Great advice. I used to be a financial advisor who sold annuities and make hefty commissions. Product providers want to incentivize people to push their product, I get it. It was not always the best fit for the client. The industry is built on conflict on interest. Most of the time I was pulled to do better for myself than for the client.There is a getting started wiki if you have not seen it.I'm not quite sure where to begin.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started
There is a also a wiki on managing a windfall.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Managing_a_windfall
I agree with selling the two inherited rental properties. Most likely they got a stepped up cost basis unless there was some special case so you can likely sell them and not pay any capital gains taxes. It would be good to double check with a tax pro to make sure that is true in your case, and to find out if your state income taxes also work that way. Most housing markets are still fairly strong now even if they have cooled off some so it may not be hard to sell them now.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Step-up_in_basis
One thing to be careful about is that probably 99% of financial advisors who may try to get you to sign up with them are really sales people who will put you into terrible investments just to make money off of you. They may also try to make your investments so complex that it will be difficult to leave them. If anyone tries to sell you an annuity or some "special" investment which is not available to the general public then they are almost certainly trying to take advantage of you.
Also be careful in that "fee based" financial advisor is not the same as a "fee only" financial advisor.
You would need to look hard but it is possible to a financial advisor who is in the 1% who is not just a salesperson but if you do then you also need to have a plan for how that will work when that person is no longer available.
Another alternative is that Vanguard Personal Advisor Service(PAS) will manage your investments for a fee of 0.3% and they will not put you into bad investments. I have not used them but you can look of prior threads about using them.
The way I have set up my business now is that I will never take commission or any bonuses from a product provider. It's a lot of money to leave on the table, but my clients will always know that I made an "objective" recommendation. Building a system with integrity will often not make the most money, but it will keep me honest and ultimately benefit everyone involve.
Finding that an advisor who is 100% honest and transparent could be nearly impossible
.Statistics: Posted by wangle — Sun Oct 13, 2024 11:41 pm — Replies 8 — Views 1269