[petsetc]

My addition to investment advice - take time to read Paul Merriman’s 3 FREE ebooks.
1. First-Time Investor
2. 101 Investment Decisions
3. Get Smart or Get Screwed (read this first!)

Found at paulmerriman.com

Also on his site are recommended portfolios for using Vanguard, Fidelity, T.Rowe Price or Schwab for DYI'ers. Much good info, ignore the puffery and sales pitches.

Also, if you want to know too much about annuities, listen to Stan The Annuity Man® | Brutally Honest Facts About Annuities podcasts.

Podcast - Have Fun With Annuities(R) | The Annuity Man

Last recommendation is FIRECalc: A different kind of retirement calculator , a Monte Carlo simulation of your future.

FWIW

[almondz]

Call Dan Zabrowski at Family Financial in Fruitland Park. Flat fee, very knowledgeable and crosses t's and dots i"s (in other words, anal to make it right).

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Caymus

So, I am currently interviewing advisors. In my case, I am trying a find a fee-based advisor who can help me determine how much money I should be "paying" myself (before RMD's kick in). I have always lived below my means and am finding it difficult to open the spending floodgates during my first year of retirement.

The advisor I recently talked to has a relationship with my former company. They have a reasonable fee structure to develop a plan - Monte Carlo Simulation etc. One thing they suggested for income are Nontraded REITs. I read that they may not be easy to sell, and I assume they have high trading fees. Any opinions? I already have REIT funds inside my Roth IRA. They have done well until recently.

Please slooooow down. There is a lot to consider -- that you can do right now -- before choosing an advisor. Don't be eager to turn it all over.

Sounds to me like the advisor you have been talking to is one of those razzle-dazzle, smoke 'n' mirrors guys who is seeing green -- green in his pocket and also seeing you as green about investing.

I have only two rules when it comes to investment decisions:

Rule #1: Know Thyself
Rule #2: Understand what you are buying -- and why

Looks to me like you already have a handle on Rule #1. (I think our behavior when it comes to money (and everything else) boils down to two things -- Nature and Nurture. Part of our "wiring" is just plain there and the other part is based on things that have happened in our lives.)

From what you have written in this thread, it is clear that you already know yourself as a careful spender and you have your reasons. Good. Let that knowledge of Rule #1 guide you to Rule #2. You will not be happy if you make investment decisions in any other way.

There are a couple of things that I would look into if I were you. . . Yeah. Yeah, I know you did not ask for general advice, but the girl can't help it when one of these threads starts up, so here we go......take it or leave it.

Find out about what it would take to roll your 401(k) or 403(b) into an IRA (self-directed for the time being or maybe forever). Someone at Fidelity or Vanguard or Schwab will talk with you about this. If you have investments inside your current retirement account that you like, find out if they can be rolled in-kind.)

If you are holding cash or want to sell anything you currently have inside the account, keep in mind that we are now in a time when CDs and money markets are paying more than they have in years. Brokered CDs with the above companies offer a choice of times to tie up the money and it is easy to find 5% or more now. Look for call-protected. For the first time in a very long time, there is a relatively decent place to park cash while you make other investment decisions.

Because you have not yet reached RMD age, you might want to look into converting an IRA to Roth. It's pay now or pay later when it comes to ordinary income tax, whether you spend the money or convert it to Roth.

My old accountant used to call getting money out of IRAs, “trying to free your money from its prison." If you decide you can convert to Roth, it will cost you now, of course, but it will buy freedom in the future and you will be so glad. (Btw, you mentioned how opening "the floodgates" makes you feel. Well, you might feel a little better if you use conversions to Roth for some of your money. Just pay the damned taxes now, but then you can slam those floodgates shut again and open them to tax-free money later. (Find out about the 5-year rule though if you are thinking you might need to dip in sooner rather than later.)

Anyway, I would be talking to an accountant first, before I looked for an advisor. (Some advisors have an accountant in-house or are one, but I don't think most do or are.)

Taxes are a big part of planning, especially as you approach Medicare age and then RMD age. Also find out if you need a revocable trust -- or, at least, make sure all your beneficiaries are in order. (The rules have changed for inherited IRAs.)

Sounds like you are entering retirement in good financial shape. Those two rules I mentioned here, plus doing a little homework re. taxes, etc., could go a long way toward keeping you in good shape throughout retirement.

(Please forgive me for assigning homework. I can't help that either. And probably you have already done it anyway.)

Boomer

[Ulrickdj]

Outstanding advice Boomer! Especially on the ROTH conversions. Do as much as you can or
get slaughter in taxes in the coming years!

[snbrafford]

Have been using Edward Jones since 2016 and my average return has been 7.56% with a high year of 16.8%. The last 5 has been 5.39%. They have a product called guided solutions that works well for me and it is fee based. My advisor checks in with me at least quarterly - more often if I request it and responds quickly to messages. I have not yet reached RMD time but it's approaching and I've had some discussions with him. I feel like I have "hands-on" management of my account - not just sitting somewhere.

[rsmurano]

This is why I have posted many times: a lot of the brokers and o called advisors are the ones that make all the money.
I never, never hire or listen to so called advisors and brokers. You aren’t the only investor that got sucked into investments with high paying fees, loads, etc.. all the things that make you lose money and the advisors make money.
Brokers and advisors have a business plan, and that’s to make money off the investor. Sky is the limit.
There are hundreds/thousands of ways to live off dividends, I have been doing this for a long time.
Learn to be a Boglehead or hire an advisor that is also a Boglehead, they will invest you into low cost high earning div end paying index funds, without all the loads.

[Villagesgal]

Stay away from that advisor. I also lived frugally prior to retirement so that I don’t need to now. I spend my entire ss and pension check most months and don't give it a second thought, plus I take 3% of my investments out each year and travel the world not counting pennies. I love my life and will never run out of money. Being frugal all those years did me well. Let go and enjoy. Do research on investments and then you'll be fine. I take out 3% but earn an average of 8%. Life in retirement is too short not to enjoy.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Villagesgal

Stay away from that advisor. I also lived frugally prior to retirement so that I don’t need to now. I spend my entire ss and pension check most months and don't give it a second thought, plus I take 3% of my investments out each year and travel the world not counting pennies. I love my life and will never run out of money. Being frugal all those years did me well. Let go and enjoy. Do research on investments and then you'll be fine. I take out 3% but earn an average of 8%. Life in retirement is too short not to enjoy.

Very well said and done

[Innserelli]

Given the downturn in 2007-8-9, my wife was wanting to diversify. We had all our savings in the market and she felt we had suffered for it. In 2014, we had a friend who had purchased some REITs and done quite well when his REITs went public on the NYSE. We met with his advisor and ended up purchasing several recommended individual REITs. All paid good interest and seemed like a reasonable investments. Only one was eventually listed on the NYSE and we sold at a loss. One has been fairly successful, Smart Stop. The other two have been disasters. Both quit paying dividends and dropped dramatically in value when COVID hit. The worst part is that they sit in your IRA adding absolutely nothing to your portfolio, but they are unsellable except at a very steep loss, and increase the value of your IRA which results in a higher RMD. The dividends are often a return of principal. It was a costly mistake for us and I would advise you to steer clear. Same with annuities unless you need a steady cash stream now, which doesn't sound like the case.

[toeser]

Originally Posted by Caymus

So, I am currently interviewing advisors. In my case, I am trying a find a fee-based advisor who can help me determine how much money I should be "paying" myself (before RMD's kick in). I have always lived below my means and am finding it difficult to open the spending floodgates during my first year of retirement.

The advisor I recently talked to has a relationship with my former company. They have a reasonable fee structure to develop a plan - Monte Carlo Simulation etc. One thing they suggested for income are Nontraded REITs. I read that they may not be easy to sell, and I assume they have high trading fees. Any opinions? I already have REIT funds inside my Roth IRA. They have done well until recently.

In my younger days I invested in all sorts of things that were complicated and often illiquid. I have spent my last 15 years working out of those and into simple, highly liquid investments. Why would I leave my wife or anyone else with a complicated mess to unwind?

[Caymus]

Originally Posted by toeser

In my younger days I invested in all sorts of things that were complicated and often illiquid. I have spent my last 15 years working out of those and into simple, highly liquid investments. Why would I leave my wife or anyone else with a complicated mess to unwind?

That is a good point. One of the reasons that I am even interviewing advisors is for the longer term when my cognitive abilities decline. Right now, it is pretty easy (and enjoyable) for me to manage my assets.

[Stu from NYC]

In order to diversify at REITs have investment in a REIT mutual fund via Rowe Price and it has done well over the past 8 years or so.

Thinking about this do not understand why any so called advisor would he suggest a non traded REIT. There are no advantages as far as I can see it.