DIY.... but I am a retired CPA and worked in the finance industry... but it's not rocket science and I think that anyone with a good head on their shoulders can easily DIY.
Ditto...
DIY.... but I am a retired CPA and worked in the finance industry... but it's not rocket science and I think that anyone with a good head on their shoulders can easily DIY.
My Paternal grandparents AND my Maternal grandparents were devastated when their banks locked their doors, froze all accounts and foreclosed on all mortgages.
They made it through the Depression by owning rental houses, with no mortgages on them.
My grandparents would climb out of their graves if I ever used an FA.
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).
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.
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.
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%
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.
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.