I used to look in on Fund Alarm and only recently stumbled upon MFO. I find it very informative and am fascinated at the knowledge of the poster's. I see some of the same names here I saw years ago. I was given some good advice here years ago and saw some nice gains.
The problem I have is my knowledge is very limited, I'm 60 and I don't want to be guessing at this point of life. I hear advice of having some funds in foreign countries, some in bonds, some in stocks etc. etc. - it's too much info. This leads me to believe I should hire a professional.
I have investments at TRP and hear they will give advice if you have enough funds with them. Do you feel this is OK or does hiring a local investor have any advantages?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can share with me.
Comments
Maybe you're lacking self-confidence about this investing stuff? It can be daunting. But do some homework and keep things simple. It's worked for me. Nothing fancy, just open-ended funds. "Break a leg."
Poster Bob C could offer thoughts regarding how to find a financial planner. Additionally, I would make sure that you are going with a financial planner and not some sort of a broker. That's really an issue that a family member ran into - they are older and the experience with a financial planner has been far better and more appropriate for their age. They had been with someone who was essentially a broker (and had "product" to sell) for ages.
Welcome. I cannot comment on specifics of advice from TRP. In general, if you are considering paying for advice, fee-only advisors who are clearly working for you and not a fund company are the way to go, in my opinion.
Prior to selecting an advisor, I think it is most important to develop your own point of view. In the end, you have to decide for yourself anyway. They really are only advisors, even if you grant them the power to act on your behalf. I figure a good rule of thumb is: if I can't give a half-decent explanation of what the thing is, or what the purpose of holding it is, I shouldn't own it. So I like to make sure I understand my baseline -- what I'm already into -- then move on to considering new options.
Under Books in the Resources section of this web site, you can find a couple of personal finance books and a couple of investing books. You might try one of each at your local library. Judicious sampling could help you get better oriented.
Just some thoughts for you to consider.
GFB
Another alternative is to use TRP Target Date Funds. Target Date Fund gets a bad rap but they are professionally managed and TRP has consistently done well in this area. I bet a lot of people actually do worse than Target Date Fund but they do not measure properly or do not measure performance at all.
I'd say: If you have the assets to so warrant, hire a fee-based planner and spend more time fishing or golfing. Regards