There have been countless discussions on whether or not it's worth it to have a financial planner, and I know that's a personal decision. I just entertained a call from a planner from Personal capital. I took PoF's advice and opened up a Personal Capital account a month ago and I have to say it is really nice to be able to see EVERYTHING in one spot. I don't look at it every day but I know it's there to reference if I need it.
I consider myself a novice with regards to finances who is interested in learning more and hopeful that someday I can be savvy enough to feel confident that I am making the right decisions with my hard earned money. Today is not that day. I'm maximizing retirement, doing backdoor Roth, putting money into a taxable, saving cash, and doing most things right (minus the big doctor house and the remodels that go along with it). I don't have a financial planner and have made recent financial decisions by reading WCI and PoF and asking questions on this forum.
So, the Personal Capital planner was nice enough. He said they are 100% fiduciary, unbiased, and only use ETFs. They use Pershing as their custodian and they charge a flat rate of 0.89% of AUM, with a minimum of 100K to start. So that's only $890/year on 100K and that doesn't sound all that bad. I asked the planner about his background and was surprised to hear that aside from being a college graduate he doesn't have any advanced degrees. There is a CFP on staff but he has no special letters after his name (aside from the expected licenses). Good? Bad? Does this matter? Sure seems like it should.
As soon as he found out that most of my money was tied up in my 401K and DBP (and cash for a remodel) he realized I couldn't quite make the 100K cut (with my Roths, HSA, and taxable). He immediately wanted to table the conversation for a later date, which I found to be a relief (since I'm biased against FPs in general) and also slightly off putting. Anyway, does anyone reading this use Personal Capital for financial planning? I'm debating if it'll be worth it in a few months when I move some cash into my taxable and have 100K in vehicles that they can manage. They do TLH and probably many more things that I have a very basic understanding of and certainly don't feel comfortable doing on my own.
Would love some thoughts!
I consider myself a novice with regards to finances who is interested in learning more and hopeful that someday I can be savvy enough to feel confident that I am making the right decisions with my hard earned money. Today is not that day. I'm maximizing retirement, doing backdoor Roth, putting money into a taxable, saving cash, and doing most things right (minus the big doctor house and the remodels that go along with it). I don't have a financial planner and have made recent financial decisions by reading WCI and PoF and asking questions on this forum.
So, the Personal Capital planner was nice enough. He said they are 100% fiduciary, unbiased, and only use ETFs. They use Pershing as their custodian and they charge a flat rate of 0.89% of AUM, with a minimum of 100K to start. So that's only $890/year on 100K and that doesn't sound all that bad. I asked the planner about his background and was surprised to hear that aside from being a college graduate he doesn't have any advanced degrees. There is a CFP on staff but he has no special letters after his name (aside from the expected licenses). Good? Bad? Does this matter? Sure seems like it should.
As soon as he found out that most of my money was tied up in my 401K and DBP (and cash for a remodel) he realized I couldn't quite make the 100K cut (with my Roths, HSA, and taxable). He immediately wanted to table the conversation for a later date, which I found to be a relief (since I'm biased against FPs in general) and also slightly off putting. Anyway, does anyone reading this use Personal Capital for financial planning? I'm debating if it'll be worth it in a few months when I move some cash into my taxable and have 100K in vehicles that they can manage. They do TLH and probably many more things that I have a very basic understanding of and certainly don't feel comfortable doing on my own.
Would love some thoughts!
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