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I know the "group opinion" here on FA's and no matter how good they are they are always going to be worse than Vanguard. Nothing will ever change this. I'll say again that the vitriol has decreased but the underlying feeling is still there. Not to be trusted. Better off doing it yourself. Save money, low fees. I see my FA in the mirror every morning.
Not a problem, doesn't bother me. Different strokes.
Have fun and Blow More Dough!
Nahhh, I think that is just your interpretation/perception, maybe based on some of what you earlier perceived as 'vitriol'.
Let's break it down:
"no matter how good they are they are always going to be worse than Vanguard"
The trouble is, can we really ever measure a particular FA? Well, we can make some short term measures, but at a minimum, we need to see how they performed in both up/down markets. And yes, we never really know what that means for future performance.
But we do know from studies that the FA that can outperform over a 5 year period is ~ 15%, and that those same 15% are unlikely to outperform the next 5 years. How to identify the small number of survivors ahead of time?
And then there are the tax considerations (which I'd like to follow up on, if you can provide those numbers).
But I do feel highly confident that the major, low cost, broad-based index funds/ETFs will track very closely to their indexes. I don't feel confident in my ability to pick an FA that can do better, and worry that they will do worse.
Is there any 'vitriol' in that? I think it is just prudent observation. And it is tough to defend against. But of course, you are free to do as you please, but the explanations so far just sort of cause me to shrug my shoulders. I don't really get it. But that's OK.
-ERD50