How many totally manage their own nest egg?

[racy]

Always have, since 1977. It ain't rocket science.

 

[COcheesehead]

I do and have for the last 10 years. When I got to the point with my FA that I could predict what they were going to say, I decided they added no value. I have been much, much happier ever since.

 

[DrRoy]

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.

Love this chart. That's exactly how I look at it.

I pay a fund manager 4% a year to manage our portfolio. He just happens to be me.

Likewise, except 2.5%.

I had an FA for 8 years, but I fired him 4 years ago because his returns lagged mine (even before the fee).

 

[gtweath]

I'm currently trying one with about a third of my investments. With this bull market so long in the tooth I thought it would be interesting to see how he does in the next few years compared to my otherwise buy and hold index strategy. He charges 1% and uses mostly low cost index funds such as vanguard instead of loaded funds but is much more diversified than I am and rotates as he sees the markets change. In a few years I'll either give him more of the portfolio or stop his involvement altogether.

 

[jfn111]

I have always managed our investments. I also take care of the AA for my sons 401K and the grand kids 529's. I never saw a reason I would want to pay someone a percentage to do that with all the info available here, Bogleheads and other sources.

 

[RunningBum]

On my own. Initially with Datek/TD Ameritrade, and a couple other mutual fund firms, but am now all in Vanguard except for an HSA and DAF with Fidelity (who also manages my pension). I talked to one advisor years ago who got me into some kind of universal life insurance thing, but I ended that a few years later. I also used VG's free planner service with my Flagship status a few years ago. I've learned a lot more here, both directly and with pointers to sites like Fairmark, Kitces, Bogleheads, etc.

 

[RetireBy90]

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.

Same here, We have a FA with Fidelity that we meet with about once a year, ask any questions, etc. She will assume my job if I were to become unable to manage either cognitive problems or if I go before DW. Important for me to have a relationship between DW and FA today so they can work together later if needed. Oh, and FA is no cost today.

I've always managed my own. (And, I suspect that no manager would want to put up with my very intrusive oversight.)

Managed mom's funds for about 15 years. Fired one FA and the 2nd one wouldn't put up with my intrusive oversight so I moved most of her assets to Fidelity and managed them till her passing this year. Thought this was worth quoting because many FA don't want your input.

 

[CRLLS]

Same here, We have a FA with Fidelity that we meet with about once a year, ask any questions, etc. She will assume my job if I were to become unable to manage either cognitive problems or if I go before DW. Important for me to have a relationship between DW and FA today so they can work together later if needed. Oh, and FA is no cost today.

I too have "my guy" at Fidelity. The downside is "my guy" has changed 3 times over the last 10 years or so. I have little faith that any relationship DW made at Fidelity will not be there when she, or I for that matter, may need one. What's a person to do? This succession planning concerns me more than my self-management of the family finances.

 

[24601NoMore]

Have always managed my (and now our) own investments since I bought my first mutual fund back in the 80s. I've also done a lot of studying on things like modern portfolio theory, asset allocation, etc and follow people like Bernstein, Ferri, Kitces and Swedroe as that's something I find interesting.

Many of my friends or family have "their guy" who buries the fees so creatively that they think they are getting all this advice and support for little cost. I've mentioned that they can do better, but I honestly think they just don't have the interest in DIY. My best friend literally thinks all he's paying his Ameriprise rep is the $500 "relationship fee". I've tried to tell him he's getting soaked, but he appears to not really care..

Funny story about brokers - I had an Edward Jones rep come to my door the other day. He was dressed "very" well and oozed money (presumably the big $$ he gets from doing AUM portfolio management for his clients, LOL). When I told him thanks for stopping by but that I managed my own portfolio and was a Boglehead, he actually said "what's a Boglehead?". Yeah, pretty frightening that a guy in the business didn't even know what Bogleheads were. That told me all I needed to know about the dude from Edward Jones..but even more frightening - my LinkedIn profile shows he viewed it. So, he's obviously trolling for people with the word "retired" in their profile and then chasing those people outright. Guess that's just marketing, but still a bit disconcerting.

 

[stephenson]

In my first job post college (USN) I was screwed by a former Navy officer selling front load funds ... really, really, really jacked me up!

Since the above was based on MY IGNORANCE, I decided that would NEVER happen, again. I figured if a former Navy guy would screw me over, what would a bloodless post MBA on Wallstreet do to me?

Since then, my wife and I self managed our accounts, savings, IRAs/401Ks, etc using passively managed funds, and the occasional direct stock purchase at special times when the market was severely depressed.

Perhaps an actively managed process could have done better ... but, I have seen no indication of this in anything I have ever read. I’m sure there are rare examples, though.

RJ has those really heartwarming ads, right? Right.

BTW - we use Fidelity and Vanguard. Vanguard from when they were about the only passive option, and now, Fidelity. Fidelity is slick, fast and flexible, and has same management rates or lower than Vanguard. I am still loyal to Vanguard with those funds we initially bought, but I like dealing with Fidelity.

 

[lem1955]

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.

Great chart! Thanks.

 

[SumDay]

I do 99% of the time. Every other year or so, I use a fee only financial planner who answers questions on asset allocation, tax planning, etc. She charges about what we'd spend on a domestic airline ticket. I like the critical eye, guidance and hand-holding. Our entire portfolio is at Vanguard.

 

[Rianne]

Started with VG thanks to Bob Brinker. We followed the initial VG advice, invested in their funds in the 90's. Basically have stayed with the program 50/40/10. Never looked back.

 

[scrabbler1]

Some of us here, including me, have an unpaid Account Executive with Fidelity. My AE is someone I meet with about once every 18 months to shoot the breeze and discuss my portfolio. He also shows me some useful features of the Fido website including the RIP program. He does not manage my portfolio. I make all the decisions like I always have.


A previous AE was most useful when I first ERed in late 2008. He set up my rollover IRA which was good when I brought my trustee-to-trustee check from my old 401k. I also had another large check from the cashed-out ESOP which he processed.

 

[Sue J]

I have always managed all of our assets myself. DH has no interest in things involving money (he's in charge of managing the cash in his pocket for a month at a time) and he trusts me.

My Dad had his money with Wells Fargo and had the same guy managing things for 30 years. When Dad died my sister and I inherited his IRA. His Wells Fargo guy expected I would keep mine with him, he pointed out how well he had done for my Dad over the years. But I wanted to manage it myself and I could not imagine paying someone to manage my money!

I think I've learned the most from posters on this forum and just by doing it on my own.

 

[Moemg]

I have always done it myself .

 

[Kelor]

1/3 T Rowe Price Cap App
1/3 stocks actively managed @ .65. He usually only holds 7 or 8 stocks at one time, and has done well.
1/3 passively managed stocks and ETF's by me.

I have no problem with this split. It may not be the cheapest, but my performance is good, while at the same time I have 3 very differently managed portfolios.

 

[calmloki]

I "manage" myself, using the rising tide lifts all boats theory. The gal likes to pay omissions to a former boss/coworker who went into brokering. His advice has been pretty horrible, but the gal has done very well picking stocks - better than my VTI or whatever. If Amazon or Apple go kerschitt her performance will take a bigger hit.The rentals and loans we manage. Biggest thing is managing ourselves, which we do to good effect.

 

[tmm99]

I had a fee-only CFP look at my stuff in 2006 once, and had RBC take care of my Canadian account for about 6 months when I moved from US to Canada and transferred some money to CAD, but other than that, just me. RBC was actually a great help, but it's not like they did anything after everything was bought, so I dropped them and I have been adding onto that account myself since. I've been doing the US side of finance myself since 2006.

 

[Lagniappe]

I had a fee-only planner for about 3 years. I wanted access to DFA funds, and found an advisor who would give me access for a reasonable annual fee.



This was 2007-2010. I got crazy busy at work, and was frozen - I'm not sure if I was afraid to re-balance in such a turbulent market or just mentally exhausted from the headlines and all the layoffs and associated angst at the office. They kept me invested, re-balanced when needed, and sent me a quarterly update.


Once all the market gyrations passed, my job was more stable, I was very close to retiring early, and I had bit more time available, I decided that Vanguard Funds/ ETF's would do just fine for my needs, no need for access to DFA funds. I moved everything to Vanguard and haven't looked back.

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

My wife and I manage our own finances and investments.

 

[jkern]

Count me as one who has always managed every aspect of personal finance.

 

[gwraigty]

I too have "my guy" at Fidelity. The downside is "my guy" has changed 3 times over the last 10 years or so. I have little faith that any relationship DW made at Fidelity will not be there when she, or I for that matter, may need one. What's a person to do? This succession planning concerns me more than my self-management of the family finances.

If you have part or all of your portfolio invested in a way that you would feel comfortable continuing to buy more of the same into eternity, then a simple talk with DW or a letter of instruction for her to do just that would suffice.

 

[LRDave]

Wish my funds were so large and therefore complex that FA services were warranted. But alas... Our little financial world is too simple to need FA.

 

[Toddtheformeraccountant]

Me.