Sound Investing

← Sound Investing28 okt · 57 min

Finding an Hourly Advisor from 30,000 feet

Finding an Hourly Advisor from 30,000 feet28 okt57 min

<p>Aloha from Oahu! I recorded this one from our hotel room in Hawaii, where my wife and I came to celebrate our two birthdays &mdash; three days apart, if not the same year. I promised Zan I&rsquo;d only work from four to seven each morning on this trip, and this was the one podcast I wasn&rsquo;t willing to miss.</p><p>It kicks off something I&rsquo;ve wanted to do for a long time: an honest, practical look at one of the biggest forks in the road a do-it-yourself investor ever faces &mdash; whether to manage your money yourself or hire someone to help, and if you hire help, what kind.</p><p>This first episode is the view from 30,000 feet. Over the coming weeks and months I&rsquo;ll dig much deeper, including interviews with organizations like Hello Nectarine, NAPFA and the Garrett Planning Network.</p><p><b>In this episode:</b></p><p>07:29 &mdash; Why every investor is really starting a business, and why &ldquo;hiring&rdquo; index funds and ETFs is step one<br>15:29 &mdash; Why the future you&rsquo;re paying an advisor to predict is one they can&rsquo;t predict any better than you can<br>27:40 &mdash; The difference between commission salespeople, assets-under-management (AUM) advisors, and hourly or flat-fee planners<br>36:25 &mdash; The conflict of interest almost no one talks about, and why it reaches all the way to the day an advisory firm is sold<br>47:10 &mdash; How a $5 million investor paying 0.8% ($40,000 a year) might get the same help from an hourly or flat-fee planner for $8,000&ndash;$12,000<br>54:34 &mdash; Whether you&rsquo;re a few years from retirement, already there, or just want to make this decision with your eyes open, I think you&rsquo;ll find something useful<br>54:53 &mdash; Why I recently paid $3,400 to test an hourly advisor myself, and why I&rsquo;m glad I did</p><p>This is the first of at least two or three episodes on this topic. I&rsquo;d love your feedback and your questions for the ones ahead &mdash; email me at paul@paulmerriman.com.</p>