What do Rick Ferri and Jon Luskin's give as advice?

[Hot Sauce]

2) Both Rick and Jon had useful things to say about how to think about Roth conversions, which helped me feel comfortable with our Roth conversion strategy.

I’m curious what some of these “useful things to say” were. Could you please elaborate?

[MathWizard]

hey community,

I have been waiting for @Rick Ferri over a year, meanwhile Jon Luskin's rates have doubled. Now they are $2,895 minimum!

https://jonluskin.com/one-day-financial-review/ (he shares samples of categories of his recommendations)

What kind of recommendations are they offering in their analysis? Can someone help breakdown their analysis process in detail so I can replicate it for my use? It may not be perfect, but at-least I can get started. Are there any processes or models you can share?

I don't mind paying, but 1 year plus is starting to be a ridiculous wait time and Jon is too expensive as an option. That's why I am turning to you all and making the magic in this accessible to everyone.

Best Regards,
Ty

Is it possible that you have an advisor that you can go to through your workplace?

The University that I worked for had a great benefits team, and since I had a TIAA-Cref (now Nuveen?) , that gave my an advisor (Wealth Consultant) who would provide a plan for free.

[BuglheadLuvsLondon]

hey community,

I have been waiting for @Rick Ferri over a year, meanwhile Jon Luskin's rates have doubled. Now they are $2,895 minimum!

https://jonluskin.com/one-day-financial-review/ (he shares samples of categories of his recommendations)

What kind of recommendations are they offering in their analysis? Can someone help breakdown their analysis process in detail so I can replicate it for my use? It may not be perfect, but at-least I can get started. Are there any processes or models you can share?

I don't mind paying, but 1 year plus is starting to be a ridiculous wait time and Jon is too expensive as an option. That's why I am turning to you all and making the magic in this accessible to everyone.

Best Regards,
Ty

Try VBIAX @ 0.07 ER and do not touch it.

I doubt Messrs. Ferri or Luskin would do better than that, even factoring in tax advice, etc.

Cheers.

[mtwhmemn]

Thanks for replying. I appreciate it.
Overall, it does not sound like something I would want, hiring an advisor. But I can see how some people would want to. I mean I can understand why some people would want to. And then there are people like some of my family members, who are the reason there is a financial advising industry. They don't read about financial stuff, they don't watch Bogleheads conference videos, they don't come to this forum and learn and ask questions and they don't want to. To me, the thought of not being the one who learns and figures things out and is totally in control of all aspects of my finances would be horrifying to me. It is true that we do not know what we do not know, so I have tried to find out what I don't know, and I will continue that effort, but for now I think I know what I need to know. So I do it myself. For some people in my family, with all due love and respect they just do not want to know. They want someone to do it for them. So, I can see why the industry exists. For the Bogleheads people who just want someone to look over their plans, I think the industry calls them "confirmers" or something like that, I am not sure that these advisors really would add much value for the cost, but it sounds like you got some value, so I maybe that's one of the things that I don't know that I don't know.

One other thing we did that I never thought I'd do is pay off our 3% mortgage at retirement. We did it for the same reason as some of my other actions, risk management. The idea that having the most in my accounts isn't the point! Knowing we are funded every month to pay bills and have plenty left over for fun travel and material things is good enough for me. If/when the markets correct, one expense we won't have is a mortgage over our head every month and we won't need to withdraw that money to pay a mortgage in early retirement, especially considering we are taking advantage of ACA subsidies and keeping our MAGI low.

The thing about seeking outside help to confirm things is kind of like making decisions in a vacuum isn't usually as good as making decisions in a group settings. Other peoples' life experiences and knowledge working together with your life experiences and knowledge can likely make better decisions than one working in a vacuum.

[1moreyr]

you can post your financial situation here and get some advice. Problem is sifting through it all. you will need to look for trends and realize the advice could come from someone who is very astute financially and someone that is starting out and no so knowledgeable. Also some think 90% equity is the way to go at 90 YO and others don't. Depending on the financial situation which you don't know, both may be correct.

if there is bad advice it usually gets questioned which helps.

if this whole financial thing isn't your bag, then a couple thousand dollars every year or two would be worth it.. you probably pay more for home and car insurance annually

[beyou]

My purpose in retaining both Rick and then Jon was not so much to get their portfolio advice on a one-off basis, though I found that useful. It was primarily to have someone on board who my DW could work with should I become incapacitated or die before her.

If they have such long waits, how would this help your DW ? Do followups with a client from years ago get faster appointments ? I would think if you have not met with them in a while a nearly full review could be required again, with up-to-date info. Death of a spouse is a major life event, tax rates change and more.

[yankees60]

you can post your financial situation here and get some advice. Problem is sifting through it all. you will need to look for trends and realize the advice could come from someone who is very astute financially and someone that is starting out and no so knowledgeable. Also some think 90% equity is the way to go at 90 YO and others don't. Depending on the financial situation which you don't know, both may be correct.

if there is bad advice it usually gets questioned which helps.

if this whole financial thing isn't your bag, then a couple thousand dollars every year or two would be worth it.. you probably pay more for home and car insurance annually

Sound advice.

[Alex GR]

I really enjoyed reading Jon's reports and find the materials intriguing and even partially actionable for my situation. However, I am very confused, having learned about the rising equity glide path. I always thought that stock allocation needs to be gradually reduced with a person's age to reduce risk. And I always thought that a retiree should dial back on equities to reduce that risk.
This set of articles turned my world upside down.
I was going to do "age - 7 in bonds until 50/50, then stay at 50/50 forever". After reading this I think I need do something different... Like let equities slide further down to 40/60 and then once I take SS, let it glide to 60/40 from there. Counterintuitive if you ask me, but the studies claim it's proven that mathematical expectation of overall result is better with this approach.

[Redlee]

Are there any recommendations for financial planners for someone who is not able to wait a year? Don't need a rockstar with name recognition...

[tibbitts]

Are there any recommendations for financial planners for someone who is not able to wait a year? Don't need a rockstar with name recognition...

Maybe this post: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=440158&newpost=805 ... ead#unread

[helloeveryone]

hey community,

I have been waiting for @Rick Ferri over a year, meanwhile Jon Luskin's rates have doubled. Now they are $2,895 minimum!

https://jonluskin.com/one-day-financial-review/ (he shares samples of categories of his recommendations)

What kind of recommendations are they offering in their analysis? Can someone help breakdown their analysis process in detail so I can replicate it for my use? It may not be perfect, but at-least I can get started. Are there any processes or models you can share?

I don't mind paying, but 1 year plus is starting to be a ridiculous wait time and Jon is too expensive as an option. That's why I am turning to you all and making the magic in this accessible to everyone.

Best Regards,
Ty

i attended the bogleheads conference - all in was $1788 between registration, banquet, flights, hotel, uber. Cheaper than a review, speaker list was awesome, between reading the forum frequently, various books recommended on the wiki, and attending the conference for the first time I feel like I don’t need a review by these fee based advisor. Likely as I approach decummulation phase I might need to.

All the talks are recorded and will be posted in several months so spending the money to go in person is not a must but if you are able to it was awesome, met great people, and learned a ton.

It’ll be in San Antonio or Austin next year - exact date/location wasn’t certain.

[bwalling]

If there is a year-long wait, then the fee is too low.

That's just simple economics.

Is the advice magical? No.

But when you hire an advisor you are not looking for a magician.

You are looking for competence, trustworthiness, education and continuity.

Economics?

Supply is constrained. One person, who has chosen to limit their client base by not working fulltime.

Fee is too low? No, because supply is so constrained.

A long waiting list is a classic indicator the price is too low and could be raised while still keeping business full. That would increase revenues. Raise it too far, and the line will shorten to the point that you risk underrunning capacity. Depending on the elasticity, that might still be a good thing for revenue and profitability, or it might not. It's business specific where that optimization point occurs.

But, economics isn't about money - it's about utility. As has been mentioned, Rick doesn't appear to want to work full time - he finds greater utility from things other than more income. Additionally, given Rick's association with Boglehead philosophy, there's some downward price pressure because the Boglehead philosophy includes quite a bit about minimizing investment and money management costs.

[rarelyright]

I’ve engaged Rick a few times. I found that his questions helped me re-evaluate my goals and asset allocation. His insights reinforced some of my strategies and helped me to adjust others. He’s likely talked to dozens of people in your position and observed what has worked well for them as well as mistakes they’ve made. Rick didn’t tell me what to do but he did help me make decisions. His fee is insignificant if it helps you make a good decision or avoid a mistake. I found having a real conversation with an expert in the field educational, enjoyable, and reassuring.