How many totally manage their own nest egg?

[68bucks]

I use a FA mainly because I have absolutely zero interest in following the market, researching funds, stocks, etc. It's just something I'd really, really rather not do. I get way too wrapped up it it. I retired a year ago and have considered taking a second look. I do my own taxes though.

[wildbilly]

I manage my own portifolio as most should. ETFs and mutual funds are easy; not worth 1+% a manager charges. Managers should do more difficult trades like options and futures to earn their money. Plus be tied to your gain or loss. They just want the easy money and you shouldn't give it to them.



The hardest part about doing it yourself is managing your emotions. So stick to a plan 100%; preferably buy and hold. Good luck!

[studman]

I manage 1/3 of nest egg, edJones has 1/3, and MorganStanley has 1/3. They all have complete knowledge of the others. The MS is an elite wealth management group for large company executives--the best of the best. eJones and MS both are doing well for us. Paid eJones $250 this year as we do not move things around much. MS charges .75% we don't like to pay that much, but know we are very well diversified and not at that horrible 1.5% mark they were originally talking about. No way would we pay that! The MS guy actually called one day lately to say that he and his team are really, really impressed with how I manage my 1/3, it has out-performed both edJones and MS. This portfolio contains about 40-50 stocks, but MS manager said there isn't one of them that he would recommend dumping. All good dividend payers also.
At our age in upper 60s, we are still hands on investing. In 8 or 10 years we may divide among the two managers or put it all in one. The more they manage, the lower the percentage rate is. The bottom line is to know when you aren't doing a good job at it and have a plan for that time in the future.

[texasdiver]

Totally DIY for both my wife and me.

About $1.5 mil divided between a Federal TSP account, Vanguard IRA and Fidelity 401(k). All index funds and mostly target date funds. We pay about 0.04% fees for the TSP, slightly higher for Vanguard and no fees for the Fidelity 401(k) as that is entirely covered by the employer.

I do our taxes too. The only $$ we have spent for any sort of financial services in the past decade was having our wills, children’s trusts, and ancillary documents prepared by our attorney.

I can’t imagine voluntarily paying 1% fees. You are essentially giving 1/3 to 1/2 of your nest egg to your advisor over the typical investing lifetime. 1% x 30 years = 30% of your savings. If you are paying 1.5% fees then you will transfer 50% of your savings over to your advisor in 33 years (2.5% x 33 years = 49.5%)

[almost there]

100% MM. He isn't very bright. But he is free. So far so good.
He does not do Tax's though. Way over his head.
Not worth the headache for $300-$400 a year.

[RobLJ]

I am agnostic on this issue.
Since '93 I have done the investments, without FA help, other than a free consultation with Fidelity after I semi-retired and moved to Reno.
So far so good.

However, DW has no interest in investments, although she is an accountant and more than able to do so. So I can certainly see paying 1-1.3% in the future after I croak.
I'm working on combining her scattered IRAs converted from 401ks to simplify before RMDs for her (a long time from now).
And I'm in a two brokerage 403bs (don't ask) which eliminate ETFs and non-reinvesting dividends. Don't ask why. After my semi-retirement online gig ends next May, I will probably change the 403bs to an IRA, but for now it's safer to stick in the 403bs.
We own about 30 mutual funds/IRAs; over the next year I intend to whittle this to 15 and after DW reaches 59.5 to withdraw from her IRAs, I can simplify further.

I intend to give her a Bogle-influenced simple portfolio of 10 ETFs to maintain and rebalance after I croak or lose intellectual capacity (or maybe that has already happened, which is the fly in the ointment of this approach; after losing enough capacity, how will I know?)

[Ablatus]

Myself. Split between Vaguard and American Century in total and target stock funds and bond funds.

[2retireearly]

I manage all myself.

[The HalfBreed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I have never had an FA, a service, or even advice. I am almost entirely self taught........... I am a buy and hold index fund investor, with Vanguard and the TSP (=401K).

Ditto. Being CSRS, in the beginning, we didn't have access to anything in our TSP except for the G fund, so I started with mutual funds, first Strong Funds of WI, 20th Century Ultra and the JANUS fund, but eventually sold all when I began TSP C, S and I funds.

I was fortunate to find the Bogleheads and also FederalSoup forum, whereas I learned about the VCP and how I can use those older funds to Max Fund a Roth IRA which is currently held in Vanguard Wellesley, plus my Wellington taxable mutual fund.

I see no sense in paying others to manage my monies, but I do understand some folks finding it easier to get help and need more "Hand Holding".

I feel that the best person looking out for my best interest is ME. I'm single, and have advised my children to use "Inherited IRA" rules.

Just in case.

[Dtail]

Quote:

Originally Posted by studman I manage 1/3 of nest egg, edJones has 1/3, and MorganStanley has 1/3. They all have complete knowledge of the others. The MS is an elite wealth management group for large company executives--the best of the best. eJones and MS both are doing well for us. Paid eJones $250 this year as we do not move things around much. MS charges .75% we don't like to pay that much, but know we are very well diversified and not at that horrible 1.5% mark they were originally talking about. No way would we pay that! The MS guy actually called one day lately to say that he and his team are really, really impressed with how I manage my 1/3, it has out-performed both edJones and MS. This portfolio contains about 40-50 stocks, but MS manager said there isn't one of them that he would recommend dumping. All good dividend payers also. At our age in upper 60s, we are still hands on investing. In 8 or 10 years we may divide among the two managers or put it all in one. The more they manage, the lower the percentage rate is. The bottom line is to know when you aren't doing a good job at it and have a plan for that time in the future.

So you are outperforming both of the paid FA services. What does that tell you, at least for now?

[GoBears]

I saw the light and went to DIY once I realized the 1% fee for our 401k plan’s UBS advisor accounted for more than 1/2 of my annual contributions. I am a Boglehead and utilize index funds or ETFs at Schwab (401k self directed option) and Fidelity (taxable and 2 IRAs). When I am no longer able to do so or if my wife outlives me, we will move everything into a target date index fund or a Vanguard Life Strategy Fund (0.13% ER).

[Tracer]

Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Service manages just under a half million. The average annual total return over the last 10 years was about 7.5% per year. I have about another half mil in other investments and cash equivalents that I manage myself.

[jimbee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 68bucks I use a FA mainly because I have absolutely zero interest in following the market, researching funds, stocks, etc. It's just something I'd really, really rather not do. I get way too wrapped up it it. I retired a year ago and have considered taking a second look. I do my own taxes though.

Virtually none of that is necessary for successful investing.

https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf

[Mansderm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover 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%

I have Vanguard manage retirement accounts and I manage non retirement accounts which ends up about 50 -50. I did this because I'm a single woman and wanted a "backup" in case someone got the best of me and tried to con me out of my money. I expressed this to the advisor and he's been good...not only managing but asking all the right questions when I want to make changes. He also has the name of my sons if I start sounding totally irrational. With scammers out in full force and my slight paranoia about Alzheimer's, this has given me a little comfort. I also compare his performance to mine and I've done pretty well! I've been fully retired for 2 years and have kept up despite spending out of the funds I manage and not touching the retirement funds.

[indiajust]

I've been paying for Motley Fool Stock Advisor on and off for almost 20 years. Otherwise just me. Help manage various ex's money and retirement also.

[Old Microbiologist]

We manage our finances entirely by ourselves and use no index funds whatsoever. We buy and sell everything through our various TD Ameritrade accounts (brokerages and various accumulated and rolled over IRA's including Roths). Our cash is in a non-profit Credit Union (we hate banks) or in our safe. We track all mandatory requirements (Not easy living overseas) and file our own taxes. We are the kind of people that if someone else can do it for a fee then we can do it better and for free. I watch my brother who has nearly identical assets as we do and he pays a financial management guy 4% who watching over the years underperforms us by at least double what we do ourselves. I think because of the time delays for decisions.

[dirtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elizrogers When I first wanted to start putting savings into stocks, rather than just the bank, I didn't know how/where (and still don't) to purchase stocks/bonds. I was told I needed to go through a financial professional associated with a bank or financial institution as a conduit to get it done. So, I have always had a financial advisor, but he has never "advised" me to really do anything. When I first brought him money, we talked about my goals and he gave me his opinion on what distributions to make. But he has never called to suggest rebalancing, or advise that buying or selling one stock or the other would be beneficial. He really just administers my account and sends me distributions when I request them. So not so much an advisor, as an administrator. He recently joined Raymond James and my accounts moved from Wells Fargo to Raymond James. I get an invoice every year for like $75 administration fee, but I don't know how much more he gets in % of my account. He says just a pittance. I will probably not be adding any new money, now that I'm not working anymore, so it will just sit and draw/lose interest. How would I go about taking it back and administering it myself? And would that not require selling all and reinvesting the cash elsewhere. If so, that sounds like it could incur big losses, since I know nothing about when is a good or bad time to sell and I've always heard accumulation over the long haul is how to grow investments, so never to cash out. Obviously, I am clueless about how investing works.

You need to find out exactly how much that "pittance" is. For all you know, that "pittance" is paying for your FA's beach house.

If you want to manage your money yourself, transfer it to whatever brokerage your choose. As long as you're transferring to a similar account type, it should not incur any additional taxes, and you won't have to sell all and buy back. Obviously do your homework to make sure that this is in fact the case with your particular scenario.

[dirtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Microbiologist We manage our finances entirely by ourselves and use no index funds whatsoever. We buy and sell everything through our various TD Ameritrade accounts (brokerages and various accumulated and rolled over IRA's including Roths). Our cash is in a non-profit Credit Union (we hate banks) or in our safe. We track all mandatory requirements (Not easy living overseas) and file our own taxes. We are the kind of people that if someone else can do it for a fee then we can do it better and for free. I watch my brother who has nearly identical assets as we do and he pays a financial management guy 4% who watching over the years underperforms us by at least double what we do ourselves. I think because of the time delays for decisions.

Your brother pays 4% for asset management??!!! Oh my God, I'd be sick. How will he ever retire? He's basically going to pay his entire safe WR to his FA.

[GTFan]

The more interesting question here is who doesn't, and why. And yeah should be a poll.

[Freedom56]

100% DYI financial management. I don't even buy equity or bond funds. In my experience the vast majority of fund mangers, financial planners and wealth managers are total losers who can't hold onto a job for more that 12-14 month. The job history of many of these wealth managers that I have met at TD Amertrade, Schwab, and Fidelity make me laugh. Many wouldn't even think twice about stealing from your account, sell products that enrich themselves at your expense, or churn your holdings for fees. As you get older, you become more and more vulnerable to these predators. They also know that regulators like FINRA are very slow to act so they take advantage of people.