Interesting - saw a (new to me) Prudential commercial today. Apparently, it was a real 4.01k race. 
Iāve had accounts with Vanguard since 1980ās. I saw their growth over the years. They used to be so good. Everyone who answered the phone was very knowledgable. Not so much these days. I wonder if they arenāt growing a bit too fast. We recently moved our IRA accounts to Vanguard. I think they are flooded with new account requests. It didnāt go smoothly. It is still being processed. I expect all will be settled by mid-February. I sent the applications at the end of November. Some of it was my fault. Still, taking more than two months to move an account and get them all going is too inefficient imo.
I have only gone to one dinner meeting. It was a lot of talk, pretty PowerPoint and good food. I never wanted to attend another and havenāt.
Have attended a few Fidelity and Schwab seminarsānot very helpful either. I never did anything based on the talks.
Igloo, Vanguard has assigned me a personal representative.
I got one of those, too. In the old days, you didnāt need to be anyone special. Back then, they called it voyager, I think. I rarely used voyager thing. Now itās flagship or flagship select. My guy canāt speed it up much. It takes a few weeks to take a look. If everything is in order, 25 days. If not, you are back to where you started. Donāt get me wrong. It is a great company. And I appreciate what Jack Bogle did; index fund, asset allocation, low expense ratio. It is a great public service. Itās just gotten very big, maybe too big.
āHave attended a few Fidelity and Schwab seminarsānot very helpful either. I never did anything based on the talks.ā
So did you get a free consultation or are you so knowledgeable that those are irrelevant?
I get those dinner requests fairly often. I may give one a try, if the restaurant is good.
I have gone to timeshare previews when they were convenient and the offer was worth it to me.
We purchased a very cheap timeshare from someone several years ago, and really got our moneyās worth from it. Recently we ātradedā that one in for one in the Caribbean. It was pretty expensive, but we decided we wanted it and plan to use it (plus we have 3 kids, so someone will make use of it often enough), so we did it.
Iāve found some great timeshare deals over the year. I stayed in Tahoe, at a pretty nice 2 BR/2ba place during both Christmas and Spring break for the equivalent of $495 and less than $750. I stayed in Breckenridge for a week, slopeside, for $1,500. This March Iām going to Park City for less than $500, right next to a ski lift. Thatās all costs, including tax, timeshare fee, etc. for each of them.
I would glean everything you can off of the free info - Prudential, retirement IQ assessment tools like www.chrishogan360.com
There is a lot of junk out there, annuity products, insurance products, etc.
Applaud you @1214mom with knowing how to use the re-purchase to take a timeshare off someoneās hands and find a good deal for your needs.
I know people that own timeshares that probably wouldnāt mind me purchasing from them a stay at one of them - niece bought one at Windham, and they regret but are keeping it. Their immediately family help them use it. Many people are upset about rising annual fees.
Good for you @colorado_mom for using the 3 day/72 hour cancellation clause (donāt know how many states have it). Glad it was in place for you, and glad H agreed it was not worth losing sleep overā¦
We have a very close friend that has a 2nd home at Tahoe. H has been there with them due to business trip timing.
Look forward to doing some US travel when H and I are both retired in 6 years. Till then, we will make sure our finances are in order to enjoy spending some money in retirement - spending more when we are physically able to enjoy travel.
I listen to what is said at the talks, do my own research and then decide whether or not to make any changes. We are pretty content with things as they are so tend not to make major shifts.
Iāve pretty much decided that most talks are fairly superficial and not really enough for me to base changes onāmostly intros to topics of interest.
If I had time, I would probably do more of my investing by myself. But, I am too busy making money and trying to live a satisfying, rewarding life to spend that much time. (Right now, @dstark, I am writing from the houseboat weāve rented for three months in Sausalito ā and have found a coauthor for a book I want to write without distracting so much from my other work]) Life is good.
I generally have the capability to understand and make investments ā I have a Phd in a mathematical field, was a professor at a high-end business school, worked as an investment banker and then in a family office (not my family alas) making direct equity investments and helped people a hedge fund. But, I donāt have time. So I have a fee only FA who is involved in most of my assets and a broker who has a real subset. The broker is a legacy of the hedge fund days, but his firm/employees provide terrific service (move money, get a credit card for kids, pay tuition from the 529 account). Plus, I was able to get into a very good HF investment in my 401(k) that they could house ā the other broker couldnāt have gotten either the opportunity and the ability to custody the investment inside a 401(k). If I had more time after
The heck with finances, @shawbridge. Tell us how you like he houseboat rental in Sausalito 
We are having a blast on the houseboat, @colorado_mom. The first couple of days we were here, there were seals and a sea lion around the boat. Lots of birds. A couple of days ago, two separate rainbows. I had a couple of calls where I stood on our little dock and talked while looking at the water and birds and mountains. Today I was more inside, but it was sunny and lovely this afternoon.
Plus, I am spending a fair bit of time with ShawWife, which is nice. We have friends here and given my wifeās social proclivities, we will have more.
Great that youāre enjoying the houseboat so much. H isnāt much of a boat person and honestly neither am I, so it doesnāt hold the same appeal for us. Sausalito is a cool place tho and we enjoy the bay area. There are a lot of nice little restaurants in the area as well. I always love going to Muir Woods and Angel Island is nice too.
@HImom, Iām not a boat person either, but most of the houseboats are really floating homes. Ours is a bit more boat-like, but other than water being around you, it doesnāt feel like you are on a boat when you are sitting down and reading or working. There are doves walking on the balcony railings right outside the window I am looking through.
The only downside thus far is that this houseboat has two bedrooms. We have set up my office in one. When we had visitors, they slept in my office. Other than those two rooms, the houseboat has no doors and it was tough to work when everyone was asleep and also when they woke up (I guess I could have gone back up to our bedroom and may have to). It is making us less enthusiastic about visitors.
How long have you been there? Is the ground rocking yet? We lived in a houseboat a long time ago. You donāt the motion while your are on the boat but after a little while the ground was rocking. Itās fun but when we had a plumbing issue, we had to find a diver plumber.
Some one on CC had posted about Boglehead.org a few years ago. I have been reading it daily since that time & have learned so much about investing and retirement. Naturally it has made me skeptical about financial advisors like āDonā.
SOS concern- have you ever posted on the Boglehead website? Would love to see what the knowledgeable posters say about financial advisors like him.
Hereās an interesting article about fees and their long term impact on your portfolio.
Itās all very confusing and overwhelming at times, especially with the current market fluctuations . I have learned so much here as to where to look, what to read to educate myself. Thanks to CC and Bogleheads Iām slowly catching on but still have a loooong way to go!
@dstark, even the ālowā fees in the link (0.25%) are 5 times higher than Total Stock Admiral Fund (0.05%). If you then add on an AUM fee, well, āwhere are the customersā yachts?ā
I understand. 
In additionā¦
I decided to delete that post. I have written enough about āthat annuityā.
I agree with many of the concerns on this thread. I also agree about quality of life. We have many competing demands for time and attention. I agree about knowing fees and expenses, which I do need to be more in tune. We attended the āstate of the marketsā update yesterday, and H and I have our individual appt with Don the end of next week. So I will absorb what info I can before the meeting, and also discuss more with H. Two things our investment diversification has done has been lower our risk with some more guaranteed investments - could we have done better elsewhere and on our own - possibly yes.
Some on this thread are pretty harsh on FAs. It is just like the quality of any other service - for example chiropractor - someone may be benefiting or may be strung along w/o real physical benefit.
As I have said before, this thread has been helpful for me to think about and examine our retirement money and investment choices more carefully. And there is a wonderful circle of posters on this thread.
One thing - keep in good health and make sure diet/exercise (eating healthy and active lifestyle for kinder words). Also I am keen on a good cardiology assessment, making sure one has their colonoscopy, etc - as a stage III cancer survivor, I know all too well how it can all end before it may have to. Landmines in life for sure.