<p>
</p>
<p>I didn’t find their investment advisor knowledgable. I certainly didn’t think it was worth the fees although their fees are lower than most. Opening a brokerage account doesn’t cost anything. I wonder how they make money.</p>
<p>I have been thrilled with my guys. They know much more than I know. So that in itself means my funds are being better managed than I could do by myself.</p>
<p>Glad it’s working out for you. A lot depends on who you get probably.</p>
<p>Consistent with the idea of simplying, anyone with thoughts about the pros & cons of the Lazy Man Portfolios that are around that maintain a balance of ETFs or mutual funds and periodically readjust them so they are in the same ratio (e.g. 25% each in 4 funds)? </p>
<p>We have been awful stock and mutual fund pickers (we don’t sell – EVER). We really have NOT done well with the market since we’ve been in it since 1987, which is amazingly bad since these were some great bull times.</p>
<p>HImom, one’s man lazy man is not the same as another man’s lazy man. By that I mean, I suppose it works if you are “average,” but few of us are.</p>
<p>My investment guy asked me early on if any industries were out of bounds for investing – e.g., tobacco, liquor, guns. I appreciated being able to have input.</p>
<p>During the years we were paying tuition, we kept the money in the “College Fund” invested very conservatively. Funds in my and DH’s IRAs – more aggressively, since retirement was a ways away.</p>
<p>IMHO, the personal touch is often the best one.</p>
<p>About a decade or two ago, it appears even the investiment in S&P 500 would bring you a quite good return. Those old good days appear to have gone. Many of my coworkers believed they could do better by investing in stocks than buying prepaid college plans back then. However, I believed I got a very good deal when I purchased prepaid tuition plan when my child was in early elementary school years.</p>
<p>For my 401k, I think I just invest in some Vangard balanced fund (which is the default selection that was chosen for me because I did not make any specific selection.) I do not know how sound this strategy is in the long run though (I suspect it is not veryy good.) But last time I checked it, the return last year was about 9%. I think I should do something about it but I am still in the “inaction” mode due to my lack of knowledge and confidence in investment.</p>
<p>Regarding (traditional) IRA, I heard you could withdraw money from the traditional IRA for paying tuitions and fees for your child’s GRADUATE school education, without resulting in 10% penalty before 59.5 years old. (You still need to pay the income tax, of course.) Is this true?</p>
<p>WIth the interest rate of student loan as high as almost 7.0% (I think it is 6.75%) and the investment return tends to be in the very low single digit in percentage (if the investment is a conservative one), it is very tempting for me to raid some of the IRA (as long as I do not deplete too much of my IRA.)</p>
<p>Funny, while reading this thread, my newish investment guy called, and he’s re balancing some long held mutual funds and other investments, and just called to discuss. I have a sort of terror filled inertia about these things, and knew my lack of strategy needed to be remedied. So put some funds in the hands of a professional, so that at least part of the portfolio would be managed with intelligence. Other no load funds are doing just fine, and I don’t want anyone messing with them.</p>
<p>I am trying to get a few things in one place, as my previous investments were terribly scattered. However, over time my inertia was not all bad, as some thing did quite well.</p>
<p>Yes, maybe we’ll wade into having SOME management, paying the 1% of assets managed for a year and see how it goes.</p>
<p>Just my 2 cents worth here, but - aren’t there thousands of brokers, investment bankers and investment advisers, all watching the market and trying to figure out which investments are “best?” And if so, what are the odds that the guy (or gal) I pay 1% of my asset value to every year will do better than average in that situation? Or even average, if you think about it? If you do anything other than buy an index fund for equities, and a widely diversified bond fund, and “balancing” the ratio between the two every so often, aren’t you betting that either you or “your guy (or gal)” can beat the odds?</p>
<p>You probably won’t. Chances are, you’re paying 1% to get an investment mix that’s no better (and likely worse) than simply buying an index fund.</p>
<p>I only buy individual stocks for entertainment value. Companies where we know an employee, or like their product. (Or get a perk, like with cruise line stock.) Otherwise, it’s all in low-administrative overhead index funds, rebalanced between stocks and bonds every year (for free.) I really, really don’t think buying retail level advice from a local adviser is a smart investment for those of us who are not ourselves dedicated to investing for a living.</p>
<p>Thanks–appreciate the various viewpoints. This is helpful for us in mulling the best course of action going forward.</p>
<p>Kluge, I’m sure you’re right. And the dismal failure in 2008 only underscores that it tends to be a crapshoot. </p>
<p>What I know, is that my failure to decisively move for that rebalancing was not doing me any favors. Admitting my lack of decisive action, and paying someone to do it for me, is another way of taking responsibility.</p>
<p>Anyone try “Windhaven,” which is a managed account by Schwab? Schwab bought out the company and added it to the options they offer for managed accounts.</p>
<p>Kluge, IMO investment advisors are better than “average.” It’s stupid people who know nothing about anything who bring down the average.</p>
<p>My “forced” quarterly rebalancing forces me to rebalance, and forces me to focus on the industries that appear to be growth and divest myself of industries – and companies – that are projected to be losers. I lock in profits when they’re there to be taken. </p>
<p>It’s better than doing nothing, as Great Lakes Mom says, and better than doing it myself – which would be like playing darts.</p>
<p>HImom, I am going to start investing in the style of the Lazy Man Portfolio appropriate for our ages, near retirement. There is a lot of information on bogleheads.org.
I have been actively managing our investments (mostly in individual stocks and bonds) and I am ready for passive management though I will still set aside a fixed amount to “play” the market with individual stocks.
We have accounts in Fidelity,Schwab and Vanguard and plan to continue with those accounts. We just have one commercial bank account and may start another one that offers free notary public service since the current bank has stopped the free service.</p>
<p>I think the 1% management fees are too high and will eat into your returns.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>if that is 1% a year every year, that is way too high. If the market is flat, you actually losing $$. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I need to figure out how much we are paying.</p>
<p>^^, o.k., I think I need to take above statement back. </p>
<p>I need some expert’s education here. Our Funds are “A” shares with a front load. Do we still pay the annul 0.63% expenses.</p>
<p>For those using managers, how do you deal with market crashes?</p>
<p>DadII, somewhere in the prospectus the fees are disclosed. You can also check out Morningstar.</p>
<p>[Understanding</a> Mutual Fund Fees](<a href=“http://financialplan.about.com/od/investing/a/MutualFundFees.htm]Understanding”>Understanding Mutual Fund Fees)</p>
<p>You can probably just google your fund and get fee info.</p>
<p>Front load funds are awful.
Hopefully that fund has outperformed the market.</p>
<p>Thanks–we were being eaten alive by fees with Dean Witter and don’t want to repeat that mistake again, especially since the market hasn’t really been all that spectacular to us.</p>
<p>Index-type funds seem to have the lowest annual fees. These managed accounts have the 1% per year fee IN ADDITION to whatever fees are charged by the mutual funds or other investments you are put into, so you can easily be paying more than the 1% ANNUALLY, plus whatever capital gains, etc. “Trade fees” are covered by the 1%.</p>
<p>I just sew my money into different mattresses</p>