Anonymous wrote:Not to me.

It strikes me as another rip off of the rich and gullible (or lazy, who farm out most non-fun aspects of their lives).

My friends swear by them, but I am more frugal (and have super simple finances).

They are not worth it if you stay on top of everything. $15 million is a lot. Not your 200k - 400k index fund portfolio.

But if you stay on top --- great.

99.9% of people will not stay on top of anything -- ever. Most people who say they would -- do not. Why? Forget, not interested, lazy, work like 80 hrs a week (looking at you biglaw). In those cases it is mandatory.

You know you.

If you have 15 million ---- is it tax efficient? Is it really diverse? Do you take you required inherited IRA distributions when you are supposed to. Are you saving enough? What about college?

Can you do all this -- yes. Will you?

They probably won't out perform the indexes, but they might be able to lower you risk with the right mix of funds.

We have one. I have an MBA and could do a lot of this, but I don't have time. I also don't mow our lawn, wash our car, or pull weeds. I know how to do all those tasks also.

If you're in it just for returns, you can do it on your own. Just figure out your risk profile.

If you want financial planning advice, that is when it gets helpful. We have a lot going on -- estate planning, planning for college, private school, trusts, and some complicated tax stuff. That's worth it to us.

Yes, I could have hired a CPA and lawyer for each task, and spent a few hours every month rebalancing our portfolio, doing tax loss harveting, and doing the paperwork for donation of appreciated stock to charities we give to. But if that fell on me, it would never get done and I know it.

Honestly back in the day there were better people in the business who had a passion for investing and finance. Now they are under so much pressure to gain more and more clients it's become a straight sales job.

If I had 15m I would still have what v I have now whi h is a portfolio of four low cost index funds.

I use one, he’s a college friend. I’m probably paying him too much. Mostly invested in a cocktail of index funds. It does make sense to have a strategic mix of index funds, not just pour everything into a sp500 index.

For me, I just do it so I don’t have to worry about it. He’ll be a bit more aggressive than I would be and will also make moves to harvest losses, when appropriate, that will offset cap gains on my company stock awards.

His fee is around 0.9-1% which admittedly is the cost of a part time employee.

I may part ways with him - but it was necessary for me to get some space from my portfolio and not think about it.

Have them manage $500k and just copy every move they make with the rest of you monkey on your own…

I don’t use one. It’s good for people who are too intimidated or just don’t want to deal with financial management.

No shame in using one if you feel more comfortable.

That being said, I always think of it this way. If a market return is 8%, the portfolio advisor just needs you and seven others to make as much off your money and the seven others as you do. That math always bothered me.

If the advisor was so smart they wouldn't give away their financial secrets.
Either sit in the general unmanaged mutual fund market, or become a real working capitalist and search where to spend your money to create value (start a business, fund a founder, buy real estates, etc).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP (and not a financial advisor). It depends on your financial situation. If it is simple - a tax advantaged retirement program and a taxable program, no RE, not a business owner, not a lot of money to donate/charity, not a big pot that you plan to give to your kids, etc, you don't need it no matter how much money you have. KISS.

If you have one or more of the above though, it might make sense, especially to use tax-advantaged strategies thta the masses don't know about and to find a few alt investments that can balance out a portfolio. But don't expect them to find the golden goose or to beat the market. They won't.

You can use an accountant and/or a fee-based planner for that. Why not spend $5-10K on advice ONE time and go from there.

Here's an analysis showing that Trump would have $400M more in assets if he had just stayed in the market. People think too short-term, which this points out. Short term he was doing better, long term >> nope.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2021/10/11/its-official-trump-would-be-richer-if-he-had-just-invested-his-inheritance-into-the-sp500/?sh=5c2a3be1c486

PP. My point wasn't to use an adviser to pick investments. There is not a human being on the planet who can do that in a cost-effective manner. My point was that for those with substantial wealth, or anyone who doesn't receive a W-2, an advisor can be helpful.

Yeah, a fee based advisor. We don’t have a W-2 and our accountant is fine. You should never pay 1% for financial advice unless you’re into losing $$$.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It absolutely makes sense for us. Several benefits, including estate planning.

How much are you paying per year?

Estate planning will likely cost 5k, NO MAS!

Okay we’ll just use LegalZoom and you’re fine. You don’t have to use an advisor just because someone else finds it useful.

Anonymous wrote:It absolutely makes sense for us. Several benefits, including estate planning.

How much are you paying per year?

Estate planning will likely cost 5k, NO MAS!

It absolutely makes sense for us. Several benefits, including estate planning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP (and not a financial advisor). It depends on your financial situation. If it is simple - a tax advantaged retirement program and a taxable program, no RE, not a business owner, not a lot of money to donate/charity, not a big pot that you plan to give to your kids, etc, you don't need it no matter how much money you have. KISS.

If you have one or more of the above though, it might make sense, especially to use tax-advantaged strategies thta the masses don't know about and to find a few alt investments that can balance out a portfolio. But don't expect them to find the golden goose or to beat the market. They won't.

You can use an accountant and/or a fee-based planner for that. Why not spend $5-10K on advice ONE time and go from there.

Here's an analysis showing that Trump would have $400M more in assets if he had just stayed in the market. People think too short-term, which this points out. Short term he was doing better, long term >> nope.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2021/10/11/its-official-trump-would-be-richer-if-he-had-just-invested-his-inheritance-into-the-sp500/?sh=5c2a3be1c486

PP. My point wasn't to use an adviser to pick investments. There is not a human being on the planet who can do that in a cost-effective manner. My point was that for those with substantial wealth, or anyone who doesn't receive a W-2, an advisor can be helpful.

Ofcourse not. The fee is enough money to be turned into few million again over time.