More strange dreams plagued me although I can’t seem to really recall any of them. I should have left my house 10 minutes ago. HA! I am embracing my lateness. I didn’t roll out of bed until 6 and I took a shower and I ate breakfast. And I am blogging. I will catch a later train, it’s that easy. Silly thing is I had intended to leave early so I could get some things I missed yesterday accomplished prior to my regular morning activities. Nope.
Yesterday I visited a Financial Advisor who is going to help me get some of my finances in order. My question is this: If this guy is a great financial adviser– shouldn’t he have been wearing really expensive clothes and sporting a Rolex? Shouldn’t there have been a really fancy car in the parking lot? I didn’t see anything that looked impressive. His advice seemed good, of course it also sounded a lot like the parent’s voices in the Peanut’s cartoon specials. Wha Wha Wha Wha Wha.
I gotta take a class.
Here’s something interesting for personal finance: http://www.marketwatch.com/ This is from the Wall Street Journal
This guy likes to talk about beginner portfolios based on low cost index mutual funds, check it out:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/lazy-portfolios-sparkle-07-new/story.aspx?guid=%7B73F4BC3A%2DD0EF%2D4BFA%2D9698%2D01D8DA27C91A%7D
Also check out John Bogle, the small investor’s friend. He also represents a mutual fund which popularized low cost index mutual funds but he’s really good. Save your money.
Thank you for the recommendations!
Hey Donna-
As you may know, I am a semi-professional investor, and manage a significant portfolio, including the assets of my parents, my first ex-wife, ex-father-in-law, et. al.
Be very, very, very cautious of “financial planners”. Is the guy you’re working with a CFP? If so, that’s equivalent to one semester of college. That’s the minimum qualification you should accept.
Are you paying for his advice by the hour? That’s the only way to fly. Advisers compensated based on a % of what you buy (from them) should be avoided at all costs.
If you need an adviser to reconcile how you should invest (401k, IRA, taxable, existing money, new contributions), that’s fine, but, for those investments you can direct (all but your 401(k)), they should be with Vanguard, period.
I might be okay with certain Fidelity funds, but, in general, Vanguard is the place to invest.
If you want the real deal book on how to do this yourself, please buy this book: http://www.amazon.com/Four-Pillars-Investing-Building-Portfolio/dp/0071385290/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199946236&sr=8-1
I’ve read over 200 books on money, investing, et. al. This is the book to read.
I do wish you well.
THANK YOU! I am extremely worried about heeding any advice from Financial Planners ever since I was out of work and these companies descended upon me like a pack of hungry wolves telling me I should be one of their Financial Advisers. Me!?! I know nothing about finances and I hate math– Doesn’t matter, they told me, they would have me up and running in days. This has really colored my opinion of that industry. Plus, why do these people who are telling me how to get rich — ARE NEVER RICH themselves? That doesn’t seem right.
So a question for you and please do excuse me if it is mind numbingly stupid but is Vangard like Charles Schwab except more helpful? Do I just call them and say I need help? What is my starting point here?
And I am gonna get that book.
Hi Donna. Simply buy an index fund with LOW fees, less than .5%. It is widely known that OVER TIME money managers won’t be able to beat the returns available by simply holding a proportionate representative fund of all the companies in one of the broad indexes; the S&P (Standard & Poors), for example. Paying someone to manage a fund is expensive, OVER TIME. Indexes require very little attention from managers. etc. Those savings will accumulate OVER TIME to a significant extent. There is a tried and true method of buying stocks called “dollar cost averaging.” Just buy the fund OVER TIME so you are buying when the stock market is cheapest (when it’s down) or not (when it’s up.) No muss, no fuss. Low cost, low risk. Or if it interests you, read a bunch of books and watch the markets a lot. Consider this guy: .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bogle The financial world is full of sharks!