Investments and wealth management

Stray Current

Stray Current

Well-Known Member
Oct 27, 2019
1,979
SWFL
Boat Info
2007 260DA
Engines
‘07 6.2 Horizon MPI / ‘24 SeaCore Bravo III - ‘07
Kohler 5ECD
Given the hobby we all share, and the costs associated with some of the larger vessels some of you have, it would stand to reason there are a lot of people in this forum who are very wise with financial management.

I am not smart with money. Not that I’m an idiot with it or anything, but when it comes to investing and planning, I’m sure there are things I could be doing to better facilitate future growth.

Does anybody have any recommendations for books or podcasts that are a good starting point for someone to learn about different ways to invest for their future?

Finally at the zero debt point in my life and looking to make smart moves for the future
 
Stray Current said:
Given the hobby we all share, and the costs associated with some of the larger vessels some of you have, it would stand to reason there are a lot of people in this forum who are very wise with financial management.

I am not smart with money. Not that I’m an idiot with it or anything, but when it comes to investing and planning, I’m sure there are things I could be doing to better facilitate future growth.

Does anybody have any recommendations for books or podcasts that are a good starting point for someone to learn about different ways to invest for their future?

Finally at the zero debt point in my life and looking to make smart moves for the future
Click to expand...
good financial advice, avoid boats :) But I would miss out on many a great memory.
 
dmorris800 said:
good financial advice, avoid boats :) But I would miss out on many a great memory.
Click to expand...
After the beating mine has been throwing me this year I definitely agree
 
Find a really good financial planner (team) and let them manage for you for a year or two. If they are really good, you will learn from them.
And if they do well, keep them….
 
What Paul said. After retirement we consolidated all our funds under one roof, had money everywhere that we accumulated over the years. Some stocks and accounts i had long forgotten about. Went with one investment firm has office near me so i can meet facetime not phone. They tracked down all my accounts, consolidated, and have made us a nice profit this year.
Edit: We discussed strategy at beginning, at our age the main thing was preserve the principle. You need a plan, but a good firm/guy will work you thru it.
PS. Once its all setup do not watch your investments everyday. It will drive you nuts. If you’re watching it, then it means you dont trust your advisor.
 
The best advice I ever received on the topic of investing was to invest in things you know.

So I let Fidelity manage 50% of my portfolio and the other 50% are things I know, products I've liked, brands I trust, etc. I don't own any Brunswick stock because...well...I guess we all know why. I do own stock in the company that owns Safe Harbor though :):)
 
Definitely a good financial manager. Stay Away from crypto unless you have time till retirement to make back losses. Not saying you won’t male money with crypro, but it it is the Wild West of investing. Very risky.

A good money manager will get you invested in a way to accomplish your long term goals while considering the current economy. It’s a long slow ride.
 
just to switch it up from the main theme here so far, I did not hire a financial adviser to invest with. I knew some people and relatives who were using someone and it just seemed to me that they were churning their accounts. We never made a lot of money and I didn’t want to pay someone a lot of money for something I thought I could do myself. I read a few books, the one I started with was John Bogle’s “common sense investing with no load mutual funds” or something like that, and we started saving. We never even came close to the threshold amounts for IRA or Roth IRA’s so we maxed them and maxed my 401k. Although my 401k at my employer was a lousy plan, it still grew quite nicely. We both retired early and at that point I realized that I knew how to accumulate money but didn’t know how to spend it efficiently so I hired a Vanguard fiduciary to advise on efficient ways to spend it and pay ourselves a “pension”. I have no pension and my wife has a small pension from her former employer. Vanguard‘s rates for advisors is dirt cheap so long as we have over a certain amount with them. I wouldn’t do a thing different now, except maybe buy Microsoft at 69 cents. :) YMMV
 
Thank you guys for the info so far. I’m definitely not ruling out working with a financial advisor but at this point I’m more interested in learning about the different things available so that I can understand them and make smart decisions

My wife and I are 4X and 35 so retirement is a ways off yet. We both have either a 401 and Roth that we max so I think we’re ok there. Looking to generate more income for the here and now, maybe not right this moment but definitely usable capital before retirement.

We spend about 65-75% of our net each month so we are saving a decent amount when the boat is behaving but I feel like there are other things I could be doing besides rolling everything into a new CD every six months

A good portion of my cash is earmarked for a down payment on a home if the market ever settles so I want safety more than a gamble.
 
Stray Current said:
Thank you guys for the info so far. I’m definitely not ruling out working with a financial advisor but at this point I’m more interested in learning about the different things available so that I can understand them and make smart decisions

My wife and I are 4X and 35 so retirement is a ways off yet. We both have either a 401 and Roth that we max so I think we’re ok there. Looking to generate more income for the here and now, maybe not right this moment but definitely usable capital before retirement.

We spend about 65-75% of our net each month so we are saving a decent amount when the boat is behaving but I feel like there are other things I could be doing besides rolling everything into a new CD every six months

A good portion of my cash is earmarked for a down payment on a home if the market ever settles so I want safety more than a gamble.
Click to expand...
So it's really all about asset allocation. Given your ages, I would consider all tax protected money -- 401k/IRA -- 100% in the stock market. Your "walking around" money then can be in safer investments, and the market when/if you see fit. Right now you can earn 5%ish on a variety of Money market funds, CDs and Bonds. Just change the allocations as you see fit and with what you're comfortable with. If you have an account at Schwab, Fidelity, etc. you can get pretty much everything you need.
 
For over 20 years I have used Edward Jones Investments to watch over my 401K and IRAs. Thanks to them I will be retiring by summer 2024! I always thought financial planning was for rich people but my mind was changed the first time I sat down with my advisor.
 
In 2009 my Dad died. He had a sizable portfolio and my Mom had no clue. I took over managing it and did very well, grew the portfolio by 25%. But the pressure of managing that portfolio and a large accounting firm were too much for me. I had bee a commercial customer of US Bank for 10 years at that point. So I asked if they could help. They have a fairly sizeable private wealth management group. They did VERY well with the portfolio. To the extent that over several years my 2 siblings "borrowed" money from my Mom that added up to the total value of the portfolio when I turned it over to the bank. And she still has more money than she can spend.

So when my wife got tired of being in business with her asswipe brothers and sold her stock back to the company I knew exactly where the proceeds were going to be invested. I actually consolidated all of my investments there. They charge me a fraction of a percentage based on how much money I have there. And in what was a down market, my account value has grown and significantly out performed the markets. They have us very diversified. And I get a fair amount of earnings from it. More than enough to replace my wife's income. YMMV.

I was smart enough to buy Microsoft at under $20/share, which has worked out well over the years.
 
My3Sons has provided very good information. Investing is a very simple concept that lots of people are paid a lot of money to make complicated. Spend less than you make and over long periods of time you will be fine. Google Bogleheads Wiki where you will find all the information you will ever need to learn written by some extremely smart people in an easy to read format. I was not smart enough to buy Microsoft at .69 a share but I was smart enough to start saving and investing when the market was about 750. Today the market is 35,000. Good luck.
 
If you like the product buy the stock.
Never invest based on advice received at a party after a few drinks
You never learn anything when you are talking
 
We have never spent more than 75% of what we net. That is how you accumulate funds to invest. Just figured that went without saying. We always keep enough in money markets to live for at least 6 months on no income.
 
Well in the "cycle of the markets" it's generally a good time to create a diversified portfolio when interest rates are leveling or decreasing.
 
It's fairly easy to buy an assortment of mutual funds from one company (I use American Funds) that include some large company (called "large cap), small cap, mid cap, international funds, etc.

Go to the mutual fund's website and ask them to mail you a prospectus. It will list all of their various funds and shows their performance over time.

Invest some into each of the funds that has performed best over 10 years or more, and invest more on a monthly basis. Just "set it and forget it".

If you are going to use a financial planner or advisor, you are going to pay him/them. A typical fee is 1.5% to 3.5%. Doesn't sound like much but if you put in money every month that fee will start to add up.

Got questions? PM me. I'm a retired financial advisor and might be able to help you.
 
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