Howdy everyone, long time lurker but figured I'd join with hopes of getting a little advice. I'm not experienced or knowledgeable at all when it comes to finances, investing, etc, but work with a NM guy who does God knows what with my money.

I have some money in the markets, along with 401ks and kids college accounts, etc., but I also have some kind of Merrill Lynch cash account thing that accrues at 4% with about $472k in it. I've been dumping draws and bonuses in it for the last couple of years, really out of ignorance more than anything else.

Would yall dump that cash account into the market at this point? My mortgage is the only debt we have, but it's on a 2.15%/15 so I didn't think it was wise to pre-pay on that, but please let me know if this is stupid. Thank you all very much for any advice you're willing to share!

Short answer... Yes
Longer answer... Still Yes

I didn't see any mention of age or investment time horizon. But even if you were retiring tomorrow the just under $500k represents (most likely) at least several years of retirement "income." So there's little to no reason to not invest all or part even if you have a need for some in the next year.

A lot on here manage their own investments and will certainly be around with their recommendations. However it seems to me (and I mean absolutely no insult by my comments), that you're not the most investment savvy person. That's completely ok. You mentioned an investment guy, but admit you really don't know what he's doing with your money. That to me is less ok. You're paying him, you should know what he's doing and 1) is he earning his pay, 2) is he being responsible with your money, and 3) are you getting the appropriate returns. By what metric is he even measuring his own success?

Just under half a million in a cash account nothing to neglect though. You're obviously gifted at earning money and you've shown that you know how to save. Let that money work for you though.

This week has been hell in the markets. So what? Last August was hell too and had plenty of folks running scared. The markets rebounded double digits from those lows to year end. AWe all recall how bad February and March of 2020 were. Markets peaked down almost 30%, before they closed the year up 14% overall! A bad week here or even a full on bad quarter doesn't doom the rest of the year. It certainly doesn't doom your entire investment horizon.

If I were you I'd interview multiple investment managers.

• With $500k you can likely forego mutual funds with their fees and build those funds with the underlying stocks. You have enough to thoroughly diversify your portfolio without the help of the fund.
• Mutual funds all have fees to support whomever sets up and manages the fees. You wouldn't pay me to hire someone else to mow your grass. So why pay someone to pay someone else to buy Amazon?
• Make sure that if you're paying someone to manage your money they aren't charging you commission everytime they make a trade.
• If they're getting commissions it simply encourages frequent and likely unnecessary trading.
• This account will (I presume) be taxable. Make sure whomever is managing it understands how to manage short and long term capital gains and can take advantage, when appropriate of tax loss harvesting.

I'll take the more conservative angle. Presumably, this would serve as your emergency savings. I would keep at least some of this in cash and then shop different rates in high yield savings accounts for the cash you don't move elsewhere. You can likely find a better rate.

We get over 5% with ours and keep 2 years of cash on hand and out of the market. Two years is more than most would do but that's my preference.

I would replace NM guy. When we could retire, I could show that on a spreadsheet. We found a good financial guy through a friend and their spreadsheet matched mine. We waited for retirement packages, one last RSU and ESP round and checked out. Your timing, tax, and retirement plans are unique. You can speak with good financial people for free. They can find you good estate planners at a discount and help with taxes too.

We didn't use a financial planner until a year before we retired. I wish we had started earlier.

How did you acquire your Merrill account? If you bank with BoA you can meet with a Merrill Edge rep in your branch. He's for sure a new guy (or gal) but he has a partner in the main office who has been in the biz at least 10 years. Tell him you have an account in NM you want to move, he'll consolidate. He will most likely suggest a few different managed solutions grouped in a single account and say it'll cost you 1.5%. Tell him you'll do it for 1%, that sounds like a lot but I have 3 Merrill IRA's and I pay 1% for 2 of them and have beaten the S&P Index every year but 1, that's since 2019.
Or dump the entire amount in an index, I use VOO in my self-directed account.
FWIW I use an advisor not for the returns, I use one for my beneficiaries, my kids, all of whom have no clue what to do and my guy can at least get them stalled instead of spending it all 2 weeks after I'm gone.
Get that NM account out of there and consolidate.

Exactly. Estate planning was what we should have done earlier. Also all the powers of attorney including medical. Being able to control what they get and when they get it so the kids don't have the opportunity to waste their lives until they are at least 30.

Never thought about pre-tax IRA draining issues, etc. We have all IRA's with one advisor for lower rates. We keep our liquid accounts separate and real estate, etc. goes to the same trust as everything outside of a fraction of the liquid account to hold them over for will processing time.

Start deploying 20-30k a month. Accelerate if market sells off.

$2.5M is significant. I also think the common perception that advisors require a minimum is overblown.

My firm has no minimum and they are part of Goldman Sachs.

The majority of the answers you will get on this board will tell you to go long and to DCA and that markets always go up.

Me personally, I would hold off doing anything right now. This market has a ton of risk in it and I am very worried about some significant bearish potentials.

OldArmyCT said:

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If you're going to pay for management do it with someone you can meet in person. That ain't Fisher. Ask your spouse what she would do if you dropped dead tomorrow. If she's happy calling 1-800-HELPME then pick anyone. Otherwise find a smart guy and sit across the table until he talks to you speaking financial 3rd grade English. You're not the only person in your family with a stake in your investing prowess or lack thereof, but you are the most vulnerable.

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Great advice. And don't limit this to your broker. Insurance, bank, attorney, cpa, etc.
Local and face to face office visit when needed.

Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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If you're going to pay for management do it with someone you can meet in person. That ain't Fisher. Ask your spouse what she would do if you dropped dead tomorrow. If she's happy calling 1-800-HELPME then pick anyone. Otherwise find a smart guy and sit across the table until he talks to you speaking financial 3rd grade English. You're not the only person in your family with a stake in your investing prowess or lack thereof, but you are the most vulnerable.

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Thank you sir. So how do you go about this though? Should I be looking for a particular firm or company first? It seems like NW doesn't have the greatest rep, but if I move to someone else, would they most likely just dump everything into the same mutual funds I am already in? I know I'm really showing my ass here, but for the last twenty years, my entire focus has been on the small business as it has been an absolute day to day grind, and I have negligently put off trying to educate myself on how investing works.

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I'm not sure if there are other certification organizations than this one but you could start your search here: https://nationalcffassociation.org/cff-directory.

YouBet said:

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Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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OldArmyCT said:

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If you're going to pay for management do it with someone you can meet in person. That ain't Fisher. Ask your spouse what she would do if you dropped dead tomorrow. If she's happy calling 1-800-HELPME then pick anyone. Otherwise find a smart guy and sit across the table until he talks to you speaking financial 3rd grade English. You're not the only person in your family with a stake in your investing prowess or lack thereof, but you are the most vulnerable.

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Thank you sir. So how do you go about this though? Should I be looking for a particular firm or company first? It seems like NW doesn't have the greatest rep, but if I move to someone else, would they most likely just dump everything into the same mutual funds I am already in? I know I'm really showing my ass here, but for the last twenty years, my entire focus has been on the small business as it has been an absolute day to day grind, and I have negligently put off trying to educate myself on how investing works.

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I'm not sure if there are other certification organizations than this one but you could start your search here: https://nationalcffassociation.org/cff-directory.

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The best way to find an FA IMO is to ask a buddy. A couple of buddies. Then look him up on FINRA Broker Check. https://brokercheck.finra.org/
Despite the prevailing sentiment on this and most any other investing thread not all FA's are dumbass commission grabbing jerks. Most of those guys change firms a lot, something that will show up on the broker check link.
And FWIW most major firms make it extremely hard for their FA's to sell anyone a mutual fund for a commission.

If it were me, I would invest that money at the same allocations as my retirement investments. I would just incorporate tax optimization into it based on account types, rebalancing, withdrawal plan, etc...

Also, from your question it seems obvious you need a financial advisor. They aren't cheap but well worth it if investing, tax optimization, personal finance, ... aren't subjects you understand. Shop around for one with a solid reputation with relatively reasonable fees.

YouBet said:

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$2.5M is significant. I also think the common perception that advisors require a minimum is overblown.

My firm has no minimum and they are part of Goldman Sachs.

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Seriously? I've been reading this board for years and always come away under the impression that I am pretty far behind where everyone else is. That's the main reason I never posted. Kind of always felt like I was treading water.

Its hard not to think that this is where we are.

But man...trying to time the market is damn near impossible.

Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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YouBet said:

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$2.5M is significant. I also think the common perception that advisors require a minimum is overblown.

My firm has no minimum and they are part of Goldman Sachs.

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Seriously? I've been reading this board for years and always come away under the impression that I am pretty far behind where everyone else is. That's the main reason I never posted. Kind of always felt like I was treading water.

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It's significant compared to gen pop. Don't worry, the rest of us on here are at least $10M in net worth so you still suck compared to this board.

YouBet said:

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Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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YouBet said:

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$2.5M is significant. I also think the common perception that advisors require a minimum is overblown.

My firm has no minimum and they are part of Goldman Sachs.

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Seriously? I've been reading this board for years and always come away under the impression that I am pretty far behind where everyone else is. That's the main reason I never posted. Kind of always felt like I was treading water.

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It's significant compared to gen pop. Don't worry, the rest of us on here are at least $10M in net worth so you still suck compared to this board.

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Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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YouBet said:

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Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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YouBet said:

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$2.5M is significant. I also think the common perception that advisors require a minimum is overblown.

My firm has no minimum and they are part of Goldman Sachs.

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Seriously? I've been reading this board for years and always come away under the impression that I am pretty far behind where everyone else is. That's the main reason I never posted. Kind of always felt like I was treading water.

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It's significant compared to gen pop. Don't worry, the rest of us on here are at least $10M in net worth so you still suck compared to this board.

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I'm kidding of course. Except about me...I'm worth $21.6M.

YouBet said:

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Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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YouBet said:

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Fat Bottom Squirrels said:

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YouBet said:

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$2.5M is significant. I also think the common perception that advisors require a minimum is overblown.

My firm has no minimum and they are part of Goldman Sachs.

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Seriously? I've been reading this board for years and always come away under the impression that I am pretty far behind where everyone else is. That's the main reason I never posted. Kind of always felt like I was treading water.

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It's significant compared to gen pop. Don't worry, the rest of us on here are at least $10M in net worth so you still suck compared to this board.

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I'm kidding of course. Except about me...I'm worth $21.6M.

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Proper decimal point placement is, of course, important

This is just another example of how distorted people's views on reality are. Either that, or the OP is deliberately trolling and/or subtly bragging.

85+% of people will never acquire $472k in total assets, even by retirement age, in any and all accounts combined. Let alone just a side account that is from bonuses and draws after paying the mortgage, funding college accounts for children(s) as in multiple that you described, 401k(s) as in multiple, and other money in the market. That $472k alone would put you in the top 10-12%. Just by itself. The average person retires with $339,000, and median is actually $87,000 meaning the average is skewed by the top 10% pretty significantly.

Now, that said, texags posters on the business board are above average. That's probably pretty obvious. But I'd bet my life savings you are well above average even for this boards standards.