If you have a net worth of 1.4 million at 44

[Anonymous]

OP, I think a financial advisor is helpful. I’m in your situation and we pay a flat fee of $800/year for ours. He doesn’t do much at this point but has helped us set up a few different things, given good advice, and shown us projections/estimates so we can see how things would look in the future. Could we have DIY’d this? Yes, but we didn’t want to, and having an outside advisor gives more piece of mind that we are on track.


That being said, don’t take financial advice from internet strangers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $300K/year now. Right now we have $1.2m saved not counting our house (or the kids' 529s) and my husband hopes to have $2m when we retire. He says that would give us $100,000 a year in interest to live on, plus his pension. I don't know what a good target amount really is - but our house will be paid off in 3 years (I'm 42). Our house is worth appx. $900K rn.

Anyway - I am not using a financial advisor [yet]. I am not opposed to it but I am trying to read what I can for free first. I recently read I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi.

Why would you even mention your kids 529? That is a gift you gave them. To even mention it when discussing your NW is crazy.

You’re nuts. If she hadn’t mentioned them, you probably would have asked how she can be so irresponsible as to not save for her kids’ college.

She said "Not counting", as if there is a scenario where it's OK to count the 529 towards your NW

The scenario is it's still your money and you don't have to spend it on college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $300K/year now. Right now we have $1.2m saved not counting our house (or the kids' 529s) and my husband hopes to have $2m when we retire. He says that would give us $100,000 a year in interest to live on, plus his pension. I don't know what a good target amount really is - but our house will be paid off in 3 years (I'm 42). Our house is worth appx. $900K rn.

Anyway - I am not using a financial advisor [yet]. I am not opposed to it but I am trying to read what I can for free first. I recently read I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi.

Why would you even mention your kids 529? That is a gift you gave them. To even mention it when discussing your NW is crazy.

You’re nuts. If she hadn’t mentioned them, you probably would have asked how she can be so irresponsible as to not save for her kids’ college.

She said "Not counting", as if there is a scenario where it's OK to count the 529 towards your NW

Yes, it's deeply unethical to count money earmarked for certain purposes towards an arbitrary net worth calculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $300K/year now. Right now we have $1.2m saved not counting our house (or the kids' 529s) and my husband hopes to have $2m when we retire. He says that would give us $100,000 a year in interest to live on, plus his pension. I don't know what a good target amount really is - but our house will be paid off in 3 years (I'm 42). Our house is worth appx. $900K rn.

Anyway - I am not using a financial advisor [yet]. I am not opposed to it but I am trying to read what I can for free first. I recently read I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi.

Why would you even mention your kids 529? That is a gift you gave them. To even mention it when discussing your NW is crazy.

You’re nuts. If she hadn’t mentioned them, you probably would have asked how she can be so irresponsible as to not save for her kids’ college.

She said "Not counting", as if there is a scenario where it's OK to count the 529 towards your NW

Our financial advisor considers our 529s as part of our net worth. The net worth number is kind of meaningless though.

[Anonymous]

We ended up not using 529 savings when our son received a scholarship. And yes, I certainly do consider that money in my net worth

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on how financially-savvy you are. Neither DH nor I are at all nor do we want to be to its worth it for us. Our financial advisor is also a friend so I trust him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $300K/year now. Right now we have $1.2m saved not counting our house (or the kids' 529s) and my husband hopes to have $2m when we retire. He says that would give us $100,000 a year in interest to live on, plus his pension. I don't know what a good target amount really is - but our house will be paid off in 3 years (I'm 42). Our house is worth appx. $900K rn.

Anyway - I am not using a financial advisor [yet]. I am not opposed to it but I am trying to read what I can for free first. I recently read I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi.

Why would you even mention your kids 529? That is a gift you gave them. To even mention it when discussing your NW is crazy.

Bc when people say “we have x saved” people ask if some percentage of that will be used for college and thus not available for retirement. Have $1M in investments and outside savings for college is different than having $1M in savings, half of which will likely go to tuition payments for some number of children.

[Anonymous]

Why would I pay someone who is not nearly as financially literate as myself for financial advices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Yes, it's deeply unethical to count money earmarked for certain purposes towards an arbitrary net worth calculation.

All your money and net worth is earmarked for certain purposes. Retirement, vacation, home, car, college, philanthropy, hobbies, inheritance, taxes, etc. so adding it ALL up isnt't "deeply unethical", ridiculous to say it is.

[Anonymous]

You have enough money to make the basic tax free investments and maybe put a bit in an index fund. But go pay some schmuck who is paid next to nothing to sell you on the products that give him the best commission if you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Yes, it's deeply unethical to count money earmarked for certain purposes towards an arbitrary net worth calculation.

All your money and net worth is earmarked for certain purposes. Retirement, vacation, home, car, college, philanthropy, hobbies, inheritance, taxes, etc. so adding it ALL up isnt't "deeply unethical", ridiculous to say it is.

You think that might be sarcasm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lol no you don't need a manager.

LOL OK LOL!!

What’s so funny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Yes, it's deeply unethical to count money earmarked for certain purposes towards an arbitrary net worth calculation.

All your money and net worth is earmarked for certain purposes. Retirement, vacation, home, car, college, philanthropy, hobbies, inheritance, taxes, etc. so adding it ALL up isnt't "deeply unethical", ridiculous to say it is.

I think the pp was being sarcastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A (good, fiduciary) financial advisor is like a coach. They will help you figure out your financial goals, keep you on track, and prevent you from making huge mistakes.

They won’t make you more money.

Good recommendations?

[Anonymous]

yeah. VTSAX and chill.