A few ways to locate someone:

One caveat on the Certified Financial Planner oath - not all CFPs act in a fiduciary capacity at all times! <it’s confusing, hang in there with me>.

You have a very limited view of what a real financial planner can do for people. Asset selection and allocation is important, but has become commoditized and isn’t where a planner adds significant value. Even Vanguard (a company I use and respect) pegs the value of a true financial planner (not a salesman) at 3%/year: …

You are correct, I skimmed it and thought “muni” instead of all government-issued bonds. Should not have gone for the decaf this morning.

You indirectly touched on it, but also remember that you have to factor in the number of shares outstanding.

The mental example that always stuck in my head is the “see-saw”. As rates go up, price goes down, and vice versa. You can extend the metaphor to include long-term bonds (at the end of the see-saw) vs. short-term bonds. The longer-term, the more they move.

“Timing” bond investments is as (more?) difficult as timing stock investments. For every buyer thinking “this is going up” is a seller thinking “this is going down”.

Correct, which is beneficial for someone in the higher tax brackets. Typically, government bonds pay less interest than corporate bonds because of the tax advantage, and the spread can work out for someone in the 28%+ federal brackets (though that’s a generalization, YMMV).

One additional reason that bonds are considered “safer” is that bondholders have a priority claim against the company’s assets if the company tanks. So bondholders get paid back before stockholders do (in general). There are different kinds of stock shares like preferred, subordinated bonds, etc. but that’s a rabbit…

“Road cone” gave me the first real chuckle of the day. Thanks, torchbearer2.

I’d hate to be the 0.7 person SNAP helped...

Excellent work on this, Kristin! Most reputable financial planners are fully in favor of the CFPB.

Mostly it is because cost alone is not the only factor in play. Some mutual funds target sectors/approaches not offered by ETFs. Some people want active management that ETFs do not offer. Some mutual funds (Vanguard, DFA, etc.) are still less expensive than some ETFs (there are plenty of ETFs that have expense ratios…

The “4% rule” is one approach to trying to deal with sequence of return risk, but it also creates a very high probability that you will WAY under-spend your resources!

As you start your blog (good luck with it!), keep in mind that information is powerful, but changing human behavior requires more. Otherwise, every reader of Men’s Fitness would be ripped and nobody would smoke.

100x this. It was tough for a rational, engineering-minded guy like myself to fully comprehend the power of this logic until I saw it with client after client. The mathematical answer isn’t always the “right” one...the “right” one is the one you will stick with that puts you in the best position to succeed.

It’s not always “lying around” - inheritances happen, parents doing estate planning realize they can effectively pass money for grandkid’s college, etc. The return you get inside of a 529 plan can be especially attractive due to its tax-favored status (especially in states with a state income tax and tax breaks for…

There are exceptions as you mention, but as a general rule being involved in a real estate transaction incurs costs for both sides.

Both buyer and seller have costs incurred at closing, that either increase the principal on a loan (buyer) or reduce net profit on the sale (seller).

Not the closing costs - those are transactional costs that do not contribute to your equity in the home!