Financial Planner

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are looking to square away our finances. We don't have much in way of investment capital. Most of our assets are real estate etc. So, question is, would visiting with a financial adviser be worth the money?

Can anyone offer some solid advice about where I can go to educate myself on financial planning, investments, etc. so I don't have to fork out $750 for a session with a financial planner?

Thanks in advance for your help TW!

 

Stop by your friendly neighborhood library. There will be many books on the subject. I can't name any--I learned the hard way.

When I got out of school a local investment company had a free seminar where I got a lot of tips, the most memorable of which was that some mutual fund companies do not charge a load.

You could also check the websites of most mutual fund companies for investment tips. T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, and Janus come to mind. There are many others.

 

Does your employer match your contributions to your 401k plan? If so, make sure you're contributing at the very least enough to get a full match. Most recommend somewhere between 10-15% of your net income into your 401k plan. On top of that, you can invest in an IRA (Individual Retirement Account). There's 2 flavors of this - traditional and roth. Traditional is invest pre-tax money now, pay taxes when you withdrawal the $ later. Roth is pay the taxes now, enjoy tax-free withdrawals later. If you don't know anything about mutual funds/ETFs/stocks/bonds go to investopedia.com - its like wikipedia but for investments. Also, just like Tacoma forums, there are financial forums where people chat about everything finance.

As for a financial planner, you could always go visit one, talk shop and decide not to invest. Most of the time they offer free consultations. Not for everyone, but it might be for you. Good luck!

 

Thank you both for your feedback. I truly appreciate it.