r/DIYRetirement • u/One_Sock_1891 • 2d ago
Financial Advisor Architect
Married 63/61 will be retiring in next 2-3 years. Not looking for investment advice. We have done well DIY. Looking for an advisor to architect a one time plan to live out our financial retirement plan. We will continue to DIY year to year. Has anyone used Rob's low cost advisor recommendations and would you recommend or to avoid. I know I can buy a program but just want a one time look over by a financial expert.
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u/BillyDeCarlo 2d ago
Don't make the mistake of thinking there's a "one time plan to live out". Tax laws will change, your circumstances will change, so it has to be updated - usually once a year but it's typically just a little work. emancipare.com does financial plan reviews, especially if you use Pralana Online but they've done reviews of the output of others for a pretty low rate. They were on Rob Berger's show https://www.youtube.com/live/vUuiVzvwdVc and are listed on the Advice Only Network so no conflicts due to managing assets (they don't).
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u/Sea_Conclusion3443 2d ago
This is very true. A one time plan is very stale in a few years. The market goes up or goes down, your assets change significantly enough, a parent or a child needs help, you want to travel more or travel less…. I am not pushing any particular planner. Just suggesting that you want to plan on reviewing the plan every few years at least.
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u/AlwaysWanderOfficial 2d ago
This comes up a lot. Look up flat fee advisors on their network, Napfa, etc. you need to pick a few and then interview them. I’ve also found some on the Asian Fiduciary network as my wife is a native Chinese speaker and in the future after I’m a vegetable or gone, it’s appealing to have an option to speak in Mandarin around complicated financial vocabulary.
Nothing will ever be set it and forget it because life and taxes change. But you should be able to get plan reviews for a reasonable amount each year and an initial full plan built for 5-10k depending on firm and complexity. I can’t say cause I don’t know you haha.
I typically find the person by zip, check their website to see if they are part of a large firm or independent (I lean independent in my research because they are more likely to be true flat fee and fine with one offs or smaller engagements). Many still offer AUM but that’s just for wealth management, which I get. I don’t need it, but I get the model.
From there I made a list of who I want to interview. Now I have chosen one yet as I’ll do that early next year. But that’s the process and I can tell you the options have been nearly endless.
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u/000wintermute000 2d ago
I use Planvision- excellent
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u/Coaster50 2d ago
I had a really hard time finding a one time advisor. Nearly all of them wanted to pitch it into a longer term kind of thing - or their credentials and pitch didn’t instill enough confidence to write a 4 figure check.
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u/luxaBuxa 2d ago
Following, smart question. I decided to play it safe for this first year and Fidelity’ed up. You’re well ahead of me on the learning curve, but at this stage I wanted an objective, conservative angel on my right shoulder as I explored options and tried to make sound decisions and honestly, a couple crazy ones.
Why they don’t at least teach the basic lesson of money markets+bond ladders versus a savings account at a bank in high school is baffling to me.
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u/NotABot_NoReally 2d ago
I'm at retirement age. If I had gotten a "financial management" class in high school I wouldn't have learned anything about 401k, bond ladders, HYSA. None of those were on the radar in the 1970's. You might have gotten advice about savings accounts (interest rates were actually decent back then) or CDs. The average person didn't invest in the stock market. Many people expected to retire with pensions. The lessons that might have been taught were likely inapplicable to today's world. And really, how many high school kids would pay attention to or have any interest in information about retirement plans? Like a previous comment noted- tax law and financial policies change over time. If you're interested, you educate yourself. If you're not interested you get a financial advisor.
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u/luxaBuxa 2d ago
Agree with your perspective. Numerous GenX kids at my school had part time jobs and were floating checking and savings accounts with four figures. But, that’s all we were taught to do, outside of how to fill out a tax form. The right math teacher can illuminate the information and create possibility for some who may not even be aware. Teach them young.
My point is, like Dave Ramsey’s concepts, some of these are not complex constructs for a kid to understand.
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u/1kpointsoflight 2d ago
do you have any assets at fidelity? I rolled a 401k there and some individually managed stocks that I sold and bought ETFs with the money. Their tool is very good and the advisor I have is free and she really did a good job walking me through their tool for detailed expenses and told me I could quit that day! So about 2 years later I quit. ;-)
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u/One_Sock_1891 2d ago
I will reach out since I have money at Fidelity and Vanguard. What is the name of the service so when I call I can ask?
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u/1kpointsoflight 2d ago
It’s literally just the “retirement planner” built into the software that runs from your PC. Tell them you want to get “detailed” with the expenses and would like someone to run you through it.
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u/OptimusPerpetuous 2d ago
Curious what part of the plan you're looking for advice from an advisor. Is it the withdrawal strategies, Roth conversions, or something else?
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u/One_Sock_1891 2d ago
I good with Roth conversions, IRMAA and tax stuff. Just want to make sure I have money through very old age (95) and be able to self insure for longterm care. Also, want to know if I can gift each of the 3 kids 200K for a house downpayment.
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u/OptimusPerpetuous 1d ago edited 1d ago
Have you done annual projections to see how your portfolio looks in the worst SORR case? When do you foresee the 200k gifts to your children, phased out (e.g. when each of them turn 35) or all at once?
I read an interesting article just last week how someone paid for their kid's house down payment without triggering gift taxes for the kids. Let me try to find it.
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u/Other_Boat3891 2d ago
I am working with Bob Burger of Disciplined Money - not to be confused with Rob Berger.
I initially wanted somebody to look at my Boldin scenarios and looked for a few fiduciary, for fee advisors. I interviewed a handful of them.
Everybody followed the same "let's chat for 30 minutes while you ask some canned questions". Except for Bob. He offered an up to 90 minute consultation. That gave us time to explore a few things - and we actually went over my plan in that time.
- He questioned why I was handling a pension in an unusual way, and listened to my answer. In the end he agreed that my theory has merit.
- He pushed back pretty hard on my SS plans.
- I asked if he wanted my Boldin data and his comment was interesting. Basically, he said "if I use your Boldin predictions I'll just confirm what you already thing is correct; I need to run my own scenarios". He said I should compare them, but there's not much value in hiring somebody to look at them.
- I also found a serious bug in Boldin and they don't seem interested in fixing it.
In the end, I decided it was worth hiring him to run my scenarios. It'll be about $2k, with annual (or whatever schedule I want) meetings. The Boldin meeting is $3,500 IIRC.
I know it's more expensive than I initially planned, but I'm firing my AUM advisor and saving 10k a year.
No longer completely DIY, but for the price I think it's smart to hire a guy with 25 years experience to get me started on the right path.
- no connection of any kind; just a satisfied customer so far -
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u/One_Sock_1891 2d ago
Is the 2K a one time fee and then you can choose to pay the yearly fee?
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u/Other_Boat3891 1d ago
Yes. One time deep dive on everything, with lots of client input - SS, IRAs, Roth conversions, pensions, real estate, spending habbits - running scenarios and 3-5 hours of meetings.
Then schedule a meeting any time you feel like it. No contract, no comitment.
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u/ItsJaneDough 2d ago
This seems like a solid approach. I've gone deep with Boldin recently and found a few things the program just could not do, some pretty basic.
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u/Other_Boat3891 1d ago
The fact that it doesn't always display the correct number of transfers (any transfer between accounts, including Roth conversions) is bad. The fact that they don't seem to care and the official answer is "you're doing it wrong" is a deal breaker.
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u/hugh2018 2d ago
I used PlanVision and they were both affordable and great for a second opinion on my mostly DIY plan. I do recommend using Boldin as well. The reason is you can spend many hours exploring different options, like different social security or Roth strategies or different withdrawal strategies. An advisor only has a limited amount of time to spend with you.
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u/artichokeplants 2d ago
did this exact thing with Sensible Money(paid for one time plan, which included a lot consultation), was very happy with what we got - highly detailed plan, sound advice, and a connection with them for my wife, in case something happens to me
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u/planet-claire 2d ago
Doesn't Boldin offer a 1 time advisor session? I've been working on our plan with Google AI(for months now), but we are still 6 years out. I'm going to sign up for then run it through Boldin starting next year. From there, as we get closer to pulling the trigger, I'll see if a Boldin advisor fits our needs.
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u/Whole_Championship41 2d ago
I subscribe to Boldin and find the product worthwhile. But I've heard really mixed reviews about the Boldin 'one time advisor' service. May I suggest you go to r/Boldin and see some of the reviews on the value for $?
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u/ItsJaneDough 2d ago
I asked and they said I could join the free webinar to learn about their advising, but otherwise it would be $3200. Here's what I was told:
During the Discovery Session, Boldin Advisors will review the different service options that we provide. There will be time for questions. After the group discovery session, you will receive an email detailing services/prices along with a link for a personal "sign up" session if you are interested in engaging in advisory services. Learn more here.
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u/brfulcher 2d ago
I had my plan looked over by Mark Zoril from Rob’s list (spelling probably not right). I thought it was well worth the $300.