Good for you!

They have some of the highest fees but you can't see them as they are in the return. . . And yes there are fees but you have to compare the returns to the fees, unless you are doing strickly index funds. . . My dad's trust is in Wells Fargo, and you can tell he is a CFP with a commission plan.

If you listen carefully, you can hear a person's motivation. And anyone working for and paid by their institution is not a fiduciary. . . sales rep with a certification

financeguy

Schwab or Fidelity
 

The best deal is to use Schwab. The second best is Fidelity. Both have offices in TV. You will be assigned to a broker. For certain, Schwab's brokers do not work on commission, an important fact as commissions and fees add up quickly. I don't know if Fidelity's brokers work on commission. If they do, the charge can't be much.

Put your money into "no-load" index funds, which do not charge an annual fee. These funds mirror the overall markets. There are index funds which mirror every sector. Thus, you can have one for the S&P 500, U.S. Treasury bills, emerging markets etc. Personally, I'd just put money in an S&P 500 index fund and forget about it. There will be ups and downs, periodic crashes and surges. However, over the course of modern history, the S&P has produced a 10% gain which is compounded every year. It is the best protection against inflation, which is almost certain to be caused by our present government.

The extra benefits of dealing with Schwab include a no-cost checking account and free ATM services. Schwab doesn't have its own ATM's, but reimburses its account holders for the charges when they use the ATM of another bank. If you travel overseas, this is a real benefit as overseas banks charge outrageous fees when you use their ATM to get a few bills in the local currency.

Other benefits at Schwab include no-cost stock trades if done by computer, easy access to your account on your computer or phone and no-cost wire transfers.

Yes, you can pay to have them in other forms-Kindle,DVD, hardcopy

I can only assume you did not bother to try to download the FREE ebooks or to read them.

NEVER BUY AN ANNUITY... ever

I just went with Linn Financial.

It sounds like you are new to the investing; if this is the case, my advice is to DO NOTHING until you've taken a little time to at least become a little educated about finances & investing.

I know it can be overwhelming, but you don't need to become an expert in a day. The absolute worst thing that could happen is you end up working with a stock broker or financial firms like Edward Jones. They will be super nice and sound so sincere, but they are in sales, and their first priority is to sell you whatever product or investments make them the highest commission!!

As others have stated, if for whatever reasons you're not willing to take the time to become educated, if you go with Charles Schwab, Fidelity, or Vanguard, you're very unlikely to get taken advantage of in a truly harmful way.

A GREAT resource is the community at Bogleheads.org - Index page

Getting started - Bogleheads

This is a investment-related public forum. No one is allowed to sell anything or promote any products or services. Forum members are VERY helpful to new investors.

As others have previously mentioned, RUN AWAY from anyone trying to sell you a variable annuity!!! However, a SPIA (Single Premium Immediate Annuity) can be a reasonable option for certain people depending upon their age and goals. But you definitely need to become educated before buying any annuity.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Another box checker
 

Has no bearing on the earnings motivation of said CFP, that's what you are missing. Many pass the test, most work for a corporation with an incentive plan.

finance guy

Very interesting. After what amount of time educating yourself did you decide to do your own investing, months, years?

Debfrommaine,

I know you did not direct your question to me, but if I may barge in here, I would like to suggest a way for you to get your feet wet — tiptoe in.

Traditional investment advice says, “Buy what you know.”

I realize there may not be a comfort level with choosing individual stocks and that most people probably use funds or ETFs.

But picking just one stock and buying a few shares and then following it can be a good introductory experience. You will learn something about your risk tolerance because you will see how those ups and downs affect you. But don’t invest a really big amount — just some play money.

I think dividend paying stocks are worth learning about. But a lot of people think that is boring because dividend stocks usually do not take you on a rocket ride.

Dividend investors are in it mostly for the dividend — to get paid along the way. But that dividend must be sustainable so the stock must be chosen carefully — based on more than just the percentage yield.

If the yield looks too big, it could be that the stock is in trouble — or it could be that there’s an opportunity to buy on a low that you think is probably temporary — so you need to have an understanding of the company you are buying into. It’s good to be able to catch a dependable stock when it is taking a little hit.

But if a company cuts it dividend or it looks like it’s going to happen, that is not a good sign for a dedicated dividend investor who might see it as a reason to break up with a stock — even if it has been long held and previously dependable. GE is a glaring, ugly, clear example of this happening, starting in 2009 under CEO Jeffrey Immelt.

With all dividend stocks, as with every stock, the share price will vary, but if you pick the right stock, you will get paid quarterly — with 1/4 of the stated annual dividend.

You can take the dividend as income or you can reinvest it — your choice.

(OK, I don’t know if anybody is reading this, but I just wanted to try to help you and now I have to be somewhere at 4:00 so I can either delete this whole thing or come back later for Part II. I was getting ready to give you a suggestion about how to find a stock that you might feel comfortable with.

Since I have “invested” several minutes in this post, I think I will let it stay and return later for Part II?)

Boomer

Well said.

People can spend a lifetime building a nest egg and should devote a sufficient amount of time learning how to invest it.

Thanks to you and everyone who has responded to my post. I have learned a lot, even stock "words/terms" that I never knew before my post. Yes, educating one self is critical and by doing so it brings confidence. For instance, I did have monies in stocks before but when the market went down, my fear went up and out I went, mistake. I hope to gain enough confidence now to invest, as you suggested and others too, even one stock on my own, watch it and learn. Likely we will use Fidelity with the bigger monies and my goal is to understand how the stock world works in a way I can comprehend and leave it in for the long term. I look forward to Part 2, thank you!

Start reading a personal finance magazine like Kiplingers to teach you on the subject.

They have quite a few recommendations of no load mutual funds with good long term track records.

I still would tell you to use index funds, not individual stocks. Maybe for some “fun” money a few stocks are OK. GoogleYale University endowment fund. Many billions of $$$$. Very successful returns for over 50 years. They basically use 4 Vanguard index funds for the majority of their money. Total stock market fund, total bond fund, total international stock fund and total international bond fund. If you do just these 5 things you can be a very successful investor, have very good returns and have a very low risk portfolio.

Learn about your risk tolerance
Learn about asset allocation
Understand expense ratios
Use those 4 funds for the majority of your money.
Rebalance once a year on your birthday

It really is that simple. As you grow more comfortable and see how this simple plan works, you can branch out just a little and add a small amount of complexity with a few other low cost funds and maybe boost your returns. But get started with just those 5 actions.

I would recommend that you meet with Parady before you sign up with anyone. Best thing we ever did.

Go with an independent fiduciary company and create a revocable trust.
They don’t try to sell you anything, They will do a risk analysis with you and your spouse and structure you portfolio accordingly.