[Augenbrauezug]

Originally Posted by Feyd

LOL... gotta think beyond California.

They're everywhere.. besides California and NY.

Come to Texas and 400k will get you a very nice place. Move up north and you could buy a lot of property.

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by mileydog

Can somebody please tell my the advantages of hiring a financial adviser?

I am on the verge of going with a Merrill lynch adviser but am not really sure of the advantages. I already have retirement accounts setup, mutual funds as well as a few hand picked stock holdings.

Now that I have got married, we have a family income that well exceeds 150k. We own 2 properties and for the past 2 years the rental property does not count as a tax write-off. This really sucks!

Anyways does anybody have any comments / tips for hiring a financial professional.

Im a little late to this thread...
but at any rate..you should interview at least 3-4 advisors..the advantage as with hiring most professionals is their expertise.
I also recommend you get a CPA if you dont already have one

be weary of FA's who are transaction based....we have both transaction based platforms and fee based platforms for our clients....
it depends too on your age, time frame and a million other things

unless you are a do it yourself kinda guy hire a professional...but interview a couple of advisors unless you know the guy @ Merrill AND really trust that he will do whats best for you....



back to the OP's question of "at least doubling" in 3-5 years with "balanced risk"....not gonna happen bro
risk=reward..and to double any amount in 3-5 years IN THIS MARKET is going to be hard....
seeing that you are young, you can afford to take on more risk, of course, given your timeframe you will have to take on additional risk to achieve even greater returns....

if 400K is every penny that you have you should not be putting it all into the market, or even all into 1 stock, unless you truly dont care..which at that point you can get pretty wild in the markets...but you should too go with an advisor who can help you get the returns you desire.

i dont deal a whole lot with MLP's but from what I know, they probably wont double in 3-5 years

[Vanity]

Originally Posted by jlspeed29

Im a little late to this thread...
but at any rate..you should interview at least 3-4 advisors..the advantage as with hiring most professionals is their expertise.
I also recommend you get a CPA if you dont already have one

be weary of FA's who are transaction based....we have both transaction based platforms and fee based platforms for our clients....
it depends too on your age, time frame and a million other things

unless you are a do it yourself kinda guy hire a professional...but interview a couple of advisors unless you know the guy @ Merrill AND really trust that he will do whats best for you....



back to the OP's question of "at least doubling" in 3-5 years with "balanced risk"....not gonna happen bro
risk=reward..and to double any amount in 3-5 years IN THIS MARKET is going to be hard....
seeing that you are young, you can afford to take on more risk, of course, given your timeframe you will have to take on additional risk to achieve even greater returns....

if 400K is every penny that you have you should not be putting it all into the market, or even all into 1 stock, unless you truly dont care..which at that point you can get pretty wild in the markets...but you should too go with an advisor who can help you get the returns you desire.

i dont deal a whole lot with MLP's but from what I know, they probably wont double in 3-5 years

What is happening in the market at the moment? Why is it so hard to double?

And anywhere 50%+ on a 400k investment is fine. Anybody have any other ideas of turning $400k into something worthwhile? I'm literally open for anything, short-term to medium to long-term.

[bolinp78]

Originally Posted by Vanity

What is happening in the market at the moment? Why is it so hard to double?

And anywhere 50%+ on a 400k investment is fine. Anybody have any other ideas of turning $400k into something worthwhile? I'm literally open for anything, short-term to medium to long-term.

You shouldn't be looking at every investment as an "opportunity to double". Some investments, like MLP's, have healthy dividends/distributions and that alone is why you might buy them.

You have to set realistic goals and not have the expectation that everything you choose to buy should go up in value astronomically.

On the other side, you will probably buy some stocks with the intention of holding them. They are more long term plays, and you shouldn't expect anything out of them right away (as in you shouldn't dump them if they go up 10%), and you shouldn't get yourself into a situation where you are forced to liquidate them if they drop too low, either.

[NYCGP]

Originally Posted by Augenbrauezug

Come to Texas and 400k will get you a very nice place. Move up north and you could buy a lot of property.

yeah.. there is a reason the house is cheap... No one wants to live there.

400k....

Like I always say, WWCSD... Hookers and Blow...

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by NYCGP

yeah.. there is a reason the house is cheap... No one wants to live there.

400k....

Like I always say, WWCSD... Hookers and Blow...

This has gotta be true... But I think I'd rather live in a 400,000 house in north Texas than a $400,000 condo in NYC.

[ghosthi32]

texas sucks

[jlspeed29]

Originally Posted by Vanity

What is happening in the market at the moment? Why is it so hard to double?

And anywhere 50%+ on a 400k investment is fine. Anybody have any other ideas of turning $400k into something worthwhile? I'm literally open for anything, short-term to medium to long-term.

theres a lot of things going on...
you got the middle east about to blow-up... US debt ceiling will probably be raised again so we dont go belly up ( its been raised 70 times since 1962!!) gas and commodities are up the up and up ( a little too much if you ask me..i'd like to see a correction before more upside)

..now on the flip side of the coin is that interest rates are historically low..forcing investors into more "riskier" investments ...cause much like the OP said, you cant put ur money in the bank because its earning shit.......

look at lots of investments, some are more complicated than others... are you single? married? kids? i hate to say this but "gambling" 400k is not advisable in any way.....

my 2cents is to figure out how much you can afford to lose...that seems to be the best advice i was ever given " dont invest more than you can afford to lose"
once you have that figure its time to go to work

[Vanity]

$400,000 will get you absolutely nothing where I live. Except maybe a nice place in the bad neighborhood of town where the drug dealers and everyone else live.

[NYCGP]

Some really great advice in here... Ultimately, you are too young to manage this amount of money with little knowledge. My recommendation give 75% of it to a FA. Then take the other 25% of it and spend it on hookers and blow. If you are not into blow, then get twice as many hookers.

[Joekerr]

Some posters seem to forget OP's in Canada (no CPA's - we're CA's here).

That being said OP (and I'm not a Financial Advisor, though I am a CA), you should consult an FA, and the FA should be at least a CA or a CFA or both. You may see a lot of CFP's out there - this is frankly a pretty easy designation to get, so I wouldn't put too much stock in a person with a CFP designation. Both CA and CFA are difficult designations to obtain, and generally, if you have someone with these credentials, you'll be dealing with someone a little smarter (not all the time, just generally).

Lastly, my view (again, not an FA) right now is that I would invest in resource based companies - any company that controls a valuable commodity that the government can't easily devalue by printing money (like they seem to be doing in the States) or control. I have little faith in all the financial instruments out there created by the insurance companies / banks, so personally, I would stay clear of them. But that's just me, and I'm not really an investor like some of the people here seem to be.

[aut0sh0cker]

To double your money in less than 5 years, you want to be looking into hedge funds. You have the cash to start in that direction, and many are pulling more than the 3.5% quarterly return that you want.

[OC Guy]

With 400k, you diversify.

[Vanity]

Originally Posted by OC 335i

With 400k, you diversify.

Explain. lol

[nusevad]

1. Buy 400 e30s
2. ???
3. profit!

[OC Guy]

Originally Posted by Vanity

Explain. lol

What ever advice you receive, do not put all your eggs in one basket. You want some low-risk, some medium risk, anything else is up to you.

[bmwmthree]

Originally Posted by FifthStreetz

1. Buy 400 e30s
2. ???
3. profit!

nice sig

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by Mr. Maboomba

If you have a half-million dollars to invest, don't be a fool. Get a professional financial advisor.

So they can rape you with their non performance based fees, structured products and annuities? No thank you. But to each his own.

Sorry to say but FAs today dont know anymore than your next door neighbor about the markets. They are all just glorified salesman looking out for their compensation grid.

[Vanity]

*starts throwing dolla bills at the cage fight going on*

[Pinarello Rider]

Originally Posted by Feyd

Face it... You just wanna pay off your house so you can free up enough cash to buy another $9,000 bike.

Those Pinarellos are mad sexy though... gotta admit.

Not all Pinarello's are $9k, and I get more use out of it than a $1000/year gym membership.

That's what I tell my wife anyways...

But thanks - they are gorgeous. I look forward to climbing on board and putting in some long hard miles.

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by Pinarello Rider

Not all Pinarello's are $9k, and I get more use out of it than a $1000/year gym membership.

That's what I tell my wife anyways...

But thanks - they are gorgeous. I look forward to climbing on board and putting in some long hard miles.

very nice...I'll be happy when this weather breaks, although I did get out once already this year so I guess I can't complain too much

[jlspeed29]

lmfao @ the tags on this thread!!! hahaha