Mikedb
Dryer sheet wannabe
I posted here a while back. I've opened an account with Fidelity and put the minimum 50K in their Portfolio Advisory Service. I know it's considered a poor choice, but I'm such a novice and I figure it's better than doing nothing while I'm trying to learn more. Besides I'm just curious to see how they do with it.
Now here is a quote from a reply by Samclem to another thread :
"Here's the problem everyone has: To recognize a good FP you need to have a foundation of your own knowledge (what is asset allocation, does active management really work and is it worth the cost, how efficient are different asset classes from a tax POV, how are ETFs different from mutual funds different from individual stocks, how does the risk of a bond fund differ from the risk of an individual bond, what asset classes do you want to hold (and in what proportions), etc). If you've got this foundation of knowledge, you'd be able to tell if an FP was doing the right thing for you. If you do not have this foundation of knowledge, there's really no way to tell if the FP is competently handling your portfolio. And, once you've got this level of knowledge, it's really not hard to just do the job yourself and save the fee."
Well that just about nails it exactly. So my question: Is there a good recommended source to gain this "foundation of knowledge" as explained above? A kind of "for dummies" type book or websight that would just explain all the terms and various dynamics of the stuff Samclem describes.
Just want to add also that I recently saw 2 interviews with David Swenson on the PBS Consuelo Mack show and was very impressed by him. I read "Enough" by John Bogle on his recommendation and am now thinking maybe I should move over to Vanguard.
Now here is a quote from a reply by Samclem to another thread :
"Here's the problem everyone has: To recognize a good FP you need to have a foundation of your own knowledge (what is asset allocation, does active management really work and is it worth the cost, how efficient are different asset classes from a tax POV, how are ETFs different from mutual funds different from individual stocks, how does the risk of a bond fund differ from the risk of an individual bond, what asset classes do you want to hold (and in what proportions), etc). If you've got this foundation of knowledge, you'd be able to tell if an FP was doing the right thing for you. If you do not have this foundation of knowledge, there's really no way to tell if the FP is competently handling your portfolio. And, once you've got this level of knowledge, it's really not hard to just do the job yourself and save the fee."
Well that just about nails it exactly. So my question: Is there a good recommended source to gain this "foundation of knowledge" as explained above? A kind of "for dummies" type book or websight that would just explain all the terms and various dynamics of the stuff Samclem describes.
Just want to add also that I recently saw 2 interviews with David Swenson on the PBS Consuelo Mack show and was very impressed by him. I read "Enough" by John Bogle on his recommendation and am now thinking maybe I should move over to Vanguard.
