Reddit Posts
Sleeper DOW supplier V2X keeps winning US Military Contracts. Another $231 Million today.
War's back on, deal's off. 🥭 is going to make $SOC skyrocket 3x or more any day now and you want to be in it.
How does Federal spending stack up on some of Reddit’s favorite space tickers?
Edward Jones advisor wants me to invest with him instead of on my own.
MON100 vs. MASTOP50 vs. Direct US (QQQ/VOO) – 2026 Tax & Fee Analysis for International SIP
$IMTE - Beyond a "Warning." They Got the Determination Letter and Fought Back.
How many of you use a financial advisor, and do they have you in mutual funds, etfs, or individual stocks?
The "Sell" button didn't work at $60k. I am physically sick.
DD: Alaska Airlines ($ALK) – Long dated puts on undisclosed loyalty thefts, and a $180M accounting anomaly
DD: Alaska Airlines ($ALK) has mischief in their books ($180M sized) are gaslighting their flyers and keeping secrets from the Feds. Short.
$MIGI $5 Million buy, 990K shares for 30% of the company.
Invesco’s QQQ outreach will continue until consent improves. Their drive to change from a UIT to an ETF.
Moving from professional management to self-management
How I plan for $Grab to build me generational wealth
How $GRAB will be my generational wealth builder
How Grab will be my generational wealth builder
📈 Traders: Get Perplexity Comet Pro FREE ($20 Value) – AI Browser That Automates Research & Executes Trades
MOBX is quietly building a wireless empire — deep IP moat, $100M+ cash
For the traders out there - how do you stay consistently profitable with TA when one single tweet can nuke the whole day?
Early af speculative Avalon Advanced Materials
$BZH - 16k USD 21st November, 2025 calls. 28$/35$. "Build America Great Again!!"
FCEL: Post-Earnings Swing Play – Targeting $10 on AI Data Center Surge & Korean Expansion
Rolled over old Simple IRA and 401K into traditional IRA - ambassador discretionary and 1% fee common?
BINANCE froze my funds for 30 days, then deliberately sent my withdrawal to the wrong address and blamed it on malware 🤡
$RADX Radiopharm Theranostics - on the brink of changing the landscape of radiopharmaceuticals and primed as a takeover target by Big Pharma
[DD] GOSS Pushed through Resistance today with a tightly held float and unusual Pressure building, and Days to Cover is Kind of Insane
Rakuten's 2FA login tries to tell me something
HCTI is going crazy in premarket. Already turnover of 400+m
Don't consider this as FA. HCTI premarket is crazy
$IXHL - steadily climbing over the past few days in the buildup to the press release.
$SLS added to Russell, new 52 week high, news imminent!
Curious to gain real world feedback for EJ Financial Advisor experience.
Investing & Trying to Understand the Risks with this
The conflict in the Middle East isn’t just a daily headline
RCKT: Trading BELOW Cash w/ 4 Shots on Goal – CEO Bought at $5.08
Do not change your password and do not log out!
PLUG ($0.77) - RSI 17.93 & Put/Call 0.18: 2019 Replay with Options Screaming Bullish?
Why does my financial advisor buy SPY over FXAIX in my Roth IRA?
$FWRD DD: Bonded Warehouses, Shorts, and a PE Takeover Setup?
YOLO’d $8,490 on SPY calls with no TA, no FA—just vibes. Made $6.8K. Still clueless. Might YOLO puts next just for the thrill.
Who regulates 529 Plans? Unauthorized changes to a account.
$MNTS ENTERS PURCHASE AGREEMENT TO GEN ~4M
$MNTS PURCHASE AGREEMENT EXPECTED to GENERATE ~4M PROFIT!
No reimbursement policy if hacked - IBKR Canada
$CDIO PART 4 American Medical Association Grants Cardio Diagnostics A Dedicated CPT PLA Reimbursement Code For Epi+Gen CHD, An AI-Powered Test For Assessing The Probability Of A Heart Attack Or Coronary Heart Disease Event
$BEGI NEEDS HELP BUYING SHARES @ .0024
What if you want a financial advisor... just not right now?
Do I need a FA to get my annual RMD from an inherited IRA?
Did anyone else participate in the Harvard investment survey posted on Reddit a few weeks ago, and get no response (possible scam)?
Puts on Devin Nunes' and DJT's failure jamboree
$HSCS UP 11-13% PRE Black Friday SALE
Struggling with the value prop of maintaining a relationship with our IAR/FA/CFP
Should I ditch our FA and manage this myself? Am I nuts?
$RNAZ AS OF 6:10 Eastern & Use This String Going Forward Please to Consolidate
Moving Roth from an advisor to Fidelity and seeking suggestions
Mentions
A wiped Chromebook won't help if someone can talk a bank rep into changing the phone number used for 2FA. The vulnerability is whoever decides the caller is really you.
2FA is were you recieve a 6 digit code in a tex message and then enter that number in your to log in? Or are you talking about mrultifacto authentication? Peaple get there names confused. In multi factor authentication you phone has a small app to that constantly generates a code no tex message from your brokerage that can be intercepted Many businesses use this system so workers can log in from home or when traveling on business.
I guess I could believe that. OTOH, I had to really berate my mom to add 2FA to her account a few years ago. She was reaching the age where she probably could have been bullied by claims of authority in a phishing scheme into giving up something, maybe, despite being suspicious.
yes my FA called me at 7am and told me to sell everythings its over
Setup Authy and/or 2FA, this will help 95% of the cases. I have people trying to login to accounts daily and they are stopped by this.
What you're doing is great but there are a few steps you could take to improve your security. I would set up VLANs on your home network with one VLAN dedicated solely to the Chromebook, thus isolating it from other network devices like smart TVs, IOT devices, IP cameras, and your Mac. I'd also recommend storing your 2FA TOTP secrets on a Yubikey device instead of your phone (this addresses your concern about SIM hacking). You need the Yubikey Authenticator app on your phone, but it doesn't store your TOTP secrets -- they are on a Yubikey that you keep on your wallet with a backup in your safe.
Sir this is Reddit. Posting this is not FA while talking about a stock is allowed.
Boeing is building the F-47 and just won the FA-XX contract. I think it’s a run shockingly poorly but those alone mean it’s a good investment.
Hello, systems security engineer here. You always want 2FA. SMS 2FA is not trustworthy due to SIM cloning. Use at least an authenticator app, but better is an external hardware key (like yubikey). Apple will let you remove SMS 2FA as an option as long as you have 2 dedicated hardware keys assigned. Fidelity will let you add hardware keys but their app 2FA is always selected as an option, which is better than SMS but still not fantastic. Coinbase will let you swap to purely hardware keys (you need at least two). If you go the hardware key route you'll want to have a few and not all at the same location. If your house burns down your apple a count is lost forever, not even apple can recover it. Which is a good thing, just be responsible.
You could accomplish the same thing using a virtual machine on your Macbook. At the very least, use separate browsers and always use containers to maintain separation and prevent tracking, fingerprinting, etc. Please do not use SMS for 2FA, that's the most insecure method that exists. Use a passkey if offered, and use an authenticator app (like Ente Auth) or a physical hardware key/token for 2FA/MFA. Always use a unique username or email alias for EVERY site/service you login to. And obviously use a unique, very strong, randomly generated password for each site/service. Which means you're going to need to use a good password manager such as Bitwarden, Proton Pass, or KeePass.
The security of one's banking / brokerage account is given by the weakest link in the chain. If you access it from your phone (for convenience) and your computer, then the weakest of them both will influence the account security. I would try to use all possible security features the broker / bank offers me: a hardware passkey instead of a software one, an authenticator app for 2FA instead of SMS/e-mail codes, biometric authentication instead of user/password, and so on. Most brokerage apps offer multiple security mechanisms for 2FA. Make sure you disable the weak ones after enabling and testing the strong ones. Don't leave SMS texts active as 2FA if not used. If IP restrictions are possible, use them. You can setup a VPN to your home network and use it to access the bank account through your phone and still use the IP restriction. Use long and complex passwords generated from a password manager. Use strong and reputable password managers. Do not share passwords between accounts. Keep hard copies of your brokerage statements as proof in case the broker gets compromised. These are things we can do. Let the banks / brokers worry for securing their own apps against automated AI hacking tools.
Investment accounts almost certainly supports an Authenticator app for 2FA. They are not susceptible to sim hacking and you should use those instead of text/sms messages. The two biggest of my investment accounts both insist on using Symantec “VIP access” as the Authenticator app.
It is something that I am constantly worried about. I do use 2FA. But that does not stop me from worrying.
You have 2FA on your phone as in text messages? You should avoid sms/text messages for security and use an Authenticator app instead.
Your idea is fine but perhaps a bit overboard. I think sensible solutions like being on top of your computer's software updates, not downloading sketchy stuff and using a password manager put you far and beyond where most fraudsters will bother. Not when grandma and grandpa use one password (SonsFirstAndLastName#Birthday) for literally everything and still use checks at the grocery store. That's the juicy target they are going for. 2FA, Passkeys and strong passwords alone will keep you nearly untouchable online. Try not to overthink it.
are you already an FA/have an existing relationship with an fa looking for a succession plan? if not I don't see an FA selling you their book of business when pe firms are buying them out on multiple X what their t12 prod is. either that or other firms giving them a forgivable loan on multiples of their t12 to join.
You should have to take like an accounting 101 and basic FA test to comment here. The tards mixing GAAP and ARR and commenting old data is mind blowing. You know who you are.
Maybe after those earnings Netflix will finally let me watch TV in a hotel without emailing me a verification code, demanding 2FA, and kicking me off every other device like I'm committing identity fraud instead of paying them $25 a month 🤡
Yup they probably paid Moroccan FA to join the Portugal/Spain bid, paid them to accept and then FIFA to throw 3 matches in South America under the 100 year anniversary guise just so Asia could host again in 2034.
The people who FA’ed on dumb ideas like plowing options into neoclouds and chips at the top are certainly hurting after this week. I can’t say there isn’t a little schadenfreude after I’ve gotten so much hate and downvotes trying to warn people against those plays
With your resources you can probably get some decent actual FA/tax advice on that front, good call.
I hacked OP’s phone. The 2FA code you’re looking for is: 4206969
You can't do anything without the 2FA code.
I don't give FA mate. Being said, I basically full ported SOXL on leverage lol
nah, shit is primed for a launch. i expect launch to 20-30 next catalyst (80th, or upcoming ASH)...then a heavy selloff on calls as big boys lock in their profits for FA/BO negotiations. expect it to get shorted back down to around 15 next time it pops though, then slow grind up like we've been doing. I personally will derisk at that point as well, my average is <3$. sitting pretty here science is solid, these mofos have cured AML. if they were a dud the trial would be over by now, REGAL is not a healthy patient population, it's mostly old farts who relapsed. BAT survival time for those people is <8m and we're going on nearly 2y
Getting a fiduciary FA would be a pretty good idea. They can help you with the planning too
FA here as well. Mainly institutional clients. Anyway, my personal IRA has not moved in 1 year. Not up. Not down. Flat as fuck.
When you dig into them, pretty much all of the fractional ownership companies are garbage both in terms of returns and liquidity compared to the general market. It's the same thing as with Lending Club and the other microloan companies - banks are pretty good at determining what's a good investment or not. If the properties that Fundrise are funding were a good buy, they'd have little problem getting a commercial loan. The fact that they are turning to $100 from a bunch of mom and pop lenders means there's probably a reason they're not doing so. And I'd ask that FA exactly what adding real estate "balances out" and how, with actual numbers to back it.
the plan is solid on the big index, but the tech tilt feels like a neck‑tied safety net. 80% S&P and 8% QQQ already overlap a lot in FA>NVDA etc. If the same chip cycle hiccups, you could be staring at a 30–40% hit close to your 8‑year mark. Also the legacy leg with 40‑year horizon could use a bit more diversification – maybe a slice of global (e.g. VTI + XWO) and some bonds earlier, the 3‑year-before‑retirement window feels tight. Brown‑out if a shock hits; you’ll still be riding the crash before you start realigning. Consider a 70/30 US/International split plus 10–15% bonds from year –5 to start smoothing out the tail risk.
Maybe because it's a decent answer to folks asking for investment advice but not providing their full financial, economic, and demographic backgrounds nor their personal investment goals, retirement timeline, or true (or any at all) level of risk tolerance? Plus the folks giving alternate answers would get down voted, pushed back, and/or just ignored. Like if I noted what's worked for me. I might not apply to another person because they might nor run+own a business already uses physical platinum/palladium/rhodium so me telling folks to buy those things in physical to offset inflation rather than holding a gold allocation via etf might not apply. I might be able to tolerate buying leveraged ETFs, buying the dip in MSFT/BLK this year, and borrowing money to invest but that doesn't mean someone with an unstable job, is 55+ yrs old, health issues, a gambling problem, a different tax situation, is a single parent of 3 kids, or a hundred other things might not want to do what I do. If folks want a personalized/bespoke investment+retirement plan then they should go find a fiduciary/FA who will look into their situation before tailoring that custom advice/plan.
Happy Green Thumb & RYTHM consolidation day! [Spice Girls - 2 Become 1 (Official Music Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA5jsa1lR9c) Have a great weekend!
You make large financial transactions on your phone? I don’t. It’s on the desktop only with 2FA and on my own network. I have the apps for convenience so I can check balance, etc. but strictly make trades on the desktop. There are a lot better tools and information that you can get on the desktop that simply won’t work on a small form factor like a phone.
Our FA finally put us into NVDA in 2024. I was sure it was too late. https://preview.redd.it/5ay7kjl1e2uh1.jpeg?width=1770&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1039ebbd4e7f3800a376120c1027747c7b8f6c0e
What do they even do? It’s just a 2FA authentication app. Microsoft has one.
Please my children are starving I need FA. This has to be my week or she’s taking the kids and leaving. Please I need a play. I’m not a gambling degenerate I swear
What’s the play I need financial assistance and have kids. Please I need FA
GIPR in at .55...not FA ..due your own DD..do not follow me
In LPA at 3.16 . Not FA. Do not listen to me.
Before you buy any preferred check preferred stock channel. I am retired FA who used it to research preferred issues.
Guru ? I never claimed to be a Guru lmao Just doing my best to find wimners as everybody else. It is not FA. You do what you want with it. Or you can just ignore my posts and stop obsessing in what I am doing. Again, may all your picks be green 💚
No way would I be their financial advisor and tell them to move anything. Let them handle it. You can lead them to a CPA or FA but I would not change what they have.
You can absolutely smoked shorting a cult stock. Retired FA and when a stock is working and is part of the hot stock world and giving excess returns often times it gets added to. Full stop
Hop on this one boys and girls. The float is tiny. A whiff of volume sends it ! Once scanners pick it up it can go hard. We need to break $4 again and then its blue skies ! Just my honest opinion nit FA best vibes to all ! 🙏👊
If you have a very low risk tolerance you should work with an FA to manage your accounts and take measured risks to help you reach your retirement goals. Buying the lowest risk investments is going to be a long slog to financial security.
You're in the casino bro. But if you do want a couple of good longterm buys from pennyland I will give you three. DGXX AIRJ GRAB not FA but you can come back in 6 months to a year and say thanks lmao
Have you had conversations about what your goals are and how you want you FA to invest your money. I maintain about 10% of my net worth with an advisor because I will want one come retirement. I want a good long term relationship. However, if yours isn’t very good, look for a new one.
depends, do you enjoy paying for your FA's dinner's out with his wife?
I mean before I jump in and start basting your advisor like everyone else; when you sat down with your investment advisor you usually talk about things like goals and risk tolerance Like sure if you sat down and said "I have a high risk tolerance , this is just excess money I do not really need so my goal is just to maximize my returns over 20 years in hopes to retire early " Thats one thing If you said "Well this is some excess money and I want to earn a bit more than a bank, my goal is maybe a down payment for a house in 5 years, maybe a cushion if the economy turns down and I lose my job, I know I will probably need a car in the next 5 years as well" Well that is something entirely different. With scenario #2 you basically told your FA you want an emergency fund. Also maybe if you live in some higher tax state or depending on your income maybe he has it split between some money market funds or ETFs like VBIL/SGOV or even some municipal bond funds that will have a lower but tax free return Also you might be simply looking at price appreciation not total return. Or your FA might be placing you in high free , under performing funds with some 5% front load . However either way managing your assets is not that hard, especially if you are just some w-2 employee and want to save for retirement . You can check out the bogleheads forms , if you want a very hands off; simple automatic approach .
Don't worry about VBIO. Once news hits (upcoming catalysts) it should double up easily. Hold or add on dips is what i am doing. I am very confident in VBIO. Not FA. Due your own DD and you will see the obvious set up. Oh, and a small float too.
The appeal is as follows, AI Integration ... Platform Expansion.. Closing of Aquisition of G3 Vision Labs... Revenue Guidance Execution... Review Process for the Lumee Oxygen Platform Structure ...Staying Nasdaq compliant... 41% Insider ownership... After reverse splits tiny public float of only 520 000... And you all know how low float bio stocks have been flying with news, and /or volume. Not FA
Advise is give your savings to a FA and stop fkin with options because you’re bad at it
Ok bro. I won't make anymore calls this week. Didn't mean to rattle your chain. You do you bro. I just make calls when I am bullish. It is up to you to do your own DD. This is never FA from me. Just trying to help others make bank as they have helped me here numerous times. Been in this game for a while and just riding the winning streak. I already manned up and said I fucked up on this one. Read prior posts. Best of luck in your choices.
Why my electric bill got 2FA? Like bitch please log in and pay that shit for me tf
Honestly I love this play. Maybe a deal with Xi this week. Maybe they also win the FA/XX contract too. A few things I don’t see anyone mentioning is MAX -10 certifying any week now. And the impending strike looks like it may not happen based on the comments from the contract stipulations Boeing offered the union.
Boeing is one of two potential awarded of the Navys next gen fighter contract (FA-XX) that is supposed to be announced any day now. Granted it's supposed to have been announced months ago too...
Watch, Boeing wins the FA-XX contract tomorrow and this moons. All because I bet on $NOC to win. You're welcome OP
I cant tell how much I depend on Gemini. It does some things really well. It gave me some bad numbers on 2 year gains on my stocks. It apolgized, gave me the correct figures but syggested I get the info from my Schwab account. Giving it 30 stock names and asking for 2 year gains confused it. So, at the moment Im looking up each stock individually. Some of its recipes are not tasty. But today it taught me how to make a pdf of my portfolio and send it to an FA via Dropbox. I could not have done it without help. im a 75 yo techniphobe. I love Gemini despite its limitations.
If the vote passes. It should easily imo. If not, it could tank. Set a stop loss. This merger vote is unlike the standard corporate votes where the the proposition only needs a majority. This vote is different. Where any unvoted share or absentee would be voted as a "NO" against the transaction. So it is not as easy to pass. On a positive note, to my knowledge, management holds a large chunk of the voting concentration and strongly favors "YES" to the merger which could very well favor the trajectory of the outcome. Best vibes to all ! Not FA. Due your own DD
You say the numbers don't add up. I ask for said numbers. Proceeds to not rovide numbers. Recession indicators & revaluation of the dollar? Stick to company FA.
You can rent a cheap apartment (if you can find one) in a safe neighborhood where you can leave the home unoccupied year round or purchase a cheap mobile home where the lot rent is not too expensive. But these methods waste money and tie you up having to take care of an unoccupied home. Some expats purchase an RV address to establish residence in Florida from Savvy Nomad or Escapees RV Club. I don't know if these services work 100% of the time and how reliable they are, and whether your stock brokerages and banks allow you to keep your accounts open and active from overseas by using an RV address. Let me know if they work for you. Are you using your son's CA address now? BTW, how do you access the 2FA pass codes that the brokerages send to your cell phone when you are abroad? Are you using Tello or something of that nature?
> It‘s called FAFO and he‘s in the FA phase. You must be covering SPCX at Barclays. No way such prescient foresight would be from a bitter WSB denizen. Good work.
Yeah ironically most 2FA proponents still don't think political violence is ever justified despite this being one of their core arguments.
No? It‘s called FAFO and he‘s in the FA phase. People have every right to dunk on a dummy going all in on SpaceX stock, either it‘s a person who doesn‘t understand financials in which case gtfo of stock markets, or the person is being willfully ignorant and irresponsible, in which case you 1000% have it coming if you lose it all.
There is a macroeconimic connection between the two (trade deficit and budget deficit), however, it is not the rule. Also it goes in this direction budget deficit --> financial account deficit --> trade deficit (it is called Twin deficit) Because CA+KA+E=FA according to balance of payments.
There are a lot of people in target date funds. As someone who has worked in Annuity hedging (VA, FIA, IUL, IVA, FA), the companies will often force a specific allocation - for instance VA's will often require a 60/40 or 70/30 and in places that don't force it customers often self select into those kinds of allocations. WE don't care about bonds, other people still do.
All in, just bought 150 units. Worth the risk IMO, NOT FA
https://www.auroramj.com/press-releases/article/?id=123161&utm_medium=email&utm_term=N%2FA&utm_source=d365ci&utm_content=Faris%20PR&utm_campaign=Faris%20PR#msdynmkt_trackingcontext=662060bb-2b25-48dc-9223-0420fd6d0100
"SDA awarded Prime Contract FA24012490018 to Systems & Technology Research LLC (STR), under which AST SpaceMobile performs as a subcontractor to conduct an on-orbit demonstration of commercial-based tactical satellite capabilities." "SDA has determined that the capabilities to be demonstrated under this STA are of significant interest to the Department of War, and more specifically the Space Based Sensing and Targeting— Portfolio Acquisition Executive (SBST-PAE)" https://fccprod.servicenowservices.com/icfs?id=ibfs\_application\_summary&number=SAT-STA-20260605-00230 $ASTS
lol yahoo got bought out by a scummy PE firm Out of nowhere I couldn’t login to my yahoo email even though it worked for years and years, system error they said. Because I never setup 2FA, I called the support line and they said to even talk to them that’d be like $15 lmao. Kiss my ass, just changed everything to Google email and called it a day.
Good analysis. As a sneakerhead in college just trying to genuinely get the shoes, it was incredibly difficult to fight against bots in the online queues. The reselling game diluted the brand and more often than not people just stopped trying with backdoors prevalent. People just stopped giving a shit and voila, the market died. Something as simple as 2FA would have stopped all that but hey, Nike didn't care, they were getting the money at the time anyway
The AI would have to bypass 2FA and all the security features of online banks. Also if an AI went rogue you could just unplug your wifi.
what is FA? Fat Addicts?
What FA community? As far as I know it's done nothing but continue to implode the longer ozempic has been out.
She’s on the ozempy now, the FA community turned on her
We are still in the “FA” part, we are speeding towards “FO” at the speed of light
As a cfp and an FA, I would say that I spend maybe 10% of my time with my clients talking about investments. I talk with them about tax efficiency, reducing risk in their portfolio, coming in with sell down strategies for rsu, talking to them about estate planning, etc. I work with high net worth clients and their time is really valuable. They don’t like managing their investments and want someone to do the work for them. We are trying to match the market return, but I would say most people have no idea what they are doing with their investments. I have also told quite a few potential clients that they don’t need a financial advisor and are good managing things on their own
Not FA or any thing really worth listening to. TITS ARE JACKED FOR HTZ.
One more day to FA and see what mango FO
Not FA as you know, you can do whatever you want, but [I called Moderna before it pumped](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/s/i0fCCImrZD) and then people was asking how I found out, well, I just google shit and see what looks good, and this one has a promising drug for pancreatic cancer which has been pretty much a death sentence, even Steve Jobs couldn't avoid it, so if it works and they present good data, its pretty much the only option
Huh… closed above meaningful support today. Scratched enough of the details to convince myself that (for my investment style, at least) I will probably pass. I think a lot of the benefit (30% give or take) is priced in for the next … 8 months give or take one. I think it’s almost certain that a breakthrough is around the corner for them though. There was a hell of a lot of unantipated expenses Q1 and Q2 (that, or they desperately need a new CFO). I don’t think that’s the case for this group - they wouldn’t spend that money without extremely high conviction. So, maybe I choose another option… no pun intended… maybe look at call options 3-months out? I’m pretty sure the smart money has been pushing the climb since December through June of this year. They stopped buying when they hit their target in June ($11.70 ish)…retail has been buying their shares since. Volume tells this story pretty clearly. So - if you’ve got high conviction and grit - hold. But my money is that an announcement is coming soon, it will be positive, the market will jump in, we will all be thrilled about the news (FUCK CANCER), those who don’t know better jump in enthusiastically, buying (hopefully) your shares (because I told you this would happen, right? Then it will retest $11.77… then the smart money makes a decision whether to jump back in, or not. So, look for that, or buy calls 3 months out. I’ll be checking on that tomorrow. Yeah… this one is pretty clear. Huge TA and FA alignment.
Unfortunately many big companies have caught on that public discourse (especially places like this subreddit) recommend "fee-only fiduciary" and they get their reps certified and have them sell AUM portfolios with the firm. They tailor the sales pitch to hit all the checkboxes on "ask if they [X]". I talked with a local dude in the town I grew up when I was looking and went through all the questions everyone says to ask. Was a financial advisor of a small/family firm. Was a registered fiduciary (he showed me the cert). Doesn't get any commission. Has a fee-only option. Pitch focused on "de-risking" a portfolio of only index funds because they are overweight in tech stocks. Was perfectly fine with me saying No to various offerings they had. Sounded like a decent enough guy too. Only after an hour and a half across two meetings was I able to pull the full truth out. They DID offer fee-only advice but priced it so expensively that it makes the AUM model more attractive. They're happy to charge you 5K for 4 1-hr calls and a final slide deck with their recommendations though, but obviously it's so expensive the FA advises it's generally not worth it over AUM. The family company had actually been bought by a major insurance company a couple years prior but was operating under the original name as a subsidiary with no mention of the parent in the pitch material (same management, just with the "market research" power from the parent). The "financial advisor" didn't actually do any management/balance, the insurance company had an investment dept separate from their local shop with a single portfolio that everyone's money dumped into, and the quarterly "rebalance" was just what their algorithm decided based on their market research input so it was identical for everyone, not a custom portfolio per client. They may need to look out for your best interest but I don't think there's really a definition of what that "best interest" should look like.
So now you’re saying the average person should gamble their retirement on far dated put options? I highly doubt most FA’s even utilize options as it’s incredibly risky. Everyone was screaming doom and gloom last year when SPY and QQQ both dropped over 10% in a short period, and if an advisor would have bought puts for “downside protection” those positions would have went to zero or would be significantly down right now. The funds you are talking about are often holding consumer defensive companies and it’s not exactly a hidden strategy to buy into those during times of market instability. Everyone knows about WMT and COST. This is not some sort of super secret hidden strategy. And buying ETFs/mutual funds every month is not stock picking. Trying to completely time the market with all of your money and buying single stocks would be a hell of a lot riskier. Never said to hold SGOV for a long time either. I use the fund to sideline money when the market is struggling and then rotate the money back in when the market turns. This is how I got all the funds I’m invested in on discount last year when people were panicking. Right now I just use SGOV as an emergency fund and otherwise I’m fully invested.
I haven’t mentioned it because the average person should not be using options to cap their loss without having paper traded and spent a long time learning themselves. Ideally years. Just because something is possible doesn’t mean it’s a smart idea to do it. I would consider it a red flag if my FA was acting like a WSB market timer and buying long dated puts. Data shows that the vast majority will lose in the long run. Covered calls are fine but again, you can learn this stuff on your own if you’re passionate enough. The info is all out there now. And I don’t really consider a decade a short performance window. I started when I was 18 and have lived through a couple downturns by now. I didnt panic sell during covid. And not wanting to get the highest performance from your money reeks of privilege imo. You feel that way likely because you are not getting hit as hard as Gen Z with a near insurmountable economy where wages are not keeping pace with inflation and the idea of buying a home is becoming a more and more distant reality. Money 100% does matter, highest performance should be number 1 priority when you are under 40. Period. Even if you aren’t beating the market you should be matching or maximizing your return. All the other things people have mentioned here, withdrawal strategies, tax efficiency, estate planning, allocation, rebalancing etc matter very little if you have a small portfolio and when you are young; and again, given that a lot of this info is out there as well, (literally there’s people with financial credentials explaining this stuff for free) no one has really demonstrated how an FA is useful outside of just being hands off later in life and not having to worry about the nest egg you built. “A consultation is free” is a non answer.
> She keeps saying that she wouldn’t do it on her own. She’s happy so it’s not worth the argument. A lot of people on reddit seem to think this is an argument they need to make or that their friends/family are wrong and need to be corrected here. Few of you actually consider if they're correct, which is a shame because most of them are much more in touch with their own ability than you are. The type of person who self selects to an investment forum is the type of person who has little trouble doing it themselves. However, most people aren't that. Behavioral biases, a lack of acumen, nerves, personality differences, etc all drive people to work with an advisor. For many of these people, they'd be a massive liability to themselves if they were to try and DIY. I've watched people nearing retirement scoop up triple leveraged bond funds because they thought it was safe, seen then panic sell at the bottom because they had nobody to ask, seen them get confused on the differences between an ETF and cash. Trust me, paying someone 1%/yr is the best money most people can ever spend when it comes to securing their financial future. Not because it's a good ROI, because it removes the largest liability most investors have, themselves. If it's ever possible, sitting down and shadowing a random FA that helps random middle class people one day would be incredibly enlightening for a lot of people here. The shit you'll hear will make you forever change your thoughts...
The reality is every situation is unique. There is no one size fits all. If you make a broad statement of do most FA’s (or anyone for that matter) outperform the market in up and/or down cycles, the answer is no. We all know that. Some do, most don’t. If your plan is to just buy the market, hold forever and never sell, you don’t need an advisor. But most people intend to spend the money at some point. Most people don’t want 100% equity exposure. Is traditional advice on equity/bond mix useless because the lower risk portfolio that includes bonds has underperformed 100% equities? Is advice on what mix of withdrawal between traditional IRA, Roth IRA and taxable brokerage useless? Are strategies around tax loss harvesting useless? FAs can do so much more than just stock pick but you seem solely focused on if FAs can outperform the market.
It’s not about beating the market. For some people it’s simply capital preservation with limited downside and capped upside. For instance, VOO is $707. Let’s say you can’t stomach or can’t afford to see it drop below $640 (9.5%) by the end of 2028. Well you can pay roughly $40 per share to buy a put option to guarantee you won’t have to own it below $640. To offset that cost you can sell a $855 (21% upside) call for the same $40 per share. This gives you protection where you will own VOO if it remains between $640 and $855. So you cap your upside to 21% in exchange for limiting your downside to 9.5%. Not everyone needs this but for some it’s a good strategy and one a FA can help execute and manage. In this scenario you aren’t trying to beat the market. You’re managing risk because you might have thresholds where withdrawals get too painful or any variety of other reasons.
wow! you're just ignorant. FA's are not hired to beat the sp500. they are hired to build very detailed accurate financial plans and make the plans better by implementing various strategies. tax loss harvesting, use of exchange funds, selling covered calls on overweighted positions, life, disability and long term care insurance. advising on titling of assets like irrevocable ad revocable trusts. run point on coordinating cpas, t&e attys, mortgage brokers. establish credit lines, convert ira's, implementation of gifting strategies and charitable givhings. i can keep going but lots more stuff. and if nothing else prevent you from making one single mistake that cost you multimillions $$ then they are worth every penny for the peace of mind.
A financial advisor’s job isn’t to beat the market index, because that’s actually really difficult to do, especially over a consistently long period of time. A financial advisor’s job is to motivate the client into putting money away consistently and (most importantly), to keep it there. It’s easy to say that you could just put money away yourself, most people actually know this. The issue is that *most people don’t actually do it*. Or, they’ll put money away for a while, then they’ll decide they need it for something (maybe it’s something important, maybe it isn’t), and pull it out. The FA is there to raise an eyebrow, and help you get back on track if you really do end up getting sidetracked. There’s a genuine reason that people with advisors do better over the long term than people without at similar income levels, and it isn’t because of better returns, it’s because of these behavioural effects. If you’re uncommonly diligent and don’t need anyone looking over your shoulder then you might very well be better off without one, but many (possibly even most) are not that sort of person.
Are they a fudiciary If so, there are MANY reasons to have a FA... asset allocation/ planning for future liabilities (kids college/ your retirement/ etc..., get you in touch with estate planning lawyers, asset location, efficient TLH, and MOST important "staying the course". They are NOT useful and likely injurious to your returns when it comes to active management (security selection and market timing).
In short all FA’s are blood sucking crooks.
“What exactly makes the downturns less painful with an FA? You have no control over the market either way.” That’s where you are wrong. There are ways to avoid downturns altogether or cap your loss. The fact you haven’t mentioned that is exactly why FAs exist. You aren’t an expert, you just think you are from a short performance window in a raging bull market. As for what an advisor or planner can do for you? Most are free to have a consultation, maybe you should find a highly rated one, explain your individual unique circumstances and goals and ask them how they’d help you achieve that.
Gold is up about 6% ytd and sp500 is up over 12% ytd. Perhaps you need the FA
If you are intelligent and educated enough to come to this conclusion, you probably do not need a financial advisor. Most are not scam artists, but they do charge fees (which will hurt long-term performance) and they can be beholden to specific products (which can limit the options they are incentivized to recommend.) They also put a layer of reason and restraint between an emotional human and the erratic movements of the market. Financial advisors are useful to some people, but they are not for everyone. If you have a solid long-term investment strategy and the stomach to carry it through, you'll probably do better managing your own finances. But if you don't have both, an FA might just save you a ton of money. And of course, some small percentage of financial advisors actually ARE scammers. So if you have suspicions, take your portfolio to another firm and get a second opinion!
Yes financial advisors are mostly a scam. Anyone who spends 5 hours or more on bogleheads can outperform and FAs portfolio. Having said that, a FA would probably tell you not to have your entire brokerage in precious metals, and they would be correct.
At the end of the day, I COULD change my own oil, file my own taxes, heck, I could even make my own coffee... but for me, I'd rather pay someone to do most of those things for me... financial advising is really no different.. you dont need to pay someone to save your money for you.. and especially dont pay someone who claims they can 'beat the market'... a real good FA will tell you, thats not their game.
Agreed and same here - what I've learned over the years is some people need to offload the 'mental real estate' that these decisions take up.. anyone can 'set it and forget' their savings into an index fund, thats not what they should pay an FA to do, its to take the emotion out of investing and to help them with the decumulation phase, adjust their risk tolerance accordingly.. anyone can run a monte carlo simulation with various inputs to reduce the probability that youre going to outlive your money.. sure you can do your own taxes, and if you're a w2 employee, you probably can... now imagine you are a k1, or have multiple businesses/ interests, properties... etc.. then you need to hire a professional... same goes with financal advising/wealth managment..
Ive outperformed VOO by a significant margin buying nothing but funds. FSELX, FSSNX, FSMDX and international exposure alongside the S&P was all I had to do and I didn’t have to pay anyone. More than doubled my money in 4 years. Just buying and holding. A wide margin of people buying VOO don’t try to time the market so I’m not sure where you’re pulling that assertion from. You shouldnt be investing money that you arent willing to lose or sit on for a significant length of time. What exactly makes the downturns less painful with an FA? You have no control over the market either way. Refusing to accept that cannot be fixed by someone making devisions for you. That is internal emotion, and to be quite honest, weakness. Most FAs exist because of a gap in financial literacy in my opinion. The system purposefully keeps people illiterate to keep them poor and dependent. A good tax attorney or financial planner is necessary for a multi millionaire looking to be completely hands off or navigate taxes but I fail to see how it’s helpful for the average middle class investor. Since you seem to be an expert on financial planning explain what they would do for an average person that they couldn’t do themselves?
Normal FA's like OP is talking about aren't doing that though. Your normal person is fine in VOO with a 30 year horizon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKlf6oay4FA
but sir, it's all always FA