boltonguy wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:07 am Hi,
I just joined this forum today as I'm looking for some educated advice and based on what I've read so far I think I'm likely to get it here.
I am 53, employed full time with $3M in cash & investments (70% retirement / 30% other). I have been contributing to my 401k which was in the Fidelity Growth Fund and have also been investing a bit on the side in dividend-focused ETFs. I am 100% cash as I rolled my 401k into an IRA and moved non-retirement assets into cash 4 months ago, looking to wait for a better opportunity to get back into the market. Qualified funds are in a MM fund returning 5% and non-qualified funds are in a preferred deposit account at Merrill earning 4.7%
I took a call from a Merrill Financial Solutions Advisor - after a few discussions he has proposed moving me into several funds that are 6 months old so no performance history and not beating the comparative index net of fees including a commodities fund which has just seen abysmal and volatile performance over the past 10 years (excepting last 2 years which makes the yield look stunning). He has also proposed a 12-month treasury ladder. Cost is 1% AUM for the funds (on top of internal fund expenses) and .25% for the treasury ladder.
He seems like a nice guy but $30k a year seems like a lot where I think I may be able to do better myself. For example, using a fund screener to find active funds or etfs with a consistent performance history, and a bond fund or diy ladder with ishares etfs.
This is probably a DIY crowd so maybe I just need to type this out to see that I dont really feel like I'm getting anything for that $30k. I dont feel like I'm getting access to any funds or strategies I couldnt get on this forum or through a robo-advisor, etc. Thoughts?
Thank you!
Why dont you consider a fee-only, a win-win?