40% CASH
But the MAIN question I have, and the reason I signed up today is this:
I think I finally found a hourly fee only, certified financial planner, I can trust. He does not sell anything which was my most important criteria and he is with the Garrett network. I met him when he gave a seminar at the local high school about social security strategies and he really knows his stuff. He is a numbers man, had his own insurance agency and put out his shingle as a FP about eight years ago. I am a good judge of character and he passes my smell test. But on our family crest is "Fides Nome", trust no one.
I researched him on the CFP site and there were no disciplinary actions against him and nothing negative on Google. But when I asked him for references he said he couldn't legally give me any, his attorney said they would be considered "testimonials". Since I have a trust issue how can I trust someone who doesn't have references?
We met for 90 minutes and he explained how he does his planning, mainly in indexes which I also prefer, but unlike the newsletters I have been following (Bob Brinker, Fidelity Monitor, Fidelity Insight) there is no way to judge his performance. So how does one judge an FP? Especially the kind that work only on an hourly fee?
The initial plan would be around $2700 (15 hrs x $180 each) which I found acceptable. There would be an annual asset reallocation for about $1400. I have done "OK" handling my own investments thus far, perhaps making 5% lately, we are conservative and don't trust Wall Street. But now that we are about four years from retiring I don't want to screw anything up and it does get complex with all the retirement scenarios the teacher's pension fund offers and when I should take SS, plus how to definitely get at least 4% out of the nest egg, so I need a pro now, no more DIY.
So, in sum, if you have experience with this I could use some advice. How can I vet this planner who I would like to use but I don't trust someone I don't know. Too many scandals lately...
Thanks!
