Need a Financial Advisor
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Anonymous
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My husband just found out he is being let go. It isn't a huge surprise but he will be 60 in March and we would like to talk to someone about our investments and some of the tax implications of a few things. We tried a financial advisor about 10 years ago but they didn't provide what we are looking for. I want advice on how much to withhold now that I'm going to be the primary breadwinner, how much we should or shouldn't cut back from our son's 529, should I just not do the catch up provisions for the TSP now that the law has changed, stuff like that.
We also want advice on when we both can/should retire. My husband will recieve his salary until April and some other payouts. We are looking to talk to someone about the best course of action for him. We adopted our son late in life so he is still in elementary school. My husband will look for another position and he will probably be able to find something but it will be at a much lower salary. I'm an employed fed whose position is as secure as it can be, given this administration. I carry our health insurance. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Does anyone have any recommendations? |
Anonymous
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I don't have a rec, but you might need an accountant too to help with the tax implications.
How much do you have in the 529? If he's in elementary school be sure to have it invested in 100% stock right now to see it grow. If your state doesn't have good options, you can open a Vanguard account, transfer $$ after any state tax deduction, and do VOO. You could calculate this or use 7% as a safe annual return. https://www.etfreplay.com/etf/voo |
Anonymous
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An accountant can help with withholding etc. if you already have one for taxes, start there. You can make estimated tax payments if DH's payments next year aren't being withheld.
What any advisor will ask for is what your spending is. If you know that and have a budget, groovy. We never did so I didn't get an advisor, lol. I did add up all our bank account(s) outflows over 2 years to see what we spend so as to plan for retirement withdrawals. |
dragant
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Member Offline
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I highly recommend
https://www.bogleheads.org/. You can put your portfolio there (check wiki for formatting) and get answers to many of your questions. Highly recommend using that site versus paying financial advisors. |
Anonymous
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Bogleheads can be very helpful— certainly better than many financial planners.
If you want you could look into Planvision— they are very reasonable, like $400. However to make that work you have to do a bit of upfront work to get your data in their system and they are more about the big picture than about optimizing every last dollar. However my guess is that is what you need so I would look on their website and see if it seems helpful. They actually also have a podcast series on spotify which is just the main guy behind it talking for 3-5 minutes about different topics, which might be another way to test if they seem right for you. Another option, if you want more handholding, might be Mason and Associates. They are a local financial planning group that specializes in helping feds (they also have a podcast if you want to check that out). Going to be more expensive but not sure exactly how much. For withholding you could try the online withholding calculator— https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-withholding-estimator |
Anonymous
| We just started using this group. They take a very holistic view. I really like them. https://www.divergentplanning.com/ |
Anonymous
It’s so expensive! |
Anonymous
+1 You could DIY it yourself, screw everything up, and still come out ahead. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thank you for your helpful suggestions p. I will be looking into several of them.. |
Anonymous
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OP, you don't need one. Finances is something you learn and then pass the knowledge down to your kids. It's like you are looking for a cook instead of learning to cook and teaching your kids how to cook.
No advisor knows your personal situation better than you. I have had to undo their recommendation twice. Don't over fund 529 and retirement accounts (unless Roth IRA). Those are restricted accounts with many fees and rules.There's nothing wrong with a regular investment account where you invest in VOO, VTI, QQQ, or any good etf of your choice with forever holding period. Because of your ages, you need to know more about taxes and retirement.The Power of Zero by DM is a very good book to read. The Simple Path to Wealth is also a good book if you are starting out now. The book is not for me, but it is for most people. If I had allowed someone else to be in charge of my finances, I'd still be working. I'm 48. I learned more from mistakes than from successes. My kids will not make the same mistakes I made. It is going to save them lot of money over time. Don't let someone else do it for you. Do it with DH as he should have a lot of time to read soon. |