I pick up what you’re putting down, brotha :) Definitely something to consider when going though this process.

And also read early retirement blogs – those guys are ALLL about Vanguard! Finally got me to pull the trigger myself.

Yes, and then you can blog all about it too and get an awesome post out of it no matter what they tell you ;)

I like that one too – hadn’t thought about it that way before :)

Like I said, I do agree that this is a good question to ask and I agree that your financial advisor should both be willing to answer and should have a personal investment strategy that aligns with the advice they’re giving you.

But I think you highlight exactly the issue I’m talking about in your last sentence. You say that it’s difficult to ascertain their investing know-how, and I agree. And my point is that even if you DO ask this question and they DO invest in the same way they’re recommending (good news!), that DOESN’T mean that they have investing know-how. It might just mean that they’re misinformed and therefore take the same bad advice they’re giving. That could be true whether they owned only one type of investment or many.

All of this is to say, go ahead and ask the question. Hopefully you get the right kind of response and in any case it will help you make a more informed decision. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that the right response to this question automatically means that it’s good advice.

Thanks for the excellent post!

Ha! I thought the gif was hilarious too. I bet most advisors look like this in their minds when you ask this question. As far as your individual situation, depending on the firm and how long you owned the mutual fund, you may not have been as worse off as you think, but in general, over time, a mutual fund will cost you more than individual stocks.

Agreed Matt, but if they ONLY owned whole life insurance, then that would be suspect as well, and people should be wary of any financial advisor who only owns one type of investment. The importance of the question is not to ascertain their investing know-how, because that is difficult for a number of people, but it is to compare how they invest vs. how they are suggesting that you invest.

Ok, got it. On that we are in complete agreement. :)