> This is one area where I've procrastinated. I've read a lot of personal finance books and blogs, so I'm not entirely ignorant, but I do need to find a competent professional to look after my finances.
The problem is most financial advisors are just salespeople. They don't have your best interests at stake, they're just looking to get you into whatever product gets them the best commission.
Personal finance is not complicated, at least for those of us of average means. Max out your tax-advantaged accounts and keep costs low. Invest early, invest often and stay the course through a crisis.
A financial advisor will load you up with mutual funds charging >1% annual expenses. Vanguard index funds are as low as 0.05% and historically are more likely to outperform a given actively-managed mutual fund. Over your lifetime, that's a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs.
John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, says "buy the entire market and hold it forever." You don't need an advisor to do that.
> This is one area where I've procrastinated. I've read a lot of personal finance books and blogs, so I'm not entirely ignorant, but I do need to find a competent professional to look after my finances.
The problem is most financial advisors are just salespeople. They don't have your best interests at stake, they're just looking to get you into whatever product gets them the best commission.
Personal finance is not complicated, at least for those of us of average means. Max out your tax-advantaged accounts and keep costs low. Invest early, invest often and stay the course through a crisis.
A financial advisor will load you up with mutual funds charging >1% annual expenses. Vanguard index funds are as low as 0.05% and historically are more likely to outperform a given actively-managed mutual fund. Over your lifetime, that's a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs.
John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, says "buy the entire market and hold it forever." You don't need an advisor to do that.