I used ChatGPT

Anonymous wrote:I am hung up on the idea of checking your investment balance weekly -- why? That sounds like a make-work for the planner.

It's completely absurd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A close family member of mine is a financial planner. I have no idea why anyone would ever use a financial planner. It boggles the mind. I don't care how rich you are. All this information is free. And you can practically run a financial firm using just free tools through your standard big firm online.

A close family member of mine is an accountant. I have no idea why anyone would ever use an accountant. It boggles the mind. I don't care how rich you are. All this information is free. And you can practically run an accounting firm using just free tools through your standard big firm online.

Another financial planner heard from. I'm sorry AI is going to end your career choice entirely. You'd better get ready.

Anonymous wrote:It’s so easy to do on your own. Why have a planner - just keep it extremely simple.

Keep 1 year expenses in high yield savings
Max 2 401ks. 85/10/5 S&P/Int/Bonds
Max 2 back door Roth’s - 100% S&P
Max Family HSA - 100% S&P
Allocate desired amount to 529s: 100% S&P
Rest in VTSAX taxable at Vanguard.

Maybe try some loss harvesting but probably not the absolute most necessary thing. Get a decent accountant.

So you're almost all in S&P 500 or large cap US market.

S&P 500 has returned 8.63% YTD. VTSAX has returned 7.49% YTD.

Our portfolio has returned 10.36% YTD, and that's using an advisor. We're diversified so it's not only US, but also international markets (large cap, small cap, emerging) and also a bit in focused sectors like reinsurance, real estate, etc but never more than 2%. Then there's some bonds in there too, a mix of corporate, TIPS, and international bonds. Then tax loss harvesting is at about $10k so far this year.

But here's where it gets interesting. We also keep a chunk with a robo-advisor. That one we have configured high-risk (including up to 10% crypto). That's up 13.73% (including $37k in tax loss harvesting). That's 50% US stocks, 18% foreign devleoped markets, 15% emerging markets, 10% crypto, 3% US bonds, 3% foreign bonds.

I'm not saying an advisor is the best option -- it really depends on your circumstances -- but the "We'll just do it ourself and put it into a US index fund" is not necessarily the best strategy. You're missing out on returns by not sufficienctly diversifying.

It’s so easy to do on your own. Why have a planner - just keep it extremely simple.

Keep 1 year expenses in high yield savings
Max 2 401ks. 85/10/5 S&P/Int/Bonds
Max 2 back door Roth’s - 100% S&P
Max Family HSA - 100% S&P
Allocate desired amount to 529s: 100% S&P
Rest in VTSAX taxable at Vanguard.

Maybe try some loss harvesting but probably not the absolute most necessary thing. Get a decent accountant.

Anonymous wrote:Schwab offers the same retirement planning software to its customers for free that professional advisors charge you $5K for.

Which software is this? How to access on Schwab site?

Anonymous wrote:A close family member of mine is a financial planner. I have no idea why anyone would ever use a financial planner. It boggles the mind. I don't care how rich you are. All this information is free. And you can practically run a financial firm using just free tools through your standard big firm online.

You have no idea why someone would use a planner?

All the information to do practically anything is now available for free on the internet, and yet, many people outsource many things to professionals in order to lighten their own loads, simplify their lives and ensure they get the best result. Not everyone is comfortable managing money, nor does everyone have the time to dedicate to it. Not only does an advisor manage your portfolio, s/he helps manage your emotions. All you have to do is check the posts here from earlier this year as everyone melted down about markets, tariffs and Trump. Emotional investment decisions made then have cost them big time, as markets recovered and continue to march upward despite the financial media sounding alarms.

Yes, managing your money on your own is a valid option, but so is hiring a professional.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use one, I paid about $2500 the first year and then pay about $500-$1000 per year to check up. He's great about answering quick questions over email in between. I don't have him manage money, just evaluate the funds and allocations in my investment accounts.

Whoever you use, you want a fee-only fiduciary. The fiduciary part is key!

we had this but our guy retired about 5 years ago. we've had zero luck finding a similar set up. and dcum never divulges any fee only advisor recommendations

any recommendations?

Schwab offers the same retirement planning software to its customers for free that professional advisors charge you $5K for.

1% a year paid in management fees basically doubles the amount of time it will take your investments to double. So if your money would have doubled in 10 years, instead it won't double for 20 years.

I am hung up on the idea of checking your investment balance weekly -- why? That sounds like a make-work for the planner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How hard is it to manage a few million dollars on your own? Get a good accountant for tax purposes. Get an app to run retirement scenarios.

Any you suggest?

DP. For a quick and dirty calculator you can try Schwab’s free calculator.

For an easy to use but still sophisticated calculator that shows its calculations you can use cfiresim.

But my favorite might be the TPAW planner

We use Schwab and have a planner through our plan - I think it ultimately costs us around $1000 a year.

Anonymous wrote:I use one, I paid about $2500 the first year and then pay about $500-$1000 per year to check up. He's great about answering quick questions over email in between. I don't have him manage money, just evaluate the funds and allocations in my investment accounts.

Whoever you use, you want a fee-only fiduciary. The fiduciary part is key!

we had this but our guy retired about 5 years ago. we've had zero luck finding a similar set up. and dcum never divulges any fee only advisor recommendations

Anonymous wrote:A close family member of mine is a financial planner. I have no idea why anyone would ever use a financial planner. It boggles the mind. I don't care how rich you are. All this information is free. And you can practically run a financial firm using just free tools through your standard big firm online.

A close family member of mine is an accountant. I have no idea why anyone would ever use an accountant. It boggles the mind. I don't care how rich you are. All this information is free. And you can practically run an accounting firm using just free tools through your standard big firm online.