That is awful Just downright awful.
Open up a brokerage account with Schwab, Fidelity or Vanguard and buy index funds. $0 commissions, expense ratios below 0.10%, $0 annual fees.
The broker says the benefit of going through the firm vs generic accounts is that my investments are curated to my risk, age, preferences, etc. How should I take this into account?
Of course they’re going to say that, they’re trying to sell you a product.
You can buy a target date fund on your own. It automatically adjust risk as you get older without you lifting a finger. Or paying anyone obscene amounts of money.
I’d politely tell them to pound sand.
Here, read this: [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio)
Boom, now you know how to build your own portfolio taking risk, age, and preferences into account
Run and run far, that person is absolutely robbing you. You can open a brokerage account at any major broker (Fidelity, Vanguard, Charles Schwab) and purchase low-fee index funds for a fraction of the cost with no back-end fees and no account maintenance fees.
Read more here:
[Investing - r/personalfinance - Reddit - Dive into anything](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing/)
I bet they were super friendly, huh?
Yes, very friendly. The broker and I meet about twice a year and he does help to instill confidence that I’m on the right track. Is that worth anything?
It’s worth the free cup of coffee they give you when you walk into their office. They’re at least giving you that, right? That’s the least they can do after robbing you.
Of course they are nice, they're salesmen and they are not giving advice that's in your best interest; they're not fiduciaries.
No it's not worth it. At your age the only thing you need to worry about is asset accumulation, aka your savings rate. Use low-cost total market index funds for a super small fraction of what you're paying. Please leave that guy. You can get a globally diversified portfolio with only three funds, heck, you can even use a single fund if you want that.
It’s not worth the hundreds of thousands these fees will take out of your retirement accounts by the time you’re ready to use them.
https://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/ib_fees_expenses.pdf
That is awful Just downright awful. Open up a brokerage account with Schwab, Fidelity or Vanguard and buy index funds. $0 commissions, expense ratios below 0.10%, $0 annual fees.
The broker says the benefit of going through the firm vs generic accounts is that my investments are curated to my risk, age, preferences, etc. How should I take this into account?
Of course they’re going to say that, they’re trying to sell you a product. You can buy a target date fund on your own. It automatically adjust risk as you get older without you lifting a finger. Or paying anyone obscene amounts of money. I’d politely tell them to pound sand.
Message received. I think I’ll begin to craft my letter to cut ties. Thank you.
Prepare for the counter arguments, they will lay it on thick and guilt trip.
What metrics can you detail that show that the investments have been curated to your risk, age, preferences, etc?
Here, read this: [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio) Boom, now you know how to build your own portfolio taking risk, age, and preferences into account
You shouldn't. More than 90% of active fund managers under-perfom the market, and the few who don't are celebrities like Warren Buffet.
Run and run far, that person is absolutely robbing you. You can open a brokerage account at any major broker (Fidelity, Vanguard, Charles Schwab) and purchase low-fee index funds for a fraction of the cost with no back-end fees and no account maintenance fees. Read more here: [Investing - r/personalfinance - Reddit - Dive into anything](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/investing/) I bet they were super friendly, huh?
Yes, very friendly. The broker and I meet about twice a year and he does help to instill confidence that I’m on the right track. Is that worth anything?
It’s worth the free cup of coffee they give you when you walk into their office. They’re at least giving you that, right? That’s the least they can do after robbing you.
Of course they are nice, they're salesmen and they are not giving advice that's in your best interest; they're not fiduciaries. No it's not worth it. At your age the only thing you need to worry about is asset accumulation, aka your savings rate. Use low-cost total market index funds for a super small fraction of what you're paying. Please leave that guy. You can get a globally diversified portfolio with only three funds, heck, you can even use a single fund if you want that.
It’s not worth the hundreds of thousands these fees will take out of your retirement accounts by the time you’re ready to use them. https://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/ib_fees_expenses.pdf
Vanguard Fidelity Schwab Pick one.
You’re getting robbed. Open an account with Fidelity, Vanguard, or Charles Schwab and pay <0.2% fees on index funds.
Why are you paying any fees at all? Unless you have an 8-figure trust fund that needs managing anything more than $0/0% is too much.
open it at fidelity dump this broker