Reading through the retirement thread and Have you made it thread, made me realize how much I don’t know and understand. My husband always dealt with this, although I am pretty sure he just did whatever our FP, and college friend of his told him to do. We never had discussions about stocks, and neither of us followed the market. The last 13 years of his short life were very lean years, but we were ok, just not putting much money away other than the bare minimum into an IRA.
Once I received his life insurance, his step-brother suggested a woman that he thought would be a good fit as my financial planner; step-brother was our insurance agent, so knew how much I would be receiving. When we met in December, I truly didn’t understand most of what she was telling me; not that she wouldn’t explaining. I don’t know if my brain just couldn’t process due to my state of mind, or if I just wanted someone to tell me what to do!
I am ready to at least try to understand what is happening with my money. I am looking for a class, lessons, or something that will help this old dog learn new tricks! I don’t think I can focus or understand an online course where I just watch videos or reading a book, unless it is a class for dummies. I think I might need something in person so I can ask questions, or there is a dialog between teacher and students.
Anyone aware of a type of course like this? I guess I can see if AARP has something. A local college course to audit, although I would prefer it was geared toward someone my age and not an 18 year old looking to invest.
Take a look at Emeritus/ continuing education programs in your area. After I inherited my parents trusts, which were in stock and bond funds, I attended a seminar run by SDCCE continuing education. I had a general idea of it already, but the instructor was a broker and offered a complimentary review of peoples portfolios. She helped me understand what I now had.
You can also go over to the Bogleheads site. It is like CC for investing (anonymous) - and they have a process you can utilize to have people explain the assets and allocations you have.
Bogleheads.org is also an excellent resource. It has a lot of information and a lot of very smart investors who are endlessly patient. It has a blog as well as a lot of helpful articles.
This is a more complicated question than it might seem on the surface. I’m a devoted Boglehead, but the site is not easy to navigate and it is packed with jargon that builds on itself.
Is your financial planner part of a larger wealth management firm? If so, many of them have financial education resources. They may even be able to have someone sit with you and explain things.
My FP is indeed a fiduciary. I am sure if I asked her to try to go over this with me again, she would be happy to help.
Boglehead looks like more than I want, at least at this time. I think what I need to start is an introduction to terms related to investments and managing money. I am not looking to know when to buy and sell stocks, I will leave that to the professional, at least at this time. While I was somewhat joking about Investments for Dummies, that really may be where I should start! If I can’t follow that, I am going to be a slow learner! Once I have the jest of terminology, I should be able to move forward from there, or at least I think that will help.
My mom took a class at the local community college which had three key advantages–
1- The content was relevant. No exotic investments, no assumptions that someone had 20 million dollars in assets and needed to find tax shelters. It was geared to “regular” people who needed to understand their own situation and portfolios.
2- The attendees were more or less at the same “level”. There was a more advanced version at this community college so anyone who had mastered the basics was moved into the other class. The instructor started at the beginning- what’s the difference between a money market account and a bank savings account. Why you need to worry about your minimum balance in a checking account. What’s the difference between a debit and credit card. Etc.
3- The purpose of the class was not to turn everyone into investors. It was to teach the basics. And my mom- who at one point got a hankering for “I think I should sell my Exxon stock” (bad idea, big capital gain tax, didn’t need the cash anyway) took home the biggest and best lesson that folks need to learn- don’t try to time the market. If you think with your 3K worth of stock in a particular company you can do better than Vanguard- well, you can’t. So stick it in a no-fee or low-fee Vanguard index fund and sleep at night.
hugs. See if any of the community colleges in your area have personal finance classes. They are cheap and well worth it. Based on my mom’s experience- a class is better than a book or a website. Sometimes having an actual teacher with a blackboard and chalk reinforces a message better than the snazzy graphics in one of the online products…
You might want to try calling someone local to see if they offer classes. I believe from time to time there’s something here offered through our parks and rec department. Something like a 2 hour class. You might try calling the library and asking them too if they know of anything. (In my town the library actually falls under parks and rec)
I second community college classes. They often have a section of classes that is non-credit. In my district they call them community education. I also second seeing if any of the organizations you are investing in or you buy insurance from have workshops.
I’ve used an advisor once, during a complex unwinding of a business. He is a CFP. I paid him an hourly rate for three hours of work. All my investments are through Vanguard or directly through the Treasury Department where fees are exceedingly low.
Once I have the jest of terminology, I should be able to move forward from there, or at least I think that will help.