The reason people are doing it themselves unlike in any other field is because in no other field do experts charge by percentage of the client's net worth. That's why.

@alphamale2363

4 ай бұрын

And some people quite enjoy it.

@larryjones9773

4 ай бұрын

I'm a retired corporate accountant. Corporations can afford accountants because they have large amounts of financial information to process. The average investor has such a small amount of money invested, that it doesn't cost justify hiring a financial advisor. It's an unfortunate situation. KZread, however, is a significant new source of information for investors. Before KZread, most of us were 'flying blind', and making bad investment decisions.

@markwalters7498

4 ай бұрын

For sure! 2 clients with similar life situations, one has $1 million to invest, the other has $2 million. Both get essentially the same advice but one pays $10,000 a year and the other pays $20,000. Year after year after year. What a scam.

@pauld9653

4 ай бұрын

Real estate agents are another.. no more work to sell a 1 mil house than a 500k house.. but double the fee. One may just pay for a financial plan, a one time look and advice, run the simulations and then review it every 2-3 yrs.. much more cost effective. Or use New Retirement for diy.

@lonestrtgr55

4 ай бұрын

@@markwalters7498Right, it’s a scam preying on the financially illiterate. A more fair model would be taking a percentage of the performance obtained but not the principal invested. Or just a set fee.

Of course you would recommend an adviser, being one yourself. Well, I had one. Lost a lot of money in fees. I would be much better off now and within my retirement goal if I just invested in a couple of low fee index funds. Instead, I am 5 years out now. Five years of my life that I will never get back.

@lonestrtgr55

4 ай бұрын

I paid for 4 yrs until I realized how much I was paying and it was totally not worth it for the advice I was getting and poor performance. Most these financial advisors are just salesmen to keep your money under management to collect fees. I was not really provided anything of value other dropping me in some cookie cutter portfolio and a call once a year. I don’t see how that is in my best interests. Fiduciary duty is a joke.

@Geetee3991

4 ай бұрын

Not all advisors are created equal. The amount of percentage points you’ll save just in tax savings with a good advisor is more than the few bps you’ll spend to employ them. But it’s on you to do due diligence with who you hire.

I fired my last advisor because I retired with $1.5M in an IRA and didn't know Roth conversions even existed. Now I have to be pretty aggressive in converting and I still have to deal with my wife's IRA.

@larryjones9773

4 ай бұрын

My brother has a financial advisor who failed to get him signed up for Obamacare subsidies. He retired at 60, and just turned 65. I suggested he fire his financial advisor, but he ignored my advice. I only recently learned that he didn't signup for Obamacare subsidies. He's been on his wife's former employer's health plan, that is expensive.

@3namechangezalowdevry90day7

4 ай бұрын

​@@larryjones9773It might be that he's converting retirement $ from trad. to Roth! (The converted amount counts as income and can disqualify you from Obamacare subsidies.)

@cybrainx72

4 ай бұрын

Eric shines in this area. I can imagine him being great at tax planning. I have n't seen investment side w.r.t risk management though.

@Toomanydays

4 ай бұрын

To be fair, I’ve learned more about Roth conversions here than anywhere and plugging in various scenarios in NewRetirement.

@3namechangezalowdevry90day7

4 ай бұрын

@@larryjones9773 Roth conversions count as income, so that could have disqualified him from getting help with the cost of Obama care.

Work is a suboptimal hobby. Love that!

This guys best trait is sales and fast talking. That is why he is on YT. I have never used a Financial Advisor, as I am a career finance person myself and he can't tell me anything I do not know. I do know I have kept people like his fee 1 to 2% for myself, and yes I have saved that long term advisor cost, in the hundred thousands. An advisor cannot beat the S&P index over time - so he just talks a lot, that is it. My 1st S&P Mutual Fund investment in Vanguard was in 1982.

@M22Research

4 ай бұрын

Good for you. Not everyone is a “career finance person”. I have an MBA from a top ten university and spent 30 years in Finance & Marketing. But I have learned from this channel. Have you even watched more than a couple of his videos? You seem to believe all “Financial Advisors” are stuck in the past and primarily do “Investment Advice”. The big bank captive investment house AUM (% of Assets Under Management) advisors largely fit this category. Investment advice is a small part of qualified Retirement Planning. Everyone’s situation is different. I don’t generally believe the payback is worth it, but some folks are willing to spend 1% of their assets per year to put it all on someone else. The key question is are they truly getting full scope of retirement planning services for that fee? It is generally foolish to pay an advisor 1% simply for investment advice. My mother is in this situation (don’t ask) and I beat their complex portfolio, including individual stocks with my very simple portfolio in both up and down markets, sometimes by an embarrassing for them percentage. For most folks with simple assets, a flat fee advisor probably makes more sense. But one who does full scope Retirement Planning, from Taxes, Roth IRA conversions, Social Security decisions… and yes an investment plan. You might be fine with self-management. But paying a one time flat fee advisor to look over your shoulder just might uncover an opportunity you missed. The retirement game is very long term and it seems foolhardy not to at least spend that one time fee. And if you’re married, at least having a periodic relationship with an advisor might make sense for if you die first or for when your mental acuity is not as sharp as you age.

@Geetee3991

4 ай бұрын

Tell me you know nothing about tax planning without telling me you know nothing about tax planning. If you were in the industry you clearly weren’t very good at it…

@ralphparker

28 күн бұрын

I think the best you could expect is for an advisor to match indexes that he is using to manage you money since not all your money will be in an S&P 500 or even a total market fund but will use cash, CDs, bonds, US stocks and international funds. Your ratios won't be like everyone else, if he is truly serving you. But I suspect most managers are managing with cookie cutter plans and that ain't worth 1%/year if you have 1 M or more.

#3 Love it ! Such an important to bring front and center Eric .. worth every penny. Trusted advisor us the key term. Thanks..

Excellent content, clear and well delivered, thank you from UK

A lo of wisdom there! Great job Eric! I’m recently retired and became a client of Safeguard Wealth Managemet. Very satisfied with the team and the plan going forward. My take is I wish I had started 5 years earlier with them. With the benefit of hindsight,some changes we could have implemented a few years back would have been very beneficial,but I wasn’t educated enough to know it. I think an educated DIY investor can do a decent job through much of the accumulation phase,but in those last years before retirement..seriously..have a FA look at your situation.

Good video and discussion Eric. There is quite a bit here to challenge everyone to revist and evaluate their thoughts and actions. I feel that personal bias and complacency is something that all need to be on guard against. Your content is always thought provoking, and at times challenging. Keep up the great content. Larry, Central Valley, Ca.

Great video, well explained, thank you.

Not only are you a great financial planner, you are a great philosopher as well. So very thought provoking! Thank you!

This is very interesting, Eric. Thank you

New subscriber. 52 wife 48. Sold everything, slow traveling. Almost a year now. 100 percent agree, retire to a plan, what, where, how, when, with who..... Spouse/partner on board is a must no matter the plan.... Monte carlo as a guide not the plan.

@nunuvyurbiz123

4 ай бұрын

OMG that's what I'm going to do! Single man, 55, will retire at the end of this year (@56) to slow travel solo. Any tips?? I've started getting rid of stuff, finding it difficult to sell. Having to donate/trash.

Great video Eric. Perhaps the Dalbar Study would be good future topic.

Once you reach a goal you set a new goal. After I reach a financial milestone I do feel nice about accomplishing the goal. When you get past the point where you know you will be fine when you retire it’s not any more comforting. I’m comfortable with my plan now but I do set new goals as I cross the previous one set.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

Great point. I think the key is how much weight you put on reaching that goal. I think it's problematic when you sacrifice today and tell yourself that crossing that milestone will mean something grand. I think there are shorter paths to happiness and peace of mind.

This is a great video that rings very true to me. I passed my 4% goal a few years ago and am now down to 2.5% WR and still feel that if my portfolio was just 25% larger I would feel so much more comfortable with an early 40's ER. I have a feeling that when the +25% comes I'll move the post again. ha! Good video and good things to keep in mind.

I’ve been using a planner mainly for investment advice at the stage of my life. Using my work place retirement plans with their limited options, I was able to outpace my planner by 4% annually over the past decade reducing my present retirement savings by six figures. The planners before this one were more interested in selling life insurance policies as a savings strategy. The financial planning industry is filled with grifters.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

Sounds like you weren't using a planner if it was only investment advice

I don't mind the idea of using a planner charging a set fee to do a specific task like creating a plan, and then checking back in with that person every few years for a checkup. I adamantly oppose the idea of using advisers who charge a percentage of assets to manage it on an ongoing day after day basis. It is really dead stupid simple to create a basket of maybe 3-4 ETF's or mutual funds and achieve broad diversification and low fees and keep more of your money. I have yet to meet an adviser that didn't want to pile money in all kinds of high fee exotic funds that are quite literally good for nobody but them. The average person does not need to be invested in 10 to 20 funds or more to achieve diversification. That's total garbage. And lets not even begin to get into the topic of robo-advisers and the sheep shears that they are.

Comparing a cardiovascular surgeon to a financial adviser is apples to oranges! Oh the ego of some folks!

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

You can compare apples to oranges quite easily. Both are generally round, both are fruits, similar weights, similar colors, etc.

@cybrainx72

4 ай бұрын

@@SafeguardWealthManagement I learn how to counter apples to oranges accusation in my future debates with this. Thanks.

@CraigandMandy1

4 ай бұрын

Those surgeons do have big egos...

Some advisors charge at a lower rate as you have more to invest. But, if you want to live via the 4% rule and the first % goes to an advisor, then now you are doing the 3% rule. If you got 2M and you pay 2%/ year, that is 40K/year. Ask me, is three weeks of my year worth 40K? Yes! 20 K? Yes. However, there will be a time I can't do it myself and then the 1% fee would be worth it.

Is there a rationale of the AUM fee model? It doesn’t make sense for me for 2 people to be charged different fees for the same advice based on their wealth?

Another well done video Eric and the rest of the gang. Count me in the group that agonized over whether I should DIY my retirement or get an advisor. Having worked with the great folks at Safeguard over the past year or two, I'm pretty sure going DIY would have led to a LOT more research time and worry on my end and therefore would have pretty negatively impacted my "happiness" factor in this first couple of years of early retirement. I'm pretty confident that working with you guys has certainly paid for itself in both actual $$$ but also in quality of life for me. I still like to try and stay on top of financial planning concepts but I can do it at my leisure and not be constantly worried about not knowing what I don't know. Means a lot more time having fun on my paramotor and keeping up with new grandkids. :)

Prior to retiring, I worked at a Fortune 500 financial company. I’m not sure exactly how many financial advisors I spoke with in my 20+ years, but I would safely estimate that number being greater than 2,000. 10% of those financial advisors were excellent. They listened carefully to their clients and stayed on top of tax law changes. They cared. 20% had potential but were still learning. Maybe they all made it to that elite 10% group, but that is statistically unlikely. 70% simply weren’t competent, nor were they interested in improving. I would EASILY place Eric in the top 10% group.

@bryanwhitton1784

4 ай бұрын

We would as well. But can only use his videos.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

I appreciate the kind words

@bryanwhitton1784

4 ай бұрын

@@SafeguardWealthManagementMy wife is very particular about who she will listen to from YT on finances. You are one of the exceptions. We watch you videos regularly together and when she can't watch with me she will ask me to send a link so she can watch it later.

I see my comment challenging AUM pricing is actively being deleted.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

Not sure what this is in reference to but no one is deleting your comments. There is a filter set to wait for comment approval if a link is posted in comment but that is it.

@cybrainx72

4 ай бұрын

@@SafeguardWealthManagement Fair enough. Thanks for the explanation.

I think becoming financially literate is just another skill. Alas with all skills they require discipline, your choice and your rewards.

I love these videos. Just wish I had enough assets to use Eric as my planner but he isnt available to me because of this threshold. So some of the best advisors simply aren't available to a large part of the population so learning as much as I can to do it myself

@bryanwhitton1784

4 ай бұрын

Same as us. Both my wife and I really enjoy what he does and his approach to retirement planning. But like 90% of Americans we don't have enough to get above his threshold.

@RDM1776

4 ай бұрын

You may want to consider a fee only planner. The services may be different form what Eric does, but that may get you most of what you need.

@cybrainx72

4 ай бұрын

Consider two clients one with 3M and another with 6M ? why would they charge 6M guy twice the money .. when the work he puts is the same. This pricing under Asset Under Management is flawed and needs to be disrupted.

If I hire an advisor how much do I have to adjust the 4% rule to pay for my advisor ? Maybe 3% or more because they charge 1% on all assets just not withdrawals

@Geetee3991

4 ай бұрын

You’re operating under the assumption that the advisor is returned 0 value to you. A good advisor saves you at least what they charge in tax savings alone. So no. You don’t have to adjust.

@johngill2853

4 ай бұрын

@@Geetee3991 maybe in some cases But for instance my case is extremely simple. Single, median income,low cost of living area and an extreme amount of time looking at my situation. I tried an advisor 20 years ago and believe me I was on a different level than he was. He was just a salesman.

@alk672

2 ай бұрын

@@Geetee3991 you’ll know in 30 years if you had to adjust or not. No thank you.

@Geetee3991

2 ай бұрын

@@alk672 if it takes you 30 years to do simple math then you shouldn’t be anywhere near investments in the first place.

@alk672

2 ай бұрын

@@Geetee3991 it's not simple math. Your advisor will always tell you they are the greatest advisor ever. You need to have solid understanding of the markets and investment strategies to understand if they are making you money or costing you money. Basically you need to be in a place where you don't need financial advisor anymore - just to understand if your financial advisor is any good. Which is why I don't think financial advisors make sense for most people.

This has certainly created quite a bit of controversy on the subject of paying for advice and support in (or before) retirement. What is that advice worth and how should you pay for it? Is the AUM model fair and reasonable? Fee only? TBH, I have looked at both options and fee-only can be almost as expensive as AUM. Some fee-only advisors are in the $3K-$4K range. What if you do pay someone $5K/year for advice and managing your portfolio and they provide a better return than you could have done yourself or avoid a mistake you might have made if you managed your own portfolio? What if that advice was worth $250K over the course of your retirement? How would you feel if you realized at age 75 that you wish you had done something different 10 years ago and it cost you $150K and if you had paid an advisor $5K/year for those last 10 years (50K) you would have avoided that mistake and have an extra $100K?

@lonestrtgr55

4 ай бұрын

I think advisors should only charge by the hour of any work they spend on your portfolio. Not any different than attorneys or CPA’s. That seems to be the only fair model.

Most content per minute video’s on youtube 😀

The chart comparing the average investor return vs the s&p 500 was missing one thing, the returns for people using financial advisor. 6.81 % of the s&p seems pretty good considering a portfolio should be diversified.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

It's just comparing the equity side to an equity benchmark. If you compared the average portfolio (safety and growth combined) the gap would be far greater. I personally would not consider 6.81% very good in this context.

Retirement planning is very important in our world, funny how in some parts of the world, you need over a million dollars to retire comfortably?

To save you some time - it’s a sales pitch

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

It's not. We are lucky enough to have more demand than we can meet.

Excellent Video ! If possible I would like to see more on success strategies of what people can do in retirement. It's not a place where people go to die. Although we've been told that. Retirement.......The beginning !

Dividends are not factors. Dividends are a forced tax.

There is no way I would ever try it myself. I know what I don’t know.

@bryanwhitton1784

4 ай бұрын

If you know what you don't know why can't you then educate yourself so you now know it? My concerns are that I don't know what I don't know. With that I cannot design my retirement or have to factor larger reserves to allow for the things I didn't know about.

@truckinpoppop6777

4 ай бұрын

I have enough sense and humility to know that I don’t know everything and what my strengths and weaknesses are

@bryanwhitton1784

4 ай бұрын

@@truckinpoppop6777I agree. There is so much that I don't know and have never been educated on. But I am trainable, I can be educated. What concerns me are the things I don't know I don't know.

Yeah, well I don't have $3M that I would need to have you help me manage my personal retirement. So I guess that isn't possible.

In #3, heart surgery on yourself is an illogical comparison as it's not possible.

@rayzerot

4 ай бұрын

Just because it's not possible doesn't make it illogical. The logic is absolutely there. It's just a suboptimal analogy

@Geetee3991

4 ай бұрын

It’s called an analogy.

Honestly, this is one of your worst videos. The first two topics are good... number 3 was a self promotion ad which lasted 1/2 the video. Last two were iffy since it depends on the situation and mindset.

Re: Surgeon arguement. So you don't manage your own financial plan because that thats Surgeon doing to surgery to himself ?

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

Correct.

Best advice: don't invest in razor companies... Nobody wants to shave anymore.. no one wants to look professional, esp on you tube

Financial advisor... guarantee your work and pay for any devastation, lose or lack of growth that occur. All of you are full of crap. All of you saw the 2007/2008 crash....about a week after. Or any other crash. Complete junk.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

Got it, so you basically want an advisor to guarantee a certain return? Seems reasonable...

very biased video.

@SafeguardWealthManagement

4 ай бұрын

It is. I believe I said in the video, "I am biased". Thats not particular to me. Everyone is biased. (I'm assuming here, this comment is reference to point #3) A DIY investor is also biased but has no checks and balances. There is a well known survey that found more than 80% of people believe they are above average drivers. This overconfidence bias doesn't just affect driving but most areas of life, including financial management. So its not surprising that most DIYers think they are doing better than a competent planner could be. Now, like I said, I'm biased. Everyone suffers from an overconfidence bias. The difference is that a third-party advisor has checks and balances. How does a DIYer minimize bias? What is that bias costing that DIYer? It's worth considering.

Im too distracted by his arms in that shirt. He’s getting buff. 🫣 lol

@larryjones9773

4 ай бұрын

I thought it was just me. Relief.