Mid-Life Savers Confused by Retirement Decisions

“Hi all! I’m thinking about moving to self managing my investments and getting rid of my planner. They are charging 1.5% of my AUM, which seems like way too much. Has anyone ever used an hourly planner to help set them up and then do check ins with them every year? Worried about keeping track of tax details, back door roths and RMD’s but sick of the fees. Thinking of using fidelity or vanguard as a platform. Thank you! submitted by /u/Jenstr29 [link] [comments]”

“I have a self managed Boglehead portfolio, but have an attorney for estate planning and a CPA for taxes. I use an insurance broker for all my insurance needs. I use credit freezes with all 3 bureaus to protect against identity theft. I use a VPN for online privacy. I read a great book called “Strangers in Paradise” for helping with family governance and generational wealth planning.”

“A good advisor will essentially put you in the Boglehead portfolio you would have bought on your own, maybe with a few tiny tweaks. But they will hold your hand when the going gets tough, and they will take care of the small amount of administrative work it takes to manage things (taxes, etc.). A normal, standard-issue advisor will put you in a bunch of high-fee products that they say will be amazing (direct indexing is a common one these days), but which only pad their pockets and don't giv”

“I feel like this sub is mostly advocating for personal management of money but I’m a novice when it comes to investing and wanted to make sure I was balanced and getting the best return so earlier this year I moved my old employer’s 401k over to EJ and I went from 25% returns to 2-4%. I know IRA’s should hold less risk than personal accounts but is this normal and what I should be aiming for? Is there significant risk in just managing it myself and throwing it all in VOO or QQQ or whatever? I al”

“I know most of the time it is not advised to pay these people. I have a particular situation and am looking for advice. My father of retirement age with a pension, has an IRA/Brokerage account of 7 figures managed by a financial advisor, let’s call him Bob, who charges a 1% AUM fee. He loves this guy and thinks he does well and has been with him for decades, and my grandma was with the same firm. Bob did my dad a solid and agreed to manage my Roth IRA with transactional fees not AUM. I have maxe”

“The thing worth understanding before any vetting call: "access" is the product they sell, not the edge you buy. Median private equity returns after fees have historically landed in the same neighborhood as public markets. The outperformance lives almost entirely in top-quartile funds, and those funds are oversubscribed by pensions and endowments writing nine-figure checks. The PE access an eight-figure family office client actually gets offered is usually whatever couldn't fill els”

“Has anyone split their portfolio into 2 parts to help mentally with savings goals and eventually spending. We are on our way to a very comfortable almost Fat Fire. I made a random comment to my spouse recently that we would have expenses covered and are working for extra luxuries and it got me thinking. We budget in three parts - cost of living spending, travel and shorter term savings (newer car in a couple of years) and retirement portfolio. So I’m thinking of rewriting my spreadsheet that tak”

“I'd love to know how that 280 bps of annual tax alpha is computed. Like, do they just assume you'd start each year with zero gains in your account, and that if not for their TLH you'd have just realized all the gains and paid tax at the highest marginal rate on them? That type of marketing is deceptive, and quite dishonest.”

Have you considered a Fidelity CMA?

“I've had a couple of introductory calls with independent financial planners that I found via NAPFA that were local to me. Their websites listed themselves as "fee only advisors" or had "flat-fee" type language. And NAPFA listed them as CFPs. I have been explicitly looking for retirement planning, tax strategies, rollover guidance for retirement accounts, and several other situational stuff specific to my family and assets. During the introductory calls, it became very cle”

“Some of it depends on the fees themselves, too. It’s not like fee only people are cheap. It could cost many thousands of dollars to do what was described. Going with the 1% AUM fee is ultimately just amortizing that and still providing the ongoing service.”

“Most of finance Reddit assumes everyone makes median income and is 20-30 years old. Outside of those circumstances, whether high earners, needing to change approaches as retirement gets closer, about to retire, or other complexities, the value of an advisor goes way up.”

“Yeah I definitely wouldn't automated trading. I think the question is whether you can use a chatbot + Fidelity or Schwabb to save the fees of the advisor. You'll save the fees but the quality of the planning will be up to how much you ask it to find ways to save on taxes and protect assets / income sources. AI is good for discovery but not really for implementation.”

“Exactly. OP (next gen) asked if financial advisors are good and worth it. I offered an opinion and points on the many pitfalls of advisors, and why it may not be necessary. He can take it or leave it. You and I know that advisors are on here salivating for attention from OP. “Fiduciary” is the most abused term in finance. So often, it’s in your best interests (client) because it’s in my best interests (advisor), not because it’s the best option for you (client). I work with all of these people,”

“Generally I have been critical of 530 accounts (Trump accounts). However, today I did a study on tax drag for 530A accounts vs. taxable brokerage accounts and came to some interesting conclusions. TLDR: All the results are pretty close with 55-year tax drag amounting to 10-60 bps with a range of variables affecting this like the eventual tax bracket during the kid's retirement, state income tax, and so on. Generally, like for like, the 530A account will do marginally better, but if managed p”

“I get the gist would be to realize gains in lower income years, and harvest losses before then to compensate. I'm 45 and have $1.5M taxable with like 143 holdings diversified fairly well but way too many high ER mutuals. My advisor charges me 1.65% for this privilege on my biggest account and 0.9% on a smaller one. He also hasn't beaten the market, of course. It's gonna be hard to separate because of the family relationship but also because I have a lot of work to do to simplify the”

“You should make appointment at TD branch and discuss your situation. You are looking for advice and funds are already at TD. No advice at wealth simple”

“I manage my own money, about $25mm in post tax accounts. I hate the idea of giving up a percentage to someone who will most likely just do what I am doing today, but probably be worse at it. However, in the past year I have talked with some advisors who work for the owner of the company that I sold to. I have seen that they find and present a lot of private opportunities that I would never run across. Most of them I would pass on but some seemed interesting - lately lots of loans for data center”

“Talk to them again. At ~15mm they all push access to privates (“only the best ones”). I’ve had the opposite experience, ~30% still in a PE backed company I run and they pitch me privates. Also, I spent 10 yrs at a fund and raised capital from institutional investors. It’s been a while but the institutions run 10-20% private with full staffs. There’s all kinds of data out there if you want to do that. Start with Prequin, better than pitch book capital even after BX bought them. To play the role o”

“Yeah TLH is great but it's deferral of taxes. Not free money. You end up with a lot of embedded gains. It's good if you're going to die and give your kids stepped up basis. Or donate to charity and deduct full market value of a security held for longer than a year. You can get some liquidity by asset backed lending but you are at the mercy of a market crash.”

“Advisors don’t want clients to have market returns, they want clients that don’t call them. So they sell overly complex, expensive structured products. Risk is not understanding what you own. Underperformance comes from diworsification and excessive fees. So many so-called fiduciaries fleece their clients for fees. A client hits an AUM fee breakpoint, fees are not reduced. Yet a new client at the same AUM gets the lower fee. But, “relationships” and “value”. AI can’t humble overpaid advisors fas”

I used Claude Opus when I did it.

“AI sucks for something like this. I gave it my entire portfolio and it said “solid portfolio” and the changes it recommended were redundant. If I ask specific questions based on things I read about, only then will it go out of its way to correct and optimize things based on information I actually give it.”

“What Jack Bogle and Vanguard did to management fees — both passive and active — AI will do to advice. With AI, investors have access 24/7 instant access to the best data and unbiased advice. No advisor is without conflict. They have incentive to drive fees, di-worsify, and be lazy. The fleecing of investors for fees is catching up with them. That Vanguard report that advisors cite time-and-time again is becoming irrelevant. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-05/ai-is-upending-tradit”

“If you are market timing, then you simply increase your bond allocation. If you had a 70/30 equities bond allocation from 1999-2010 your balance in 2010 would have been 20% higher with the 70/30 and would have been 1% less with the 100% equities.”

“Increase your bond allocation, like you are supposed to do if you do not have the stomach for full equities market volatility. That is the same advice at $1m or $100m because it works.”

“I had a wealth manager and he managed a portion and I did the rest. We did an end of year recap to see the returns net of fees they were by far my worst investment category. I manage it myself in a combination of PE LP, coinvest, real estate and other private investments. No way I’m going back to money managers or public stocks if I can help it. Look carefully at returns (net of fees) and history. You don’t need a manager to buy index funds, make sure they’re bringing some other strategy or deal”

“A friend of mine is a professional coach who helps people work out their relationship with money. It's not about financial advice, it's more about how to frame your life, happiness etc. He's worked for people with small figures and people with massive exits. He's got a popular podcast on the subject. He's French (and is based in France) but speaks English, should you be interested I can DM you his details (and you can figure that out as you wish).”

“I figured it was cash balance plan. Given cap gains advantage of cash balance plans, this is still likely better than a brokerage (assuming plan invests sanely). My company hits full 401k for me every year (70k), and then they add another ~$100k in cash balance plan. I’m quite a bit younger, but on track to have more pre tax than y’all, if I kept at it until your age. The difference is my brokerage is much more than this because I’m also a frugal bastard who saves too much. Tomato tomahto all go”

“What planning could they have done other than moving states? Assume they’ve been high tax this whole time. Pre tax (assuming ira or 401k or cash balance plan) all generally still has advantage of saving cap gains on withdrawal. This is still better than paying tax and putting into a brokerage. We can argue they should have saved more and put more into a brokerage, but then their total assets would be even higher — their pre tax accounts and future tax payments would be unchanged. So what panning”

“My financial investor is also a certified retirement planner. He has done well with my portfolio over the years. I am now planning to retire. Should I talk with him about doing a retirement plan? I know he gets paid based on how well my portfolio is doing. But if I'm retiring, that means I will be pulling money out of my portfolio which would then decrease how much he gets paid. Thoughts? submitted by /u/MyHonestViews [link] [comments]”

“I stopped when i saw the 1% fee and being told to take a loan out of a 401K. Walk. That’s two red flags. walk.”

“Yes, its now $30m, but if you were doing planning in 2000, it was only $675k. At that point, life insurance was actually one of the best ways to transfer assets if you had anything substantial. It has obviously had the roof blown off since then and the math has changed.”

“There's flexibility with it - the life insurance value is actually a tax efficient wealth transfer tool, if that is an objective of the policy holder, and the cash value can be accessed tax free - the portion you take out is just docked from the life insurance value. It does not return as well as most investments, but it is unique in that by law, it must go up in value every year. I have some, and it is an asset - its just hard to decide exactly how to think about it, since it's not a tr”

“Yeah usually taking out a 401k loan is a bad idea But you also didn't post what the debt is, what the outstanding balance is, and what the interest rate is. If you're being told to cash out your 401k to pay down a 3% mortgage then that's idiotic. If it's 30K in 30% credit card debt, that's a different story. What debt are we talking about here And yes, the standard advice is also that there's not much an advisor collecting a percentage fee can do for you that the couldn&#”

“That advisor is either lying or incompetent. There is no reason to pay them 1% of assets under management or take a 401k loan so he can get a bigger paycheck which comes out of your retirement. Run, don't walk. You sound quite financially literate. You've got this. P.S. You can get a free advisor (level of experience/certification is going to vary based on your assets) from the big boys like Fidelity or Vanguard if you have money invested there.”

“Edit: I want to cover a few things: 1. Appreciate all the feedback and very straight to the point advice and hard truths. 2. I just got off a call with the adviser, I said we need to hold off as my wife and I discussed it and are wary of the fees and moving ahead. He pushed really hard on how beneficial “the plan” is and that the improvement shown in their plan of 2-3% is inclusive of fees. 3. He pushed hard on how my dad/uncle have been happy with them, definitely turned to a door to door sales”

“I’ve discussed this with as many people as I can (2, lol. Only guys in my friend group that are on the FIRE path) and countless hours asking AI (I mean, who else am I suppose to talk to that’s free?) so next is ask Reddit This is the plan I have: Will retire at 42 (4 more years god willing) 750k in brokerage. Current allocation is 65% dividend growth (SCHD, div kings and aristocrats, champs and contenders, couple REITs, couple BDCs, mlp etf) 25% derivative income (GPIX/Q, NEOS stuff, PFFA, IDVO)”

I have about $130k in a taxable J.P. Morgan managed brokerage account. I’m considering moving it to Fidelity Go, Betterment, or Wealthfront because I want a completely hands-off experience. I don’t want…

“I was a consultant for many years and when I went out on my own I elected S corp. best decision for me as I’m a finance guy so I could handle the extra paperwork. I made in the high 100s to low-mid 200s, and paid myself a salary of $60k a year. Ran every legitimate expense I could think of through it to minimize taxes. Wasn’t really worried about social security impact as I can always file under my ex if I wanted.”

“I'm 64 and have $2.5M. I've been letting a Morgan Stanley advisor manage my money. I have 60% in ETFs at a 6.5% return and no manager fees. I decided to interview a Raymond James fiduciary / planner who offered to manage my assets for .9% the first year, .8% the second, and .75% thereafter. I don't need services like estate planning, etc. — and I'm bringing a lot of money to him. Should I negotiate him down or stick with the safer, cheaper route at Morgan Stanley? submitted”

“I've am at age and income level where I really need to start thinking more about taxes, and how to plan for them. I've been maxing out my 401k for many years. As soon as my company 401k had the option I went all in on cheap index funds, and never looked back. I'm an engineer, I could do the math on fees. Only learned Bogle was a thing a couple of years ago. But there is one thing I am completely clueless about: taxes. And how to set myself up or heirs to avoid getting nailed. I just”

“Situation : I work two W-2 jobs. Private: offers a 401k and Roth 401k with a shared limit. University: offers a 403b and 457b with separate limits. Because the University accounts have separate limits from each others, I didn't realize the 403b shared the same §402(g) limit as the 401k/Roth401k. Because of this, I ended up contributing over the 2025 cap across all three combined. I took a corrective distribution from the Roth 401k to bring the total down. The wrinkle : I think the distributi”

“I've uploaded all of my numbers and Chat GPT has come back with specific recommendations on how to manage our money in the coming years. It continues to offer more comprehensive financial reports and is starting to ask for things like tax returns and account statements. Are there any privacy risks in uploading this information ? submitted by /u/rons27 [link] [comments]”

“Just fired Fisher Investments after 8 years. The AUM fee was way out of hand versus services provided. I'm 71, wife is 61, we are both retired living in Florida. My now self-directed portfolio is 60/40 equities/fixed income with 70% of equities in VTI and 30% in VEA; both in a brokerage account. Fixed income is 50/50 IEF and VCIT; these are in two IRAs. We have 100k in a HYSA at 3.8% annual yield for living expenses. I will re-balance once a year and top up the HYSA. Thanks for your input! &”

“A while back, when our taxable brokerage was creeping up to around $4M, our fiduciary advisor recommended we bump our umbrella policy from the basic $1M up to $5M. We did it, though our standard auto/home insurer made us jump through a ton of hoops just to approve a $5M limit. Fast forward to now, we finally crossed into Chubby territory and our net worth is sitting around $6.5M, mostly liquid outside of retirement accounts. With growth, $10M doesn’t look as far off as it used to. The big questi”

“Agreed 100%. My wife and I handled the accumulation phase totally on our own, with occasional help from our lawyer and CPA on estate planning and taxes. But all our savings, spending and investing we handled ourselves directly. Frankly, it's not terribly difficult if you have a reasonable knowledge of investing, the discipline to live below your means and make consistent contributions over decades, and a little bit of luck. I just retired about 4 months ago. A year or two ago as we turned in”

“Yeah all these teacher plans are not great. I think I had Axa for a year. The stock market was doing great at the time and I think I broke even with fees. It looks like my fees on my 403bs are like 2% which is a lot. I’m gonna roll over to Schwab where I already have a roll over IRA or something, I can’t even remember what it’s from. 😅”

“Look at which funds have the lowest management fee. Too bad vanguard isn’t on your list bc their fee for their S&P fund is like 0.04%. You might also compare fees on target retirement funds if you want something more strategic than a straight index fund. But basically compare the fees for the fund types you want and go with the lowest fees.”

“Hi! I’m trying to stop looking at each investment account individually and instead manage my portfolio as one whole. I currently have: • 401(k) • HSA • Employer RSUs • Taxable brokerage • Acorns • Rental real estate • Will be opening a Roth IRA soon Do you manage each account independently, or do you look at your overall asset allocation across all accounts? I’d love to hear how you think about deciding what belongs in each account. submitted by /u/One_Roll_7609 [link] [comment”

“Thanks! Considering rolling my old funds over that way if I don't find my current 401k fees competitive enough.”

“Hey, I (35) am a physician in the military married to a 40 yo attorney in the government as a GS employee. We have one 2yo child. I am looking for recommendations on what investment strategies and funds make sense. Military service: I will be eligible to exit service with 14 years of service (no pension but keep my retirement/401k) or I can stay for 20 years and receive a life long pension. Income: 204,000/yr of which 175,000 is taxable. Spouse makes 92,000. Investments: About 450,000 in roth TS”

“Does anyone have a good relationship with their financial advisor? Currently with Northwest Mutual and everytime I talk with them they keep trying to add more services and fees for them to collect. Currently 1-5M AUM late 30s-early 40s married couple. Paying .95% AUM and they handle all investments into etfs and mutual funds(we then also pay the fund fees). We do not get financial planning or any other services besides tax loss harvesting, we do not meet yearly and exchange 2-5 emails a year. It”

“My wife (28f) and I (29f) are looking for someone to help map our financial goals and priorities with. I’ve started looking for financial advisors and planners but am worried about working with someone who is just trying to sell me something. We are not in a position to invest seriously for 4-5 years because we are in the process of saving for IVF (almost done saving and completing #1, but will need to start saving for #2 almost immediately) and have student loans that cut into our budget as wel”

“My spouse and I are high earners (combined between $200k and $400k per year). We max 401k each year for us both with current totals around $375k. We have $3.3 million in a broad range of ETF, stock, bonds, etc. managed with a wealth advisor whose annualized fee is .85%. We have cash savings in an emergency fund. In other words, we are very financially comfortable. I’m hoping to retire in 10-12 years but there’s no pressure to do so early if the market dipped. As our accounts increase in value, p”

“I (30F) have a taxable brokerage account and a Roth IRA. My husband and I also share an emergency fund. My CD with about 30k in it is maturing and looks like the CD rates are all at ~ 3.5% or less. I invest in VTI, VXUS, SMH and few stocks in my other accounts. should I continue the CD or invest in taxable brokerage? I haven’t been investing too much in the last 6 months with how volatile the markets have been. submitted by /u/UnfairDiscount8331 [link] [comments]”

“I’ve been with my advisor for about 8 years. I’m 61 and retiring at the end of July (in 3 weeks). The last several calls/virtual meetings with my advisor have gone a little too fast for me. I feel like I have more questions than answers when I’m done. I’m the kind of person who likes understanding the ‘why’ before just accepting recommendations. I had a call today to talk through some important decisions I need to make (ie roll over my employee pension into an account, if so which account, keep”

“Can someone explain whether an Allianz ABC annuity is good for an elderly client (78) who is wanting to grow their net worth? submitted by /u/Dependent-Fig-6799 [link] [comments]”

“My spouse and I moving in together coincided w/ my income substantially increasing. So I began thinking abt investing more seriously. And I started, bit-by-bit, investing a small but consistent amount every month. Now, my spouse and I manage our finances together, and she was a bit skeptical w/ regards to investing and deemed it risky. Which meant I couldn't invest as much as I would have if I were single. (Example: She wants us to buy a car, whereas I don't care much for a car, so now I”