Investment advisor-good or bad

[inlineskater]

If you need help on a regular basis, I would look for a CFP (Certified Financial Planner). They have to pass a very rigorous study and test to advertise those Marks. In my career as a planner I went through the process and it is intense. I was a CFP and every year I had to review and sign a code of Ethics. Some are fee based and some are commission based. Commission based only make money if they sell a product to you. Many other people call themselves financial planners but have no credentials.

As with anything this is my opinion. I am sure that someone will dispute this.

[Down South]

I use financial planners. The institutions that I invest with provide the planners. My overall costs are 1%. That includes everything in my accounts. Trades, monthly withdrawals and financial planners.
Through the years their advice has payed off well. I have consistent earnings through many years, most years averaging more than 10%.

This year, I converted all of my investments into cash due to election and Covid concerns and still made 8% for the year.
I'm just starting to gradually venture back into the market.

[Persistent]

Lots of good advice here. Lots of different strategies.

I am a lazy investor. I let others do to the necessary market research and take the risks. I pay very little for the results I get, but get an excellent and stable long term return. I would rather read iRV2 and give advice than read financial news. At one time or another, I tried many of the methods posted above.

At one time the Wall Street Journal was an excellent investment information source. Now with high profits made on micro second differences in market news, there is no possibility of beating the market.

I use Vanguard S&P 500 funds. Fees are in tenths of a percent. It is hard to earn back the 1% or more investment advisors charge.

Using the index fund, the market sets the value, buying and selling decisions are made by the rules of the index. I get the return. Risk is pooled over the funds investments.

[Ohio Snake]

I’m a practicing and credentialed Investment Advisor. I’m reading the responses, which some are very good. I like seeing these threads and the different perspectives.

[jcussen]

I too use a financial adviser, moved my 401K into an IRA when I retired and he has looked after it for 7 years. Despite his making some bad investments, I now have more money in the IRA than I did when I started, despite taking about $150000 out of it and paying taxes on that amount.
He also charges a straight 1%. I am not smart or disciplined enough to make informed purchases and sales. I did convert a bit to gold and silver before the election, and have made a few dollars on it, but don't know if it was necessary or not.

[Winemaker2]

For anyone doing fund investing themselves I would recommend Morningstar Fund Investor.
They also had a format to develop your own investment policy statement that I found valuable.
It forces you to set objectives, portfolio mix, fund selection guidelines, etc and the boundaries that trigger a rebalancing.