FA

nharvey4151

Good lord, who is your FA who’s not a moron lol? Most I’ve spoken to are basically bogleheads haha. Which, sure, that’s safe, but not the best for growth when you’re in your 20’s to 30’s.

Legitimate_Treat_762

I thought a good strategy was to sell those stocks when you retire, so you're in a lower tax bracket - meaning that's your only income for the year. But I'm no FA

johnnymonkey

We bought out house in 2012, and saved up more than we actually needed to get in the door. Had \~$12k extra, and my father told me to open an account with his FA. Dude put $6k of it in NVDA. We sold some of it over the years, but hung on to the bulk until November, 2025. I didn't do a thing, but I'm going to be able to retire earlier than I thought, and I'm thankful for that.

Vardian_

Hey /investing, I'm currently with RW Baird, and after reviewing my detailed account information, it appears I'm paying north of 2% in fees once advisor-grade fund expenses are factored in. With that in mind, the Robinhood transfer bonus is looking very tempting. My Financial Advisor only manages investments, he doesn't offer tax services or estate/trust planning. I've used Robinhood for about five years for side money, so I’m familiar with the platform and follow a monthly buy-and-hold strategy using basic Vanguard ETFs. Is there anything I’m missing on why I shouldn't do this for our IRAs? My FA has never been a driver of savings discipline or a deterrent for panic selling I've never once called him during a downturn. I’m simply not seeing the value that 1.75% (plus fund fees) provides on a $300k+ portfolio.

Legitimate_Treat_762

Yeah, I'm close to getting a FA for retiremnent. But your statement of "stop losing money online" makes no sese at all. No one said anyting about "losing" money. I've done quite well over the years and most of my money is in the market currently. I'm just talking about making some money off my "safe money"

npcomplete2

Yahoo has been going downhill for decades. That's what happens when you hire code developers that don't know how to code, and managers that don't know how to manage. Like damnmobile said above, using 2FA through a brokerage to login when I just want a quick look is a pain. I used to do custom charts on yahoo, but every time yahoo updated their buggy software, all my custom graphics on the charts would disappear... Yahoo was acquired by Apollo Global Management in 2021. It is fairly common for companies to go downhill after an acquisition. My webhost (pair.com) was also acquired a couple years ago, and after acquisition they dramatically raised the rates, and dropped service quality and support. Same story, different company.

johnnyshots22

If you want 2 stress free OTC tickers I am holding for longterm stress free for low risk and potential multibangers. ECOX and AMFN. Double up easy in a month or two on both these. I am in both AMFN since .024 and ECOX at .0009. I mentioned them here about 3 weeks ago . Of course not FA but man I'm up huge on these 2 already and will see where they really will be by thw wnd of the year.

johnnyshots22

Feal was announced Feb 12. Could be sooner. Regardless, they did a 1 for 5 reverse split effective Marxh 26. There is a vote on April 30 for another reverse split for the acquisition of the merger. Between now and 3rd week of April this will pop imo. Not FA .I think it will happen sooner though. The float is small. Volume sends this again. When it does, don't overstay.

Grinch83

It would be a better strategy than what he’s currently doing, but not better than having a top tier FA firm. I’ll have to do the math after today’s close, but as of yesterday’s close my managed portfolio was only down 3.46%, significantly outperforming the market. And it’s the same with positive years…we are consistently beating the market year after year. The fee hurts on down years, but even factoring it in, we are still beating the market. Also, depending on which firm one chooses, typically going with an elite FA allows access to funds that are only accessible via institutional investors. So, more opportunities to diversify and/or access alternative investments.

WeightOwn5817

Lose the FA

Grinch83

My dude, you are *significantly* underperforming the market. If you really have a seven figure portfolio, you should just pay a FA to manage it for you. At seven figures, you’re a HNW individual and can access some top tier firms (likely paying a 1.0%-1.5% management fee). At some point, you’re gonna realize not only how much money you’re losing, but also how much of your time you’ve wasted thinking you know what you’re doing. I don’t mean to be harsh. But yeah, get an FA or money manager. It’s a life hack few people have access to—you should take advantage of it.

Late-Command3491

My FA wanted to buy some today so we did. Still mostly uninvested at the moment but we liquidated in November for unrelated reasons. 

Belerus

[UN diplomat just blew the whistle on preparations for a nuclear war](https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/insight/un-diplomat-quits-over-nuclear-strike-claim/gm-GMFE6727FA?gemSnapshotKey=GMFE6727FA-snapshot-7&uxmode=ruby), you'll be able to have it in real life soon!

ballsonreddit

Fuck that drop at open was free money Coulda made like 10k+ shorting lol Iranian dude needs to keep giving FA

version-two

Ntr is my number one pick. $CF is very close second tho, read up on it, but they should be less affected by potential nitrogen shortages due to ME war. I think? Or its phosphate/sulfur some compound … $mos is more risky, but also think they are undervalued in general and should hit $30 this year either way. Ntr and cf have held solid institutional volume throughout the past month leading me to believe the are very strong picks. Not FA but yeah. My calls on NTR are up like $3k premarket it appears.

AllCapNoBrake

[Upvote if you're regarded and never take my FA](https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/1s5etmx/comment/od6gr8a/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)

dassketch

He's been FA. FO for us peasants is just starting. Enjoy the 🌈 🐻 vigorously pumping your positions

Purple-Rent-3782

Imo a FA is more for when you’re on your feet, have disposable money coming in, and need to plan your entire financial landscape. Not for people who are already successfully paying off debt! I responded to your post earlier about checking out the Copilot App. Check out my original response and see what you think. Ps- I do not work for said APP. Just a strong suggestion for a younger man who’s already paying successfully and wants to see your positions in a digital format. A FA will set you back in several ways. GL

Purple-Rent-3782

A FA may cost more than their worth at this point. You’d be stuck investing heavily with someone that may not share your vision/goals and could throw you off your tight game. You’re in the top 1% or more of young men with their shite together. Don’t risk taking your eyes off the prize (paying off debt!!) and instead would recommend a comprehensive personal financial app like Copilot for example that sounds tailor made for you. Best part is that you program it! You’re already on your way, just plug in your numbers and get to it!! GL

dansdansy

They ticked up a bit. But CRWD can't protect you if your password is weak and you don't have 2FA enabled on an old account.

PulIthEld

[Go Forth, Be Conquered](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKlf6oay4FA)

PulIthEld

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKlf6oay4FA

Nick-7-7

SEC filing. Original 20F dead line was end of Jan and IMTE barely met the timeline. Then they submitted 20FA on Mar 4th (guess they were told to revise something). So definitely NASDAQ is working on to approve them. Today is the 16th business day, after their submission. No wonder it comes today.

johnnyshots22

Its going to go again at open by the looks of it. Big buy again. Not FA .Time to double dip

highrollerlowballer

Not FA, but 650 calls would take out if it hit 660 or stop loss at 660 price and maybe hold it as a runner.

ThePermMustWait

So my FA bought them without my knowledge and they are locked in for 2 and 3 years. One is autocallabale if the market does well. I don’t like that they aren’t liquify because this is my brokerage not my Roth IRA or retirement. I was naive when I agreed to work with him but now I know better and left. 

R101C

If the market was at $100 per share of an index a year ago, it's now at 125-135. If we have a 20% correction on 130 then it's at $104. So you're still buying in higher than $100. The market drops 20% about once every 7 years. Odds are, you aren't getting a drop in time to get below $100. If you do, you got lucky. The market dumped +20% in 2022. Prior to that, 38% in 2008. In between, you've missed gains that more than made up for it. Sitting on the sidelines trying to time the market, in most cases, costs you money. Your FA is trying to time the market. He's an idiot.

Mychelly360

Just buy SPY/VONG or any other decent growth fund, and you don't need an FA. The way you setup your investing now heavily impacts the trajectory of your $$

hxrris23

Structured notes can have wildly different payout structures and costs. Impossible to give advice without knowing these details. I will say that 70% is a lot… you may be paying excessive fees on these depending on how your FA has negotiated these terms. You will want to make sure your issuer exposure is diversified as well.

ThePermMustWait

I’m 39 and my FA put $80k, about 25%, into bank notes. He didn’t explain what it was when we invested and now we are locking in for 2-3 years. I don’t like that they aren’t liquid. we have also said we want to be aggressive and he bought them anyways. We left him and went to fidelity to manage on our own for now. The bank notes thankfully transferred but we have to wait for them to mature then we will do something else. 

International_Sea869

Okay. Thanks this gives me some confidence. I’ll book a meeting with my FA and see what he’s planning. Unfortunately I got caught up in real estate at the wrong time. One property is up but the other is down. Part of me does hope property goes down though so I can buy my dream home. It’s tough being stuck with a house though

Mychelly360

That's wild. You need a new FA. Or learn about investing for yourself. Thousands upon thousands of resources for all kinds of investing.

RoboticGreg

Honestly, I invested in individual stocks once when I was young lost a lot of money and came to a realization: tiger woods doesn't practice basketball. I'm an expert in robots, I'm not an expert in finance or investing. I also accepted I work hard, I try hard, the past is the past and nothing will change it, but I hope to use my experience in the last to have a better future. I was embarrassed, but I learned. It's an expensive lesson but it is an education. I let go of the shame by telling myself letting this happen happens, that's on the world. If I let it happen again, that's on me. So I learned how to be very self aware of when I did and did not know what I'm doing. My gains since then have been very modest, but I'm not gambling anymore. I worked with an FA for a long time, they set up an ETF based portfolio and I just drive that. When I want to earn more money I consult. I buy and sell vintage watches. Etc. TLDR: Stop beating yourself up. Give yourself the space to make a mistake but give yourself a MANDATE to learn from that mistake.

Top-Tea1871

TA and FA are guides. You discovered the most vulnerable part, you. You weren’t trading, you were gambling

idkwhattowriteee

Trump did the FA but my portfolio is getting the FO 🤡

Grinch83

FWIW, my FA hammered the flash crash after “Liberation Day.” He knew Trump would TACO (and this was before TACO was even a thing.) We made a killing. He has not bought a single share since this war kicked off. That might change now that we are in correction territory, but his unwillingness to buy anything thus far is worth considering.

modder9

One of my best trades kinda happened like that. I got locked into a trade while I had to redo my 2FA cause I had just changed phones.

ConsistentString4627

ALK did beta launch for 2FA. Youth can't steal Miles like before

Soulitare

Came here to say this, was just asked to create my 2FA with Alaska, no longer an issue

johyongil

The defensive part is a bit worrisome. But on the whole of it, it's nothing to be worried about. I'm not too familiar with Merrill Alts platform but if it's anything like my current one, it can be for a spot on the SpaceX pre-IPO position, infrastructure, airports, hedge position, long-shorts, etc. Typically large WM firms do not do any PE business with any company that doesn't already make 100MM in revenue per year. You have no idea. But typically, in order for an FA to place a client into alt investments they need to be cleared as an accredited investor first.

ChilaquilesRojo

Most likely the firm started allowing certain new funds to be sold to retail clients and they wanted to obtain your opt in for use later. Then current events played out and maybe your FA (or the firm) is putting things on hold. Unless you have a 7 figure plus networth, I'd steer clear of any illiquid alternatives

ChilaquilesRojo

If the FA has the client in Advisory, he is required to act as a fiduciary. If brokerage, Reg BI

RookieMistake101

No. The FA works at Merrill, so he’s under reg bi and doesn’t have to act as a fiduciary. That said, we do not have nearly enough info on what the advisor was recommending or offering. Alternatives are a massive massive world.

horseman5K

Based on your other comments, it’s pretty obvious you’re one of those in the field who benefits from pushing and dumping alternative investment slop onto FA clients

hoppertn

Yeah I saw this guys posts the other month and articles about people’s miles getting drained. Guess what with the new Atmos rewards, 2FA.

Ornery-Ad-2248

I got bad bunny news Alaska now has 2FA as of 4 days ago

partfortynine

FA, not TA. Maybe a spritz of QA.

TipsyFlash

Some people really just need an FA. At the very least could have put all your money into VOO and been up 70% over the last 5 years.

thepoisonpoodle

No FA, though

johnnyshots22

CJMB primed to explode on the tiny float with volume. Not FA. Good luck on all your tickers !

smart_doge

We FA with the Strait and we FO

ChampionKooky3048

Not FA

Simon_Inaki

$LRMR (Larimar Therapeutics): The Only Disease-Modifier in a Field of "Begged" Approvals If you’ve followed my previous picks, you know I don’t bet on hype—I bet on mechanism. This is my highest conviction play for 2026. Credit to /u/ijesuschrist for the deep dive on the pharmacology here. Here is the thesis on why $LRMR is the ultimate sleeper in the Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA) space. 1. The Competition is a "Begged" Approval Biogen’s Skyclarys (Omaveloxolone) is currently the only approved drug, but its foundation is shaky. • The "Inert" Truth: The molecule is chemically inert regarding the disease's root cause. It’s a KEAP1-Nrf2 activator it basically asks the cell to "defend itself" (supposedly) while it’s dying from a protein deficiency. • The Approval: Reata (bought by Biogen for $7.3B) basically lobbied and begged the FDA for a pass because there was zero competition. Global regulators are already pushing back because the clinical benefit is marginal. It’s a "placeholder" drug, not a "Standard of Care." 2. Larimar Actually Replaces the Missing Link Unlike an inert activator, Larimar’s Nomlabofusp (CTI-1601) is a direct protein replacement. • The Science: FA is caused by a lack of frataxin. Nomlabofusp uses a cell-penetrating peptide to literally deliver human frataxin into the mitochondria. • The Data: Larimar has shown they can raise frataxin levels to those of asymptomatic carriers. They aren't just slowing the decline; they are restoring the "factory" function. • The "Rocket" Catalyst: The FDA granted it Breakthrough Therapy Designation in early 2026. They’ve already agreed on an Accelerated Approval pathway using frataxin levels as a surrogate endpoint. This is a massive de-risking event and lessens the cash pressure. 3. The Valuation is Criminally Depressed • Market Cap: Currently sitting around $450M - $500M (Price ~$4.60). • The Exit Math: Biogen paid $7.3 Billion for an inert drug. If Larimar hits its BLA submission in June 2026, they own the actual cure. • Price Target: I expect a re-rate to $10+ by year-end once the market realizes the BLA is a lock. If a Big Pharma buyout happens (which is the likely endgame), $40 is a realistic acquisition price—and even then, it would be a bargain compared to the Reata deal.

Wendy888Nyc

Thanks. Yeah, I’ve decided to keep the 3 years of cash equivalents. (taking SS into consideration) I’m a bit torn about bonds. My Fidelity FA (now in unmanaged acct) says 40% bonds while others suggest a bond portion as an absolute dollar amount required to cover a specific number of years of living expenses (e.g., 3–5 years of expenses). I don’t have multi millions so the bond method might not matter so much. I see validity in both methods.. I have to look into this more. I’m planning to retire in 2 years. I’m at 40% bonds now and considered selling some to buy equities to instead cover just 5 years of expenses. The political climate is making me nervous even though it probably shouldn’t. I may just stay as is for now. Any suggestion on the bond allotment?

_Fibbles_

The market is finally starting to come to terms with there being no way for 🥭 to escape the FO stage after the initial FA

johnnyshots22

RNWF and ECOX I'm telling you man, buy and hold stress free and watch tje magic happen this year. This is a hold people not a flip. You can downvote me all you want but you will be laughing to the bank by years end. Not FA . Due your own DD. Best vibes your way from johnnyshots ! 👊

TreeofLibertyFood

🚨 I am not a bot. Thank you for the FA. 🚨

Independent-Tree-985

eheheheh Been there, its fun to FA but sometimes we also have to FO

johnnyshots22

ECOX and RNWF have a look. And I got downvoted 🤦. This forum has done alot for me . Trying to give back. Keep an eye on these 2. Lots of room to keep running.  Not FA. Best of luck to all !

J_da_CPA

He FA and you are going to FO

johnnyshots22

ECOX so little can make you alot if buy and hold. Not FA . Good luck to all !

Apprehensive_Rub3897

I don't think they think in terms of *neighbors.* The thing about FAFO is figure out is you're FA or the FO.

Coloradodreaming1

Outstanding! Investing is so fascinating to me the directions it can go given time in the market. The few winners really make the difference like an AAPL. I remember in 2012 asking my Ameriprise FA if I was allowed to buy individual stocks vs the SMAs and mutual funds I was always pitched to buy. She said of course and instructed her buy AAPL with my entire SEP IRA contribution that year. Thats my AAPL story.

version-two

Not FA. NTR.

J_da_CPA

🥭 FA but not yet FO lmao

johnnyshots22

Called out RNWF 3 weeks ago at .022 cents. Sitting at .05 cents today. This will be .10 cents by the end of the month. If you want a stress free ticker with massive potential that will keep rising, this is it. I won't spam this so here is your opportunity.  Not FA do your own DD. Best of luck to all ! 

ButtStuffingt0n

And you've yet to respond to the argument that you're wrong on both FA and TA wrt gold.

wanseer18

?? I honestly don't know if you're trolling at this point you actually don't know what FA vs TA is lol

BigDaddyVagabond

He can be as chicken as he wants, he can't back out of this one. The die is cast, the genie is out of the bottle, he now is in a position where he HAS to follow through to the end, or the blowback will end in constant terror attacks on us assets in the region. And on top of it all, he and his entire family will probably have to look over their shoulders for the rest of their lives for the death of Khamenei. For once in his miserable life, Trump gets to be the one to go from FA to FO.

inconsistentsavant

No TACO FA YOUUUU

believe1182

I think Micro will continue to move upwards in the long-term, it's a solid company. The problem with your entry point is you are buying in during high volatility, uncertain times that are progressively getting worse, and MU is still trading pretty high, and entering falling knife mode with a lot of other stocks. We may gap up on Monday, we may gap further down, but the stock isn't going break out until investors are comfortable with the state of geopolitics and the general U.S economy. I think these calls would print, but why not just wait until things become more certain. You may miss a 5-10% initial jump in the market once investors are more confident rotating back into growth stocks but you would still capture great profits on your positions you have set above. Just an opinion though, not FA.

ButtonPale2635

Hey there, FA here. You can cut your lawn yourself. But what if you invested that time into your professional growth instead? You can also do your own taxes. But can you be confident they’re done **right**, updated with changing regulations, and optimized for your situation? Financial planning is similar. It’s not about capability, most people *can* do it themselves. It’s about where your **time, focus, and energy** are best spent. Additionally, it's important who you choose, because our job is to stay up to date with markets, learn from industry experts, and apply that knowledge thoughtfully to help clients make better decisions. You don’t hire a planner because you can’t do it yourself. You hire one so you can focus on what matters most — while knowing your financial decisions are handled with care and clarity.

GruntledGary

Orange menace is FA and all of us get to FO because about half the country was too stupid to pay attention or read.

snotick

You're making some assumptions. Both in your previous post and this one. It's as if you're taking the good and leaving the bad. However, you don't have total control over that. Whether or not an index fund or stock goes up or down is out of our control. We can only plan, diversify and adjust as time goes by. Nobody knows what the market is going to do. Therefore the basis of long term investments is diversity. That leaves us with a few options. The ones being discussed here are index funds vs individual stocks. The clarification needs to be made, are you owning exactly the percentage of individual stocks that could be owned in an index fund? If not, then the discussion changes. And could be made moot. Why? Because they won't perform the same way. So, that leaves us with owning the exact same amounts of individual stocks that the fund holds. With the option to tax harvest, however, it doesn't leave us as diversified after we do that harvesting. And I would argue that the people managing the index funds are doing that already in order to maximize the bottom line, I'm just not seeing the tax advantage, instead I'm seeing better overall gains. Looking at your example: >Lets say you have an index of 10 stocks. Say two of them double. One of them crashes to zero. The other seven stay flat. Average gain in this portfolio is 10%. >If you want to trim positions and sell: >If you own the ETF, anything you sell has 10% gain and you pay the tax on the gains associated with whatever you sell. If you sell the individual stock that offsets your gains, are you still following your plan of diversification? You sold two stocks that doubled and you offset those gains by selling one stock that lost. You don't give any dollar amounts, you just say it was 10% gain. What if there is no stock that crashed to zero? How are you covering those gains? I understand the ability to hold and sell individual stocks for the offset, but that's counterintuitive to the process, which is to build gains, not losses. And in the case of my parents, they have mutual funds that have gained. The FA even made sure to highlight how well the funds have done. And in the end, I don't think it applies to anyone in their mid 80's, simply because diversification is a key maintaining wealth for a relative short horizon. Index funds are going to be safer (less volatile) vs the individual stocks.

johnnyshots22

I wouldn't.  It should go up again. Not FA.

Quant_Smart

CD is locked and your FA gets a commish. Buy a Bills ETF like SHY or a Repo based ETF like JPIE. You get liquidity, above CD yield and relatively safe

johnnyshots22

NAGE no debt, cash on hand, steady revenue. In at $4.97. Earnings after the bell today. I am expecting great earnings and a nice jump AH, PM and tomorrow. Not FA. Good luck on all your tickers of choice.

BigBankAdvisorSpy

Holy shit man I feel sorry for you… I’m working 20 hours a week maybe and making 400K-500k a year and a couple mills in my 401k and brokerage accounts at the age of 40… also do a lot of blows and fucking around… with a family and house and cars… shit man I wish I can buy you a shot and a lap dance. I’m sorry to hear. Or offer you to be one of my bankers $100K a year easily… I’m a FA with the biggest bank tho.

Aggressive-Essay-984

Robinhood is fine for basic buys, but I don’t trust them for serious money. Outages, weird restrictions, and support gaps happen. Use limit orders, enable 2FA, and keep a backup broker.

Nuqqets

I guess you could try to get the trade bussed and speak to a manager saying you made an honest mistake and can pay the fees to bust the trade? I know for sure fidelity has a way to bust trades through their clearing firm NFS, I just don’t know if they’ll do it if it’s a client error versus FA error.

CMTTrader

You better 2FA your trading account or else "she" will suck you DRY!!!!

cuntysometimes

All depends on FA

johnnyshots22

I am in heavy on RNWF at .022 and called it out about 2 weeks ago. I absolutely love this play . This will melt faces and create wealth for those who get in ealy imo. And it's still early. This is only getting started.Not FA. Best of luck to all.

Happy_Discussion_536

Look it's terrible morally. I'm just stating that they definitely FA.

Happy_Discussion_536

I don't agree with timing and execution. But you're a fucking retard if you think enriching uranium nonstop is not FA. We even said they can buy as much as they want, just can't make it themselves. Only real red line. But they refused. Now they FO.

Happy_Discussion_536

When you FA against the USA, you truly FO in vicious fashion. >Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed. >Defense Minister Amir (Aziz) Nasirzadeh.​​ >Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces (reported as Mohammad Bagheri or Abdul Rahim Mousavi) >IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Pakpour.​ >Senior security/intelligence adviser Ali Shamkhani. And 40 other top officials killed.

annoyed_meows

Wonder if any can get close to 🥭 it would be crazy if a lifetime of FA leads to an Iranian FO.  The day I no longer have to see or hear him plastered everywhere will be a good day for me, most Americans, and most of the world. 

Spatula_of_Justice1

you need an FA to stop you from doing stupid shit. Manipulative media clouded your judgement.

Happy_Discussion_536

This had to happen. They don't need to enrich uranium or keep funding terror in the region. FA and now Ali is in the FO stage. It should be a quick operation and this is good for the market.

Happy_Discussion_536

Khamenei kept going commando in his robe, hands behind head and helicoptering his dick. FA and now he's in the FO stage.

Amazing-Selection494

Well, thank God this nitwit FA doesn't have free reign, then.

composer98

I read here a lot of absolute criticism of the FA, but .. one opinion .. it seems ok. The person is trying to do what your parents are requesting; you ask for an honest opinion, and the answer seems pretty good. Be less conservative, as, just an example, a value stock like XXX . So 80's parents, presumably hoping to live fine and pass on an inheritance, maybe a good timeline is not really "10 years", but better "30 years" or something like that .. in other words, less conservative but not gung ho all in. So .. a vote for the FA.

ScoobDoggyDoge

Ya, that FA is strange then lol.

snotick

TL:DR Don't use a financial advisor. I believe my parent's accounts were manipulated so he could charge another year of fees. This is a continuation of my post from a couple of days ago. Yes, my parents are paying an FA 1.5% to manage their 3 accounts (yes, I know this is dumb) Each has an IRA and and a shared brokerage account. I've been involved for the last few years. I'm trying to convince my parents to move away from him. I may have found a reason and it may be unethical, but not sure if it's illegal? My parents are both 85 years old. They have enough money in the 2 IRAs to cover their costs for the next 20 years. She doesn't want any risk and wanted the money put in CDs. The brokerage account is just "extra" in case they need assisted living, etc. I've been trying to get their FA to drop their fees. He said that once an account has all CDs, they would not incur the 1.5% fee on that account. Here's the rub, I think he kept a minimum amount of mutual funds in their IRAs in order to continue to charge them 1.5% on all three accounts through 2025. I have an email from November 2022, where he recapped the meeting and stated their desire to move as much as possible to CDs in every account. We discussed that the IRAs will have no tax issue, so those can be moved right away. I went back through their transactions and found the following. Both of their IRAs were handled this way: 2023 - Sold 5 tranches of mutual funds and bought 3 CDs. 2024 - Sold 35 tranches of mutual funds and bought 4 CDs 2025 - Sold 4 trances of mutual funds and bought 5 CDs. The total amount invested in mutual funds at the start of the 2025 was a little over $3000. Yet he didn't sell the last tranche until December. He mentioned at the meeting that they would incur one more fee in March. I suspect that's why he sold the last trance in December, so that it would trigger the fees for the 1st quarter of 2026. 2026 - Both IRAs are 100% in CDs. The investment plan for converting mutual funds to CD started in 2023. He drug out the process for two years. Why? There was no tax issues. Why did he sell so much in 2024, but didn't sell near as much in 2025? Why did he not sell the remaining $3000 in CDs in 2025? I suspect it's so he could charge a fee through 2025 on the total balance of all three accounts. I'm wondering what other people think. Is this just unethical? As a fiduciary could this also be illegal? Sorry for another post around financial advisor drama. Thanks.

lMexl

I'm by no means a pro, but I think adding a small cap etf makes a lot of sense. I would skip the dividend ETF at your age. I made my portfolio last year with the help of a FA and we built one very similar to yours but with the addition of a small cap ETF. And no uranium lol. Kinda feels like VT with extra steps, but I guess it's nice to be able to rebalance yourself if you want.

PaperHandsTheDip

You can do all the TA, FA, research, etc you want - but at the EOD the only thing that actually matters is if it goes up or down. It went up meaning any bets against it were just wrong. The only thing I actually care about in markets is making money. The rest is all fluff

mildly_enthusiastic

I’d bet the FA works at a wirehouse like Morgan Stanley or Merrill Lynch

snotick

It's all good. I was trying to help her understand that the brokerage account (not the IRAs) was "extra" money. Since their IRAs will cover their current expenses for 20 years. I think it's okay to take a little more diversified risk in the brokerage account. It's also why I asked the FA about international funds. Which he didn't recommend? It feels like his idea of diversification is multiple mutual funds that hold tech stocks. Last year, he pitched the idea of setting aside 5 years worth of funds and putting the rest in an LLC. That way once their money runs out in 5 years, they would have Medicaid pay for their living expenses. I thought it was kind of shady, but I let my mom decide on her own. She wasn't comfortable giving up control of 3/4ths of their wealth. I didn't push her to do it. And it was the very first thing I spoke about at the meeting yesterday. I told him that's not going to happen because she doesn't want to do it.

snotick

I'm not sure what you're ranting about? Your comment doesn't really relate to the question in my post. I asked other poeple about FA's investing money in individual stocks over mutual funds. With that said, I will give you another concern I have in response to your claim that he isn't ripping them off. In 2024, the plan was clear that she wanted to move out of the market and into safer investments. I was at that meeting and we discussed the fees. He told us, when an account only holds CDs, he would not be charging his 1.5% for those accounts. In 2025, both of their IRAs were 100% in CDs. When I asked him about it yesterday, he said that those accounts would need to be moved to a different account to remove the fee. He sent email summary today about everything we talked about yesterday. Excerpt from that email: *As discussed in the meeting, your IRA accounts will be converted to traditional brokerage accounts in 2026, and no further advisory fees will be assessed for our services.*  I was confused by the terminology, so I asked for clarification, because the nomenclature suggests that he's closing out their IRA accounts. His respone: *The only change is between “Advisory” and ‘Traditional” and that means that the “Advisory” accounts had a 1.5% annual charge whereby the “Traditional” accounts do not have that charge.* In both cases, the account will remain IRAs.  So the question remains, the plan was discussed in 2024, the IRA transition to CD's was done before 2025, because there was no tax implication to sell equities held in those accounts. Yet he didn't make the switch and they incurred 1.5% throughout 2025. He also said that they will continue to incur the fee until March. After that, they won't incur fees. Note the terminology he used "converted to traditional brokerage accounts in 2026". Not right now, after March.

creeia11

The FA is likely referencing a combination of ETFs and Single stocks. The ETF wrapper affords tax advantages that aren’t available in mutual funds. In actuality, the bulk of the largest asset managers, Capital Group, etc aren’t even launching new mutual funds, because of that fact. So all the folks bashing the FA for being an idiot, should take a look in the mirror. Because they are writing the govt checks every year when they don’t have too.