What You Should Look for in a Financial Advisor

The following questions were sent to Paul during the 90 minute video presented to Western Washington University alumni on February 10, 2023.

2:38 1. How much more do you get with AVUV which has higher fees than FISVX which is super low cost?
Check out:  BOGLEHEADS.ORG/REBALANCING
Check out:  whitecoatinvestor.com/portfolio-rebalancing-spreadsheet/

11:20 2. What are your thoughts on robo advisors and investing?
Check out:  whitecoatinvestor.com/top-robo-advisors///

17:57 3.  I have over $5 million and need very little to live on.  I am 43% equities and 57% bonds.  Is now the time to add more equities to a 60/40 asset allocation.  Check out:  https://paulmerriman.com/fine-tuning-your-asset-allocation/  You will find article, podcast and tables on the page

22:25 4.  I only need to take out 2% a year to meet my cash needs.  Most of my investments will eventually go to children and charities.  Is an 80% or 90% equities position appropriate?  Check Out:  https://paulmerriman.com/2021-fixed-distributions/   For article, tables and podcast

27:00 5.  What are the conditions (time/wealth) that suggest hiring an advisor?  How do you find one?
Check out:  https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/get-smart-or-get-screwed-how-to-select-the-best-and-get-the-most-from-your-financial-advisor1.pdf

31:57 6.  What changes should a 50-something make to boost the returns of a 401k?

35:20 7.  What is your advice for a parent to persuade their adult children to educate themselves about investing?

42:22 8.  What do you mean by rebalancing and what are the tools and strategies you can use to do the rebalancing?

49:36 9.  What do I do with penny stocks that are down 80% to 90%?

51:10 10 What are the relative tax implications of the Total Market Index and small cap value, REITS and large cap value?

56:00 11.  What are the returns of combining U.S. large cap value, U.S. small cap blend, international large cap blend and international small cap value? Check out:  https://paulmerriman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Sound-Investing-Portfolios.pdf

58:30 12. The Fidelity Target Date Funds have very high expenses.  Should I still use them even though the expenses are higher?

1:01 13. Do you recommend a solo 401k or SEP IRA for a single employer who will never have any employees?  Check out: solo401k.com