I was the DIY financial person in our marriage for 30+ years until about 5 years ago. That's when my wife's father died and his kids had to sort through all the finances left behind. My wife doesn't want to deal with ours (if I go first), nor leave it for our kids to deal with. We found a local fiduciary wealth advisor (harder than expected, since we live a mountain town in the west) who we both like and trust. I view his fee structure in a similar vein as I look at insurance costs: I'm paying for a continuing service after I'm gone and we sleep better at night. There's been several unexpected benefits too. Having a third set of "eyes" looking at our finances has subtly changed our behavior (somehow we're saving more and spending less). We've also used him in bouncing financial ideas (for example, using inherited money to pay off a mortgage and timing of retirement). Additionally, we have had introductory meetings with the advisor and our adult kids, where they now know what we have and what our plans are. We've been completely transparent with them on our finances, as there's a living trust involved and one of our kids is disabled.
Maybe a little long quote, but I found this interesting story in John Bogle’s book, Don’t Count on It: At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel, Catch-22, over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have – enough.”
I'm not crazy about how the question includes the word "should." However, last check, stocks abroad are 26% of my portfolio, which means it's about half of what I have in domestic stocks.
Comments:
I was the DIY financial person in our marriage for 30+ years until about 5 years ago. That's when my wife's father died and his kids had to sort through all the finances left behind. My wife doesn't want to deal with ours (if I go first), nor leave it for our kids to deal with. We found a local fiduciary wealth advisor (harder than expected, since we live a mountain town in the west) who we both like and trust. I view his fee structure in a similar vein as I look at insurance costs: I'm paying for a continuing service after I'm gone and we sleep better at night. There's been several unexpected benefits too. Having a third set of "eyes" looking at our finances has subtly changed our behavior (somehow we're saving more and spending less). We've also used him in bouncing financial ideas (for example, using inherited money to pay off a mortgage and timing of retirement). Additionally, we have had introductory meetings with the advisor and our adult kids, where they now know what we have and what our plans are. We've been completely transparent with them on our finances, as there's a living trust involved and one of our kids is disabled.
Post: Finding a flat-fee financial advisor
Link to comment from October 22, 2024
Maybe a little long quote, but I found this interesting story in John Bogle’s book, Don’t Count on It: At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, the late Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, author Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel, Catch-22, over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have – enough.”
Post: What’s your favorite financial quote?
Link to comment from April 15, 2023
I'm not crazy about how the question includes the word "should." However, last check, stocks abroad are 26% of my portfolio, which means it's about half of what I have in domestic stocks.
Post: What percentage of a stock portfolio should be invested abroad?
Link to comment from April 15, 2023
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housal. Probably the only one I've reread several times.
Post: What’s the best financial book you’ve ever read?
Link to comment from April 15, 2023