Financial Planning: Where to start?

[gw_hayduke]

I met with my TIAA rep yesterday and we agree things are on track with my retirement finances, but I would like to work with someone to help make informed financial decisions in the more immediate future (other investments, general savings, purchasing a home in new city, etc.).

Where do I even begin? I contacted my benefits coordinator at my new institution to see if we have access to any financial planning services, but outside of that, do I just google local financial planners and hope I end up with a good one? I would like to start working with someone soon, so waiting for the semester to start and asking for recommendations from colleagues doesn't seem like the best route. Any advice would be appreciated!

-gw

[downer]

I think TIAA has different levels of service depending on how much money you have with them, but you might be able to get some help with the more immediate investment advice from them. They are keen to keep your money, and get more of it, so they could be helpful, though you may also want to hear about different options from other sources.

Your bank may also have advisors. Their interest in helping you also seems to depend on how much money you have and will have in the future. It could be worth asking.

[Cheerful]

Start reading the Personal Investments Forum at Bogleheads.org.

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=1

Be very careful with selection of a financial advisor.  Many at Bogleheads have stories about poor experiences with such and paying way too much in fees.  You can post questions at that forum, the community tends to be quite helpful.  You don't have to follow the advice, of course.  There is a wealth [pun intended] of information and goodwill there.  They are welcoming and patient with newbies.  There is also a search function.

Forum is named after Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard.  One of the best of the Big 3:  Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab.

[clean]

I met with my TIAA rep yesterday and we agree things are on track with my retirement finances, but I would like to work with someone to help make informed financial decisions in the more immediate future (other investments, general savings, purchasing a home in new city, etc.).

I guess that the easiest answer I can give is that if you PM me, I will be glad to offer some quick free (worth twice what you paid for it) advice.

Your post strikes me as very excited. Are you starting a new job?  If so, then dont be in any rush to buy a house. If you are not tenured there are plenty of reasons to wait. IF you are new to a town, there are even better reasons to rent for a year or so first.

As classes should start relatively soon, I am confused about why waiting for classes to start is a bad idea.  I would suggest that there is no reason to rush to making plans.  You can wait until you have a chance to talk to your coworkers when classes start in the next few weeks.  IF this is a new job, it is not like you have been paid yet and have a lot of money rolling in to invest anyway!  And IF you DO have a lot of money, there is nothing wrong with leaving it in cash for another month or so!

Patience is a requirement for many financial decisions.  Decisions made in haste, or decisions that take the 'easy' route, are often not the best long term decisions. 

[Volhiker78]

I'm not convinced that financial advisors are necessary for the vast majority of us.   Read up on some of the basics,  Jack Bogle noted above is good.  I liked Andrew Tobias' style of writing.  Stick with low cost index funds for investing, and use the power of compound interest to your advantage.  Patience and a reasonable tolerance of risk will take you a long way.  There are some low cost financial planning tools online - I've never used them but they at least take the middleperson out of the equation. 

[spork]

The one time I attempted to get financial advice from a TIAA rep I was told that he/the company didn't offer that kind of advice. He was only interested in showing me projected retirement savings using the supposedly wonderful and amazing online TIAA retirement projection calculator.

Generally financial planning isn't rocket science. Often the public library has good books on the subject. I remember reading the library's copy of 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask by Ilyce Glink many years ago and liking it.

[Anselm]

A colleague offered to me a cynical observation and I am not sure of its validity but it was interesting.  He said that you may talk to an advisor with gray hair and you assume that he has been at this for 30 years but in reality he may be a retired high school coach who started this new career two years ago.

[Grinch]

A colleague offered to me a cynical observation and I am not sure of its validity but it was interesting.  He said that you may talk to an advisor with gray hair and you assume that he has been at this for 30 years but in reality he may be a retired high school coach who started this new career two years ago.

And he started the new career because he didn't have enough money saved to really retire.

[gw_hayduke]

Thanks everyone. Turns out we do have access to some planning services through benefits, so I will be setting up a consult soon. Also the boglehead board looks great - I will start reading up.

-gw