As I mentioned in a post on a different thread, am thinking about retiring in the next few months— probably January.
I am a government employee so no social security(!) but I have a defined benefit pension that will pay me about 70 percent of my current take home, with spousal benefits that are pretty close to that. Or I could take a hefty cash payout. Spouse and I also have reasonable 401ks etc.
How do I go about finding a good financial advisor to help me decide and to transition to retirement investing / spending? Pretty sure I want fee-only.
I’m happy for public general comments as well as any specific advice via DM.
I found my financial advisor through word of mouth from satisfied friends. Do you know any folks well enough in your circle who would be willing to talk to you about this…and make a personal recommendation. That’s where I would start. Bonus if it’s someone recently retired from your place of employment and line of work.
CFA H says definitely fee only, otherwise they will most likely say cash it out and manage it for you, meaning they get paid to manage it for you. My parents had an advisor that it took us a lot of work to get the money out after they passed (and had inaccurate information regarding inherited IRA’s). H also said not cashing it out is almost always the better option.
We have a newish fee only advisor that I do like a lot. I consider his fees ($180/hr) exceptionally reasonable…especially when compared to what the Fidelity CFP wanted to charge us for their “wealth management” services which would likely have involved comparable analysis/meeting/consultation times. My only criticism is that he may be a tad too conservative (financially…not politically) given our potentially long plan, but that may be a good thing.
He is located in WA state but he only does zoom meetings. Let me know if you’d like a referral and I’ll pm you.
We found our advisor through word of mouth. He specializes in working with engineers in the industry H was in, and H knows a lot of people who were happy with him. We dragged our feet for a long time before we started working with an advisor, and we lost a lot during the financial downturn in the late 2000’s. The people who were working with the advisor lost a lot less, and they were positioned to do very well when things started moving upward. That sold us. We’ve been very happy. He manages our money, which I know isn’t for everyone, but we’re good with it.
We took a course over two weekends at a community college with 19 couples. The CC was very strict about course content and no business, nor solicitation.
He had a syllabus and we bought the 200 page course workbook ($30) that included definitions for Medicare, Financial Planning, Cobras, trusts/wills etc.
It was not a sales pitch but was very academic; we did take his card and called his company 6 months later. That was in early 2021. Still with him and he’s been phenomenal! They still teach the course and rotate CFP companies.
I’m curious … have you had a series of advisors because they left Vanguard? Or did you ask for a change? I’ve got one now that I warming to, but I had wanted the guy a friend uses.
Vanguard fees are low compared to others who charge a percentage of assets under management, but I wouldn’t call any AUM arrangement “minimal.” They don’t stop. It’s $3500/$M/year. If someone can’t manage their own portfolio with occasional fee only advice, it’s probably one of the better options, but still far more than I spend for fee only advice.
Our health insurance stayed in place even if we took the lump sum, although it ends for everyone (pension & lump sum) at 65. Those who took the pension got an additional $200/month (for former employee, but not spouse) at 65 to assist with paying for insurance. Given that this same company took away everything that they promised my dad when he retired, we did not trust that the $200/month would continue past the company’s next financial crisis. And because the pension amount was less beginning at 62 than it was before 62, they were “giving back” at 65 less than they took away at 62.
Each of them moved up the ladder at Vanguard. I started with them in 2015. I think I’ve had 5 or 6 planners. Each scheduled a call with their successor and me before the change. My current (at least 3 years) advisor was on maternity leave for 6 months and I had someone in her place.
I know I’ve posted this before: my then-adviser (young guy) sent me flowers when I graduated from social work school.