Temujin_123 OP t1_j2au6y0 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 10:05 PM

Reply to comment by wilsonhammer in What are your EOY personal finance rituals? by Temujin_123

We go over all of my accounts, set up backdoor ROTH, look at the balances of my investments and re-adjust if needed.

This year we spent a bit more time running the numbers on 529s as kids are approaching college and decided to put some into bonds vs funds for the older kids since the risk of loss is too high given the short time before they start up college.

He then runs various scenarios on retirement given our yearly planned contributions, retirement goals/budgets, and different market scenarios. We're in the high-confidence threshold for retiring at 65 and moderate confidence for retiring at 60.

Honestly, I can do much of this myself (my estimated net worth at retirement was pretty close to the tools he uses). But I value the independent check and more sophisticated analysis (e.g., I don't run different market scenarios).

wilsonhammer t1_j2awdiz wrote on December 30, 2022 at 10:20 PM

sounds reasonable. hope they're not taking a percentage of your investments though!

Temujin_123 OP t1_j2aww2g wrote on December 30, 2022 at 10:23 PM

Sadly, they are. I know that's not optimal and will eat into things long-term. But it's not high enough that I'm worried about it - my rights of accumulation makes the percentage low. This is only for ROTH/529s.

If I had to go back I'd do fee-only. But it's not enough of an impact for me to bother switching.

wilsonhammer t1_j2axtj3 wrote on December 30, 2022 at 10:30 PM

It's never too late. but if the amount truly is low, then yeah, might not be worth the hassle of switching. Might be worth it to calculate the exact dollar amount of what you're paying them and re-evaluate. If it's surprisingly low (or high), at least you'll know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

happy new year!

invenio78 t1_j2dtn8w wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:56 PM

> But it's not enough of an impact for me to bother switching.

Maybe you should have them run the numbers on how much those AUM fees are going to run you overall your lifetime. :)

In all honesty, it sounds like like you are pretty skillful with finances. I would not be paying more than a few hundred dollars for the "fun of running a few scenarios." Doing the yearly backdoor roth takes about 15 minutes of your time.