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Do you guys use them? I've heard both and and bad. I'm at the point where I'm considering one for my retirement funds. I know this can all be manged by yourself (the way I'm currently doing it) but I'm sure they have way more knowledge about this than I do. At the same time I hate to pay someone to manage my money.
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Absolute must-have IMO. There are many details that, unless you are in the field, you won't know. Just managing a 401K is something that hte average person can do, but there are many things ranging from setting up a trust that will ensure an orderly transfer of your assets to your heirs, to using all available instruments to ensure a certain goal, like X dollars per year from retirement through the rest of your life, etc., that could use professional help.
Ask around, see if you can find a good guy. I've had one for the last 10-12 years and I am reasonably comfortable that I am set up to have a comfortable retired life and that most of my assets will pass on to my kids with minimum gouging by the govt. -
And oh yeah, absolutely put in the max you can into your SERP. That's the biggest no brainer there is.Comment
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It's finding someone I trust. My dad's advice was to find someone the same age or younger. I need to keep looking I guess. Thanks for the input Scrum.Comment
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No problem. Yeah, find a good guy, that's the most important thing and probably the hardest thing to do. Set some boundary conditions, like what level of risk you want to take. We set it to be moderately conservative, i.e. some risk because I am still relatively young, but not very much. Also, make sure you specify what they can do without telling you, like buying/selling options, etc. It won't happen with an honest guy, but you certainly don't want to have them gambling with your money.Originally posted by Chadd77 View Post
And of course, you absolutely want to be on top of things. Have a meeting with them once a quarter at least and go over everything. Where every $ is, what your investments are doing, etc.
And when you start, ask him/her how they are going to help you. You are already doing a SERP. What we did was to ask them, look, we know about 401K, stocks, etc. What else can we do, and most importantly, what can we do to reduce our tax liability? My guy introduced us to different ways to save for college, etc. while availing of every tax avoidance instrument available. You want your money to grow tax free if at all possible.
Single biggest thing you can do as I mentioned earlier is to put 8%, 10%, 15%, whatever you can afford, into SERP. I try to put every spare penny I can into SERP. That comes right off the top and reduces your tax liability. And make sure you carefully review how the SERP money is being invested by your company. If you have the ability to do so, you can pick the funds the money goes into and the adviser can help with that as well.Comment
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:agreed:Originally posted by Scrumhalf View Post
15 is aggressive IMO. One can do well with 10 or 12%.
Obviously being able to still support yourself, don't wanna put yourself in a bind.Comment
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Yeah, of course, you don't want to end up not affording a comfortable life, but I think it depends on the person. If you are single, no reason why you can't put away 15%. Compound interest is a powerful thing. You put away money for 20-30 years and it's crazy how much you end up with.Originally posted by rado View PostComment
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Absolutely recommend one. Scrum pretty much nailed it on the head. Take your time and find the right guy. Anyone can pretty much acquire the Series 7 certification and label themselves as a FA.
Experience is what you're looking for followed by the amount of cliental they have held on since they have started.Comment
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Its kind of known fact having a FA is a rip off. They get paid on all your transactions. THe advising they give you could do yourself. Most people seem to be clueless so they need the help. FA's dont have some magical formula to make you money. If you can get away with using one for a minimal fee go ahead otherwise HELL NO.Comment
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