Wife and I are a little late to the game. Honestly may be a small blessing getting in now vs a few years ago. Overall, just happy we had the conversation because it is overdue. We spoke with an advisor today at UBS. They said to be bullish right now in equities vs playing safer game of cash and bonds. Reevaluate in a few years to be a little more risk adverse. I have heard Buffet's quote "blood in the streets..." so I know what they are getting at.

1)
• Guess my biggest question right now is, should we give them money now or wait a few months/new year "when the bottom falls out"? Does it really matter?

2)
• Part a. ) Next question that I didn't get around to asking... how liquid is the account if poo hits the fan and we need the cash (like job loss or major illness)? Is there a tax advantage of keeping the money in the account long term vs having to sell stocks and pull out.
• Part b. ) Do you put emergency fund to work if it is liquid vs keeping it in a savings account? Is brokerage the best place for it if so or is there another option like a money market account?

Appreciate the help.

You can always get at your money in a taxable brokerage account with these stipulations:
1. If the market is falling you'll have less there to access.
2. All sales are taxable, sell when the market is up you pay cap gain rates, and vice versa if it's down.
3. My emergency money has always been my cash account, usually fully invested. I've never let cash just sit. You should have the ability to set up a margin account allowing you to borrow against your account just by asking for it. I've never had to borrow but I've always had the option.

Make sure your advisor talks estate planning with you and doesn't try and overcharge. UBS usually starts at 1.5% and that's high. You can get lower with Vanguard or Fidelity but if you want someone to talk to on a continuous basis you need about $1mm. Look your potential FA up by Googling FINRA Broker Check.

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Guess my biggest question right now is, should we give them money now

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I wouldn't give them any money at all because that suggests you are getting into an actively managed account where you will pay admin fees on top of any advising fee. I would just start with advising and move your money yourself in your own accounts.

This way you can learn along the way and determine if you want to maintain ownership or you just want someone else to fully manage it.

But that's just my opinion.

Where is a good place to find fee based advisors and not go actively managed?

YouBet said:

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Guess my biggest question right now is, should we give them money now

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I wouldn't give them any money at all because that suggests you are getting into an actively managed account where you will pay admin fees on top of any advising fee. I would just start with advising and move your money yourself in your own accounts.

This way you can learn along the way and determine if you want to maintain ownership or you just want someone else to fully manage it.

But that's just my opinion.

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I tried this with Woke america a couple years ago. It did not go well. I much rather pay the fees and let the professionals do their job.

CuriousAg said:

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YouBet said:

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Quote:

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Guess my biggest question right now is, should we give them money now

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I wouldn't give them any money at all because that suggests you are getting into an actively managed account where you will pay admin fees on top of any advising fee. I would just start with advising and move your money yourself in your own accounts.

This way you can learn along the way and determine if you want to maintain ownership or you just want someone else to fully manage it.

But that's just my opinion.

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I tried this with Woke america a couple years ago. It did not go well. I much rather pay the fees and let the professionals do their job.

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I'm not sure I understand what you are saying.

I tried managing my money for a period of time in my own accounts and it did not go well. I rather hand over the reigns and pay the fees. We have 30 years of growth to hopefully look forward too and willing to pay the nominal fees associated with managing.

CuriousAg said:

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Wife and I are a little late to the game. Honestly may be a small blessing getting in now vs a few years ago. Overall, just happy we had the conversation because it is overdue. We spoke with an advisor today at UBS. They said to be bullish right now in equities vs playing safer game of cash and bonds. Reevaluate in a few years to be a little more risk adverse. I have heard Buffet's quote "blood in the streets..." so I know what they are getting at.

1)
• Guess my biggest question right now is, should we give them money now or wait a few months/new year "when the bottom falls out"? Does it really matter?

2)
• Part a. ) Next question that I didn't get around to asking... how liquid is the account if poo hits the fan and we need the cash (like job loss or major illness)? Is there a tax advantage of keeping the money in the account long term vs having to sell stocks and pull out.
• Part b. ) Do you put emergency fund to work if it is liquid vs keeping it in a savings account? Is brokerage the best place for it if so or is there another option like a money market account?

Appreciate the help.

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Don't do anything until you stop thinking this way. Everything you have said indicates you will make the same mistake most individual investors make. You will sell when the market drops, and buy when it is up. Even though the market is down now, you are still calling for the bottom to fall out. Stop thinking you can time the market based on emotions and media coverage.

Either that, or inform the advisor you have super low risk tolerance and to invest your money accordingly.

You are absolutely not better off because you didn't get in sooner... 2022 year to date returns wiped out part of 2021 returns... But still way up from the several years and decade before that. You have lost significant wealth accumulation opportunities by missing the last 15 years.

lockett93 said:

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Where is a good place to find fee based advisors and not go actively managed?

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Most firms, even smaller firms, have sub managers who do things for a fee. Mine is with Merrill, I have a 4 team single stock account, an 11-ETF account, and a straight single stock account with 6 stocks in it, including sizable amounts of long time holds Apple and Amazon. My aggregate fee is 0.4%. I've beaten the S&P the last 3 years.

First determine if you are working with an investment advisor representative (IAR) of a registered investment advisor or a registered representative of a broker/dealer or someone who is both. Their is a difference between someone who is an IAR and someone who is a B/D registered rep. In my opinion, you and your spouse need to work with an IAR. You can find out if they are an IAR if both them and their firm is found on adviserinfo.sec.gov.

Regardless of which type they are they are required to give you disclosures that explain their relationship with you and how they make money off of you. One form required by both types is the Form CRS or customer relationship summary). It is ether 2 or 4 pages long. Two pages if they are only one or the other and four pages if they are both. Start by reading this form and understanding what motivates them to give you direction. Will they make money by getting you to make more trades or do they make the same amount regardless of how many trades they make on your account or on what investments they put you in?

A fee only IAR makes money by you paying an annual fee either based on a set percentage of your invested assets they manage or a flat dollar amount. Most will be based on a percentage of assets. They make more money when you make more money. If they are not successful in increasing or maintaining your asset levels they will not make more money. So think about how that person is motivated.

A person who is solely a registered rep makes money by you making trades and them receiving a commission every time you buy or sale an investment. They are like a real estate broker who makes a commission when you sale your home or when they help you buy a home. They may recommend good investments for you but they make money by you making more trades.

But the greatest value of a good IAR is their ability to help you define your goals and understand how much risk you are willing to accept. Once you do that, they will choose for you or help you choose investments that match your risk appetite and give you a higher probability of meeting the goals you establish for your financial life

They will also help you understand how much you have to put into your investments to reach your goals depending on how much risk you can take. The lower your risk, the more you have to invest. Also the shorter your timeline is, the greater amount of risk you may have to take if your goals greatly exceed your resources.

So as others have said, it was time to invest yesterday and tomorrow will not be soon enough. The S&P closed Friday at the same level it was in April 9, 2021, which was then, the all time high for the market. By January 3, 2022 it had risen another 16% to reach its now all time high. A great return that you may have missed by not investing on April 9, 2021 because you would have thought the market was at its all time high and would surely fall.

And it did. After the Jan 3, 2022 all time high the market fell 24% by Jun 16th. So much for that 16% gain when your investments are now down 11% from when you invested back in April 2021. You might as well get out because it may go lower and you've already lost 11% in just 14 months. But if you do get out, you miss the opportunity to get all of your investment value back just a month and a half later.

If you can[t take that kind of volatility from year to year, then you might as well leave your money in CDs and savings accounts. But if you can invest for the long-term, up to seven years or more, history says you will grow your assets beyond their current value and receive dividends along the way. So if you had invested at the end of July 2015 your investment would have been 96% higher, nearly double, when the market closed on Friday. So think about your question about timing. How did sitting out the last seven years help you or how much did you miss out on?

Get a good, fee only advisor that is trustworthy. Give them all your information, be honest with yourself about your goals and your risk appetite. Expect the ups and downs. But stay consistent with your advisors strategy until life events, not market events, give you a need to change those strategies.

For what it is worth, I am not an advisor but I am a compliance officer with a finance degree and my CPA. I work for an advisor and a broker/dealer. I see the good a trustworthy advisor does for their clients that need an advisor and I've made the personal mistake of trying to time the market. It never works. Best wishes in your moving forward.

CuriousAg said:

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I tried managing my money for a period of time in my own accounts and it did not go well. I rather hand over the reigns and pay the fees. We have 30 years of growth to hopefully look forward too and willing to pay the nominal fees associated with managing.

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Why didnt it go well? You have access to the same funds/stocks that advisors do. You could it yourself and save lots of money in the process.

Gotta love compliance officers.. they actually think all those nuances make a difference whether you get good advice or not!

Following this advice could very well take your eye off the ball and give you a false sense of security, although if you get to a point of litigation in your relationship, it might matter. Let's hope that doesn't happen to you.

ea1060 said:

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CuriousAg said:

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I tried managing my money for a period of time in my own accounts and it did not go well. I rather hand over the reigns and pay the fees. We have 30 years of growth to hopefully look forward too and willing to pay the nominal fees associated with managing.

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Why didnt it go well? You have access to the same funds/stocks that advisors do. You could it yourself and save lots of money in the process.

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I'll try to make this a short story.. husband and wife with separate funds sit down. Husband is nervous about every headline, wants to go to cash, says it's second coming of 2008 right now. Begin discussing wife, who had healthy cash position... 10 seconds into that he says honey, with the market down like it is, probably a good time to invest!

Moral of the story.. emotions around your own money can drive paralysis or bad decisions. A good advisor helps overcome that (in good and difficult times).

Furthermore, there should be much more to an advisor relationship than the investment vehicles (absolutely, we all have access to the same toolbox in that sense). Not everyone can glean value from an advisor, but I'd argue OP is poster child for sometime who needs one badly.

I guess my question are more sophisticated these days, but the questions you need to be asking are less about the investments and more about how the relationship will work and how your portfolio will be evaluated, and what the process is for making decisions. These guys don't know anything about what the market will do. If they did, they would be traders. They're late to trends, etc. They are correct that time in generally beats timing (for most people). What you really need to get out of this is tax and asset protection strategies. If you're just getting slammed into mutual funds with high fees, you need to say "f you" and just put your own money in $SPY.

I would ask for references and existing clients that you can talk to.