VG financial advisor services value?

[jime444]

What’s your opinion of VG’s financial advisor services?. In my situation, just retired with a nice portfolio of balanced and index funds, I’m not sure I see the 30 basis point cost. In rough numbers, $10k per year. I’ve always done my own thing; mix of growth and index funds, low cost; does this make any sense to look at? Im. It sure they can help me that much. Thanks everyone in advance. Jim

 

[SecondCor521]

Most people here are DIY. Some have full-fledged advisors that they pay ~1% to. Some here use VG's PAS and pay the 30 basis point fee. Some have used it in the past and no longer do.

If a person wants advice, many people here I think are in favor of various combinations of DIY, asking here, or paying for advice by the hour from a fee-only advisor or tax professional.

Me personally, I have pretty much everything at Vanguard, in low cost, broad-based US index funds with a long-term buy-and-hold basis. I don't use PAS.

If I need advice, I come here. If the advice I get here isn't complete or if I think my situation is too complex, esoteric, or private to be discussed here, I buy time from my CPA at $250 an hour. And I try not to waste his time

 

[OldShooter]

There are investment advisors and there are financial advisors, with the scope of the latter including all aspects of the client's financial life. IMO you are not going to find a true financial advisor at a brokerage house. It's just not their thing. I second @SecondCor521's recommendation to buy financial advice by the hour or by the job. A toe in that water won't cost $10K. I have no firsthand experience but some here have reported good experiences with advisors via this referral service: https://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com/ I'd interview several and not shop based on price.

 

[mwilson]

As Flagship or above, get the free investment plan and see if you think it's worth it. It is nice as a sanity check but I decided it wasn't worth it to have the ongoing services. Most of the advice I want is not asset allocation but tax and other financial advice (when to take SS? asset protection, insurance, etc) that Vanguard won't give you. Plus the Vanguard FA won't advise you on assets if you don't follow their advice (e.g., overweighting particular asset classes).

 

[OldShooter]

... Most of the advice I want is not asset allocation but tax and other financial advice (when to take SS? asset protection, insurance, etc) that Vanguard won't give you. Plus the Vanguard FA won't advise you on assets if you don't follow their advice (e.g., overweighting particular asset classes).

This is exactly my point in an earlier post. The VG, Fido, or Schwab guys are not Financial Advisors, they are Investment Advisors with a much narrower scope than a true FA. My Schwab guy can pull in Schwab experts sometimes, but their business is not set up to give financial advice. That's not to fault them, but the IA/FA distinction is commonly missed by both the brokerages and the clients.