If you personally have $300,000 or more, you personally belong hiring a money manager who only charges you by the %, a flat fee or a fixed hourly fee. Do not hire a planner/manager who sells anything investment-related at all. Your money manager should teach you and position you well for your long-term personal time frame(s) and anticipated needs, and should consider and understand all tax implications. He or she should be authorized to trade for you as deemed necessary. You can set up a brokerage account at, let's say Charles Schwab, or a free service although I think the $5 trade fee at Schwab is well worth the additional services that come for free with it. If you really think you want to buy or sell something or change your strategy, your adviser should counsel you and do what you want- but I wouldn't want to have an adviser whose advice I didn't follow. This is how I handle other people's money where I am the Trustee... Hope this helps.

rfenst wrote:

If you’re going to handle your funds you need to keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind.

HockeyDad wrote:

If you’re going to handle your funds you need to keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind. Otherwise put it in mutual funds.

HockeyDad wrote:

If you have sufficient funds to work with, you should seek out a coordinated team of Financial Planner, Accountant, Estate lawyer and Banker. They should all work in tandem for your best interests. Ask how they make their money from your accounts. Don't be shy - they need to work for you so your money works for them as well. Ask specifically what happens in a down year? Will they refund any fees if you are losing money in a down market. Are they making a commission on each and every trade? Who provides their market research? Is it an individual person or a team? What is their turnover rate for clients as well as advisors? (burn rate). Tell them you expect them to beat the market - otherwise you can just stick your money in a market fund and not have to deal with them.

The best coordination happens when your advisor and accountant remain on top of all the changes in regulations. They can save you a bunch at tax time.

The estate planner makes sure you have a good will and estate plan so the surviving spouse does not pay it all to Uncle Sam - or makes sure the kids are taken care of properly.

madspackler wrote:

excellent advice.

and some may want to ask about protecting cash assets and property from being taken if one has to go to a nursing home.

As in every deal, there is an upside and a downside...and a deal is only as good as the downside.

frankj1 wrote: