Financial Advisor

[orangeleaf1234]

When did you decide to meet with a financial advisor?  Is there an income threshold you should be at or have a certain percentage you can invest outside of retirement?  How did you find your advisor?

[mae0111]

I managed our investments for many years. I would receive regular deposits into my brokerage account from my previous job, as our bonuses were paid out quarterly over 4 years. So I received payments for years after I left. Around the time that the payments were wrapping up, DH's business needed a lot of cash flow help. So that's when I went looking for a full-service wealth manager/financial advisor. I felt like I was not qualified to manage our portfolio anymore, and that we were not well-positioned for a downturn.

I wanted someone convenient and close by, that specialized in working with small business owners. I also wanted an independent advisor that was not pushing specific products, but that acted as a fiduciary and would look out for our best interests.

We had just about a million in investible assets at the time, spread out over a bunch of different accounts - 2 brokerage accounts (my work and DH had one from a previous job), 401Ks ready to roll over, existing IRAs. The group we're working with doesn't technically have a minimum, but they looked at our portfolio, our businesses, our potential, and they took us on. Their target is well north of what we have.

I probably didn't do enough due diligence, but I got a good vibe from them. Almost 4 years later, we are very happy with how they've helped us.

Are you looking for someone to manage your money? Or do you just want someone to help you create a plan and check in 1-2 times a year or so?

[atarianna]

We need to find one but it’s been a daunting task. We have done very well managing our own, but have made some mistakes along the way that could have been mitigated if we had an advisor who was more aware of tax implications.

Now we want to find someone who specializes in government retirement so we can ensure we are making the right decisions in our diversification.

[Deleted]

I came into an inheritance and needed to know what to do with the stock. It was not a ton but I also found a guy who does my taxes. He is a fiduciary and is paid 1/10% annually for managing our money and doin our taxes. He also will run numbers for us such as budgeting or he helped us find our comfort zone when buying a house. A friend recommended him.

[kitty]

We met with one once we had consistently meaningful "extra" money in our regular monthly budget and bank account and wanted some guidance on how best to use it (save more for college, dump more in stock market, buy a rental property, backdoor Roth, etc). He also went through and came up with a nice holistic view of our diversification when you combine all our different retirement accounts. Something that's easy but semi time consuming and we rarely made time to do.

We haven't met with him again because DH decided to start his own business and walla no more extra money.

We used someone who is a CFP and was recommended by the attorney who did our wills/POAs. We DIY most stuff via Vanguard and didn't want anyone who would be pushing funds with high fees.

[Susie]

I feel like I'm there now, and I'm currently gathering info re: H's (public sector) retirement benefits so that I have the full picture to share with an advisor.  I'm simultaneously looking into fee-based advisors.  

I feel like I hit the point where I'd like guidance when we were maxing 401k/457b's, didn't quality for Roth contributions, didn't think back door Roth contributions were a clear good idea due to IRA balances/tax brackets/etc., and had cash available that I didn't know what best to do with.