Just a reminder to all young, long term investors. You do NOT need a financial advisor. They just want your $

I’m a long term investor, two years ago I made the novice mistake of scheduling an appointment with a wealth advisor. I knew nothing about investing, and this is obviously something she recognized and took advantage of. I opened up a Roth IRA and a taxable account with them, I had no clue what I even had. It was whatever she picked, lots of various ETF’s/bonds etc.

I was being charged 0.35% per quarter, the balance quietly being taken out each quarter.

Thanks to subs like this and r/Bogleheads, I found out I was being ripped off big time.

I was being charged an outrageous amount for something I didn’t need.

I promptly emailed my advisor and asked if negotiation was possible, as I was concerned about the fee adding up long term. I was told “no”, just wow…how greedy can you be?

I made an account with Schwab and transferred my investments over. I then sold everything and bought VT.

Schwab’s customer service is wonderful

Just a reminder to not make the mistake I made! Luckily I only had about a year of that mistake, compared to 30.

Obviously you have to be cautious when listening to anyone online, but if you’re a young, long term investor…a low cost well known ETF really is hard to beat. Pick something like VTI or VT and call it a day.

People can have their little debates about international or US only but I mean as long as you’re picking something low fee then you’re good.