AUTHOR: Rachna Condos on 1/12/2026 FIRST: Mike Xavier on 1/12 | RECENT: Bob Steele on 1/22
Comments
Thanks Greg, we will see how it goes. I am very wary of AUM advisors and neither one of them is overly interested in finances yet I know when we pass away, there will be a substantial sum that they will need to know how to manage. It was easy for us because neither of us had much to begin with when we got married and we were both savers:)
Interesting topic. My daughter recently got married and is the primary breadwinner as her new husband is starting Physician Assistant school at Duke. During the bridal shower they played the newlywed game and it was quite enlightening when the question of "who spends more" was raised, they both pointed to each other but eventually it was agreed that my daughter spent more.However, upon further discussion what emerged was that she was likely to spend on small things regularly and often household items whereas his spending was not as often but much larger dollar amounts and usually unrelated to the home. For Christmas we gifted our daughter and our brand new son-in-law a very practical and strategic gift-$3000 towards a fee only financial planner. The purpose of the gift was so that they could work on their financial goals, desires, and habits together and make money something they could easily talk about rather than it coming up when it became an issue. We did not want to interfere or have them perceive us as interfering so we wrote them a nice letter explaining the goal of the gift and that we would always be there to support and answer questions but wanted them to have a professional that was guiding them around money matters. We gave them the hello nectarine site where they could pick from any planner they wanted and I had also culled through and given them 6 planners that I thought might work well for them. They were pleased although in private they said, "my wise decision about money would to not spend $3000 on a financial planner”😉 What was a bit frustrating and eye-opening was the response I got when I originally posted on a Retirement Facebook Page asking for recommendations of fee only planners. The recommendations were few but the questioning of my parenting was plenty! I had posted anonymously and soon took it down as it was causing me quite a bit of frustration and making me second-guess myself, our relationship and my intentions! Luckily it was met with gratitude from the recipients, and our hope is that as they continue to make more money they will have a better understanding of how to manage it and ultimately amass wealth.
Jackie, that is wonderful to hear that Fidelity was so helpful. We have our HSAs at Fidelity but don't really want to add them to the mix because the majority of our brokerage accounts are at Schwab and Vanguard and it seem simpler to stay with one of them. I will say that the comments here are very heavily in favor of Fidelity so they are obviously doing a great job!
Thank you for sharing your experience. In recent years Vanguard's customer service seems to have deteriorated and as I am a maximizer I want to be able to have that option of meeting with someone. We have used a fee only advisor for specific things but we have a lot of changes and a lot of moving pieces in the next few years and sometimes I just need a simple answer to something:) not a full plan, which is why I thought having the availability of a professional would be helpful.
Thats good to know especially as every other week we get a letter about a hack to one or another of the companies we do business with. My husband recently signed up for Aura which is supposed to protect against all kinds of fraud. I'm still playing with it so can't tell you if its worthwhile yet as I am always a little wary.
We are in CA and Nevada and the reason to move the larger balances away from our employer is that we do not have access to ETFs or individual stocks, just Vanguard Mutual funds.
Comments
Thanks Greg, we will see how it goes. I am very wary of AUM advisors and neither one of them is overly interested in finances yet I know when we pass away, there will be a substantial sum that they will need to know how to manage. It was easy for us because neither of us had much to begin with when we got married and we were both savers:)
Post: Are you and your spouse synchronized?
Link to comment from January 20, 2026
Interesting topic. My daughter recently got married and is the primary breadwinner as her new husband is starting Physician Assistant school at Duke. During the bridal shower they played the newlywed game and it was quite enlightening when the question of "who spends more" was raised, they both pointed to each other but eventually it was agreed that my daughter spent more.However, upon further discussion what emerged was that she was likely to spend on small things regularly and often household items whereas his spending was not as often but much larger dollar amounts and usually unrelated to the home. For Christmas we gifted our daughter and our brand new son-in-law a very practical and strategic gift-$3000 towards a fee only financial planner. The purpose of the gift was so that they could work on their financial goals, desires, and habits together and make money something they could easily talk about rather than it coming up when it became an issue. We did not want to interfere or have them perceive us as interfering so we wrote them a nice letter explaining the goal of the gift and that we would always be there to support and answer questions but wanted them to have a professional that was guiding them around money matters. We gave them the hello nectarine site where they could pick from any planner they wanted and I had also culled through and given them 6 planners that I thought might work well for them. They were pleased although in private they said, "my wise decision about money would to not spend $3000 on a financial planner”😉 What was a bit frustrating and eye-opening was the response I got when I originally posted on a Retirement Facebook Page asking for recommendations of fee only planners. The recommendations were few but the questioning of my parenting was plenty! I had posted anonymously and soon took it down as it was causing me quite a bit of frustration and making me second-guess myself, our relationship and my intentions! Luckily it was met with gratitude from the recipients, and our hope is that as they continue to make more money they will have a better understanding of how to manage it and ultimately amass wealth.
Post: Are you and your spouse synchronized?
Link to comment from January 19, 2026
Jackie, that is wonderful to hear that Fidelity was so helpful. We have our HSAs at Fidelity but don't really want to add them to the mix because the majority of our brokerage accounts are at Schwab and Vanguard and it seem simpler to stay with one of them. I will say that the comments here are very heavily in favor of Fidelity so they are obviously doing a great job!
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 13, 2026
Good to know that you can purchase the Vanguard ETFs at Schwab.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026
Thank you for the detailed response, it is quite helpful.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026
I'm sorry to hear of the botched conversion. As we will be doing those over the next few years Vanguard's handling of your account does give me pause.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026
Thank you for sharing your experience. In recent years Vanguard's customer service seems to have deteriorated and as I am a maximizer I want to be able to have that option of meeting with someone. We have used a fee only advisor for specific things but we have a lot of changes and a lot of moving pieces in the next few years and sometimes I just need a simple answer to something:) not a full plan, which is why I thought having the availability of a professional would be helpful.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026
Dan, I just like having the flexibility of having two relationships.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026
Thats good to know especially as every other week we get a letter about a hack to one or another of the companies we do business with. My husband recently signed up for Aura which is supposed to protect against all kinds of fraud. I'm still playing with it so can't tell you if its worthwhile yet as I am always a little wary.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026
We are in CA and Nevada and the reason to move the larger balances away from our employer is that we do not have access to ETFs or individual stocks, just Vanguard Mutual funds.
Post: Schwab or Vanguard?
Link to comment from January 12, 2026