Anyone paid for opinion on ability to retire?

[Smokey21]

I've plugged my info multiple times into firecalc, iorp, and the Fidelity retirement planner. These calculators tell me I don't need to earn anymore to maintain our life style with a cushion, but I've had to make some assumptions about property investments and some business interests.

For example, how do you classify rental properties in regards to the calculators' inputs? I've conservatively lumped them into my bond allocation, but yields are closer to equities. Treat the net rental profits as if it's ongoing income as opposed to part of bond or stock allocation?

Facing such an important decision, I'm interested in having a professional review for another opinion, particularly to see if I've made faulty assumptions about property and business interests. Willing to pay for the advisors time.

I've struggled to find someone I trust to be worth the time and money. Most seem to offer a cursory review with their real goal to get my assets under management (no interest in their ongoing fees).

Has anyone gone through this process with a fee based professional review before pulling the plug?
Any advice or experiences to share?
Any advisors or firms to recommend?

[VagabondMD]

I am going to speculate that you understand the value and income potential of the property better than any paid financial advisor will. Make conservative assumptions and then drop this number by another 25%. That will be 5 cents, please.

[StarTrekDoc]

I'm more a bargain -- $0.02 -- Vagabound's fees a way above our forum average.

You're already being conservative with counting rental as cash flow income instead of equities appreciation.  Likewise, I would discount depreciation in that cash flow and only net rental income.   You can count the equity and appreciation if you want to be aggressive, but the question is retirement and you want a conservative buffer.  Using Fidelity -- I use the below market setting to get to 90% confidence and make all investments conservative while aggressively counted expenses anticipated.  That's my 'do anything' scenario.  vs my 'beach bum' scenario where I only maintained the essential expenses.

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

I think you could find someone to exchange an opinion for money, but I'd just crowdsource more opinions for free. The Bogleheads forum is a great place to post a "Can I Retire Yet?" post with detailed financial information. You'll get plenty of feedback from an intelligent and largely conservative group of investors.

 

You could post the same post here for additional feedback.

[G]

I hear your concerns and agree with the above responses.  I get a weekly reading list from Harry Sit and he recently started promoting here: https://adviceonlyfinancial.com/

If you do end up using someone, please post your experience here.

[Hatton]

Personal capital also has a nice retirement calculator. I double my actual spending as a buffer.  I agree with POF that if you post some numbers lots of folks here will give you an opinion

[The White Coat Investor]

Remember fee-based is not fee-only.

 

There are very few financial advisors interested in doing the work you're asking for. You want hourly-rate financial planning. Expect to pay $200-500/hour. There are a few on this list interested in that type of work:

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-advisors/

[The White Coat Investor]

G wrote:

I hear your concerns and agree with the above responses.  I get a weekly reading list from Harry Sit and he recently started promoting here: https://adviceonlyfinancial.com/

If you do end up using someone, please post your experience here.

Click to expand...

I applaud Harry’s efforts. But I doubt he’ll be able to find 3 advice-only advisors in most local areas. I know because I’ve tried doing this dozens of times and I’m lucky to find ONE competent fee-only (not advice-only) advisor in a given area.

The good news is once he’s researched one given area, he doesn’t have to do it again, he’ll just keep a list. You’ll email him. He’ll give you three names and take your $200. May turn into significant income for him.

What does he charge if he can’t find three? What about if the closest one is 150 miles away? Does he still get the $200? Interesting business model.

[DMFA]

Vagabond MD wrote:

I am going to speculate that you understand the value and income potential of the property better than any paid financial advisor will. Make conservative assumptions and then drop this number by another 25%. That will be 5 cents, please.

Click to expand...

[jfoxcpacfp]

The White Coat Investor wrote:

Remember fee-based is not fee-only.

Click to expand...

Beware of the "F" Word Scam 

[The White Coat Investor]

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

The White Coat Investor wrote:

Remember fee-based is not fee-only. 

Click to expand…

Beware of the “F” Word Scam 

Click to expand...

I think Harry is trying to go above and beyond that.

[Harry Sit]

The White Coat Investor wrote:

G wrote:

I hear your concerns and agree with the above responses.  I get a weekly reading list from Harry Sit and he recently started promoting here: https://adviceonlyfinancial.com/

If you do end up using someone, please post your experience here.

Click to expand…

I applaud Harry’s efforts. But I doubt he’ll be able to find 3 advice-only advisors in most local areas. I know because I’ve tried doing this dozens of times and I’m lucky to find ONE competent fee-only (not advice-only) advisor in a given area.

The good news is once he’s researched one given area, he doesn’t have to do it again, he’ll just keep a list. You’ll email him. He’ll give you three names and take your $200. May turn into significant income for him.

What does he charge if he can’t find three? What about if the closest one is 150 miles away? Does he still get the $200? Interesting business model.

Click to expand...

I see my new service is mentioned here so I registered to answer the questions.

I can't make advice-only advisors magically appear in any one area. If you are truly interested in working with an advisor who doesn't sell anything and doesn't manage your money for AUM or an annual recurring fee, you have to be a little more flexible with the distance. My theory is with phone, email,  Skype/Facetime/Hangout, and screen sharing these days, distance is not really a problem. Of course working with someone face to face is still better, but if that's not possible, getting advice and following the advice yourself still beats paying AUM. I used the analogy of seeing a doctor and taking the pills yourself in my advice-only manifesto.

If someone absolutely must work with an advisor within a set distance and I come back with no one, I'm happy to give a full refund.

[The White Coat Investor]

Harry Sit wrote:

The White Coat Investor wrote:

G wrote:

I hear your concerns and agree with the above responses.  I get a weekly reading list from Harry Sit and he recently started promoting here: https://adviceonlyfinancial.com/

If you do end up using someone, please post your experience here.

Click to expand…

I applaud Harry’s efforts. But I doubt he’ll be able to find 3 advice-only advisors in most local areas. I know because I’ve tried doing this dozens of times and I’m lucky to find ONE competent fee-only (not advice-only) advisor in a given area.

The good news is once he’s researched one given area, he doesn’t have to do it again, he’ll just keep a list. You’ll email him. He’ll give you three names and take your $200. May turn into significant income for him.

What does he charge if he can’t find three? What about if the closest one is 150 miles away? Does he still get the $200? Interesting business model.

Click to expand…

I see my new service is mentioned here so I registered to answer the questions.

I can’t make advice-only advisors magically appear in any one area. If you are truly interested in working with an advisor who doesn’t sell anything and doesn’t manage your money for AUM or an annual recurring fee, you have to be a little more flexible with the distance. My theory is with phone, email,  Skype/Facetime/Hangout, and screen sharing these days, distance is not really a problem. Of course working with someone face to face is still better, but if that’s not possible, getting advice and following the advice yourself still beats paying AUM. I used the analogy of seeing a doctor and taking the pills yourself in my advice-only manifesto.

If someone absolutely must work with an advisor within a set distance and I come back with no one, I’m happy to give a full refund.

Click to expand...

I wish you all the success in the world in this endeavor. I've been trying to do this, admittedly not with a huge investment of time and effort, but consistently over the years as book purchasers emailed me looking for a recommendation for an advisor in their local area. Based on that experience, I think you'll be giving a lot of refunds.

I agree that you certainly don't need someone local, but that's a surprisingly tough sell to many.