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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
I've not used any financial adviser, WEG or other, personally. My situation is simple enough to handle myself; just maximize after-tax value subject to risk tolerance.
Don't dig too deeply into the spreadsheet. It goes beyond obvious simplifications (such as uniform 5% and 7% rates of return and no changes in tax brackets between 2027 and 2042) to the point that conclusions may be suspect.
For example: By assumption, the taxable account is spinning off no income other than sales from gain. If it were otherwise, that income would be used to offset some of the annual surplus/(shortfall). Okay, that's just another simplification.
But it also means that no divs are being reinvested in the taxable account. Consequently the cost basis of the taxable account is decreasing each year as assets are sold off. Meanwhile, despite these selloffs, the total value of the taxable account is increasing (see "Non-qualified Inv. Accts.")
Therefore, the ratio cost basis (going down) : total value (going up) is decreasing.
Yet each year, the spreadsheet says that this ratio is fixed at 75%. It says that the cap gain on each asset is the same 25% of proceeds. This is impossible with a homogeneous portfolio (assumed, just as 5% uniform growth is assumed).
Thus the spreadsheet understates the taxes owned due to cap gains (declining cost basis means greater gain and higher taxes).
There's a more concerning issue. We see equity assets (or other assets generating cap gains) being sold for short term cash flow needs. That's not the way I manage my portfolio.
Of course the spreadsheet is just "for illustration purposes only".

msf September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
@msf, Vanguard often written things in simple language. Many may interpret Vanguard being a plain old indexer and that is simply untrue (have equally number actively managed funds).
As you posted the comparison between different PAS plans: Digital Advisor ($3K minimum), Personal Advisor ($50K minimum), Personal Advisor Select ($500K minimum), and Wealth Management ($5M minimum). All plans have active funds options.
We chose Personal Advisor Select since we want need additional advice on personal financial planning and personal trust service. A dedicated advisor seems to work very effectively for us.
As I stated earlier, Vanguard's proposal is far from being a cookie-cutter plan filled with index funds. It is built based on our risk tolerance, withdraw need with respect to time and from which tax-deferred accounts. The advisor constructed the proposal to include actively managed short and intermediate term investment grade bond funds (not just a total bond market index fund) and a total international bond index fund (we have little exposure to this asset class), plus others I mentioned above. Our advisor is well aware of the inverted yield curve and our bonds spread between short and intermediate term duration; no long duration bonds. In addition, we requested to shift more of bonds to my accounts and more stocks to my wife since they will be withdraw 5 years later.
In the end, I believe the clients have the equal responsibility to work with their advisors in order to put together a solid asset allocation plan so to meet their future needs.
Thank you for your "Dynamic Cash Flow" example, I am putting together a spreadsheet for our Roth conversion plan. Even though we have taken advantage of Roth 401(K) when it was available. Still we have sizable traditional IRAs to convert and the tax saving is substantial in our case.

Sven September 2023 in Other Investing
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
@Sven - very nice writeup specifically addressing some questions asked here.
Curious that your advisor said VPMCX wasn't available. From the fund prospectus:
The Fund is closed to new accounts for investors not enrolled in Vanguard Flagship Services® or Vanguard Personal Advisor Services®. Clients of these services may open new Fund accounts, investing up to $25,000 per Fund account per year as described below, in individual, joint, and/or personal trust registrations.
My somewhat limited experience (all vicarious) with advisory services suggests that each provider slices and dices their offerings into so many different packages that it's difficult to tell one from another. Even the names confuse matters.
Your service, that you're calling "Vanguard PAS Select", is formally called "Vanguard Personal Advisor Select", though it was previously called "Vanguard Personal Advisor Services". In 2019, Vanguard launched its pure robo version, Vanguard Digital Advisor. Then in 2022, Vanguard launched a hybrid version of that, called "Vanguard Personal Advisor". As of now, there is no specific offering called Vanguard Personal Advisor Services (which is what comes to my mind with "PAS").
Here are the brochures and other disclosures in gory detail. I'm just beginning to compare and contrast them now. They seem to have buried within them all of the info in this thread plus more, but obviously much harder to extract than reading here.
Personal Advisor Select: https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/vpabroc.pdf
Digital Advisor (robo) / Personal Advisor (hybrid):
https://personal.vanguard.com/pdf/vanguard-digital-advice-brochure.pdf
Here's Vanguard's advisory services comparison page:
https://investor.vanguard.com/advice/compare-investment-advice#comparison-chart
Disregarding trust services (available in Select), there seem to be three differentiators between the services. (Could be many more, I'm just starting a deeper dive.)
1. Human financial advice/service - none for digital, team for Personal Advisor, dedicated individual for Select. Even this isn't clear, because the disclosure for Personal Advisor says that you get a dedicated individual once you reach $500K (the min for Select).
2. Management discretion - Digital and Personal are nondiscretionary (VG makes all decisions); Select is nondiscretionary (you must approve financial plan before VG executes it).
3. Price structure - Digital and Personal have gross fees (0.20%/0.25% and 0.35%/0.40% respectively for index/active portfolios) that are reduced by the Vanguard portion of ERs of the underlying holdings. Select charges 0.30% annually, with no reduction for the cost of underlying funds. (Over $5M AUM Select portfolios get a reduced fee.)
Sven mentioned that his managed portfolio has no cash. That's likely typical but not mandatory. Select says that on Oct 21, it will begin assessing its advisory fee on the "recommended allocations to cash equivalents in the discretionary advice offer." Until then, cash investment allocations are "free".
That cash is different from "spending cash". Select (and only Select) offers a "spending fund" (a MMF) for cash flows in and out of the managed portfolio. You can set upper and lower thresholds. Vanguard will move money in and out of the managed portfolio to keep within those thresholds. In the withdrawal phase, that's essentially your checking account.
As I continue to dig into the disclosures, I'll make corrections if needed to the above.

msf September 2023 in Other Investing
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
Recently we have started working with Vanguard PAS Select program and have a dedicated advisor. Our ultimate goal is to have a human advisor to oversee our finance if and when I go before my time, and my wife and kids will be well care for. For now this is a new experiment for us.
After several rounds of discussion with my advisor, I have gained further insights on Vanguard capabilities that may to answer some of Hank’s and Old_Joe questions above.
1. VCCM uses a Monte Carlo algorithm based on historical financial data with respect to inflation rates, interest rates, market returns of stocks and bonds. Nevertheless, these are backward looking data and may have challenges in predicting future returns. Thus the model can look at various scenarios and calculates for the probabilities of various future outcomes. Realistically, there is no model exists today. AI and machine learning will likely be use more in assisting the Monte Carlo simulation in the future. Right now, their algorithms are simply not robust enough to enable self-driving cars are reliably, for example.
2. I asked my advisor the scenario question where it has higher than average 2% inflation rates for longer period, higher interest rates, and below average market return below, and how would VCCM model predicts and recommends the asset allocation. My advisor said that is a “good question” meaning he does not have the answer. But he said one needs to reconsider the withdrawal rates and monitor the portfolio to ensure that is still on track if this scenario plays out. That is a honest answer I can accept.
3. In the proposed plan I requested to have no emerging market exposure, especially in passive investing. This eliminated Total international market index fund and geopolitical risk of 30% EM. Developed market is acceptable. So we will use developed market index ETF instead. In our self-managed accounts, we will use specific active managers outside Vanguard managed accounts.
4. In Vanguard proposal plan, there is no cash position. There is only stocks and bonds for periodic rebalance purpose. Cash is considered a drag on portfolio performance. The plan is highly flexible that the advisors will work with clients to produce an asset allocation will meet the withdraw rate, portfolio return and volatility. Also the clients can choose all active and passive Vanguard funds aand ETFs available. One closed mutual fund, Capital Opportunity, was made available to PAS clients. Primecap, however, was not available (bummer). We chose 50:50 active:passive with 50% stocks and 50% bonds.
5. Lots of customerization from client’s perspective, we added short- and intermediate-term corporate bonds in addition to the total bond market index. In the future, we may add their newly created Core or Core-plus active ETFs. Outside the managed accounts, we compliment these bonds with other active managed bonds - high yield, bank loans, and global bonds.
Addition: PAS Select program provides few other services that we did not engage with the advisor in this early phase of working relationships. The human touch aspect is very good and their advisor phone number answer quickly.

Sven September 2023 in Other Investing
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
[snip]
@hank,
Good questions!
I'm not an expert on robo-advisors.
I recently worked with Vanguard Personal Advisor Services (PAS)
to create a financial plan as a trial exercise.
My thoughts are below.
- Are these robo’s aware that bonds recently experienced a 30 year bull market? That aberration affected not only bond returns. It also likely distorted other asset performance as well. Are robos capable of distinguishing between what worked over the last 30 years during falling interest rates and what might work over the next 2 or 3 decades?
Vanguard PAS uses the Vanguard Capital Markets Model (VCMM) to forecast returns for stocks,
bonds, short-term reserves as well as inflation rates.
The VCCM uses a statistical analysis of historical data for interest rates, inflation,
and other risk factors for global equities, fixed income, and commodity markets
to generate forward-looking distributions of expected long-term returns.
I don't know what models other robo-advisors are using nor which factors they consider.
- Does the robo take into consideration the difference between very low / negative inflation over the preceding 2 or 3 decades and the likely inflation scenario going forward? Can it comprehend and factor in how that monumental sea change might turn return on different assets on their heads? Assets that outperformed over a period of low inflation may not be the best ones in a radically different economic backdrop.
Please refer to my answer above.
- Are these robos aware of the growing friction with China, Russia and how that may affect EM investments? Do they take into account the rise of populism around the world and growing political instability in many Western nations?
I don't think robo-advisors' models factor in rising populism or frictions with China/Russia.
- Would robos have correctly foreseen the tech revolution in say 1975 (excuse the oxymoron) and would they have recommended the best investments over the next quarter century? Can they properly assess the impact AI may / may not have on investments?
Robo-advisors could not have predicted the tech revolution nor can they properly assess the impact of AI.
- Can a robo correctly identify a bubble in an asset class and warn its clients to steer clear in a timely manner? (By definition, most humans cannot.) Or, might the robo have had you invested in Japan in the mid-90?
Robo-advisors can not identify bubbles in an asset class beforehand.
However, their models may underweight "overvalued" assets.
[snip]

Observant1 September 2023 in Other Investing
Funds & Retirement Stories from Barron's
LINK 2
FUNDS. Mid-cap growth JAENX follows the GARP strategy. Its portfolio includes 26% techs, 24% industrials (reshoring themes), healthcare, growth utilities (renewables, grid improvements). (By @lewisbraham at MFO) (Also, a strange placement near the end of the issue)
EXTRA, FUNDS. With the NAMES-RULE, the SEC has cracked down on misleading fund names. Funds must invest 80% of the assets according to what is in their names, e.g. growth, value, big-data, green, AI, etc. When terms are vague, funds must define them along with applicable criteria in their prospectuses and those will become part of funds’ official investment policy. Fund firms with $1+ billion AUM will have 12 months to comply, smaller firms 18 months. Future flexibility will only be during fund launches when it takes some time to build portfolios, but beyond that, any deviations must be fixed within 90 days.
INCOME. As bond-proxies, UTILITIES (XLU, the worst among 11 S&P sectors) have suffered as rates have risen. But rates are peaking, and utilities should have better prospects ahead, especially growth electric utilities, those involved in renewables and improving grid infrastructure. Mentioned are AEP, CNP, NI. (This previously regular column is now ON/OFF)
ECONOMY. A new plan by the LA Senator CASSIDY and the ME Senator KING to fix SOCIAL SECURITY may work. It will leave the SSA Trust Fund (really, an IOU) alone, but would BORROW $1.5 trillion over 5 years to invest in STOCK index funds. The total US stock market-cap is $43.4 trillion, so this inflow shouldn’t cause much disruption (but don’t underestimate the impact of the inflow of $300 billion/yr. That would be almost double of the US IPOs in a best/hot year like 2021) (Also not mentioned is the increase in the US debt, but what is another $1.5 trillion added to $33 trillion?). This stock investment may cover 75% of the SSA shortfall with the rest coming from COST-CUTTING via increasing the FRA (well, this is the US, not France), raising salary caps, adding means test for higher income earners (so, they pay max into the SSA but may be limited in their SSA benefits). (No mention of how/if this $1.5 trillion would be repaid, but keep in mind that Social Security is a mandatory obligation of the government) (By guest author Allan Sloan)
Dave GOODSELL, Natixis Center for Investor Insights. Most Americans aren’t prepared for RETIREMENT and may be overly optimistic. For many, 2022 was a year when reality hit (with bad stock and bond markets). Financial advisors have been suggesting that fixed-income now has generational opportunities, yet the pain isn’t over for many sectors of fixed-income. Allocation 60-40 makes good sense now. SOCIAL SECURITY may cover only 35-40% of retirement needs, and many Americans would have difficult time covering the rest from their portfolios. LONGEVITY is an underestimated risk, higher than what investors perceive in surveys (#1-volatility, #2-risk of loss).
RETIREMENT. A government SHUTDOWN (federal FY24 starts October 1) won’t disrupt the monthly SSA payments (as that is mandatory spending), but other SSA services would be affected. The announcement of COLA (est +3.2%) would be delayed (without the BLS CPI data). We went through the debt-ceiling fiasco earlier this year, and now this.

yogibearbull September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
Many years ago, Fidelity was my 401(k) plan administrator. A planning tool, the Financial Engines was made available in their Net Benefit portal. Here is more information on it.
https://www.edelmanfinancialengines.com/about-us/
The users have the ability to input a number of variables into the model and it generates the probability of outcomes. That model works well with index funds but not so much with active managed funds. Nevertheless, I came to appreciate asset allocation as the most direct factor on long term return. @lynnbolin 2021 also mentioned Financial Engines in a recent post.
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/166992/#Comment_166992
It appears that both Fidelity and Vanguard use some version of the Financial Engines that can accommodates active funds just as index funds. Our Fidelity planning report provides a full picture of our finance before we engage with Vanguard PAS. You are correct that Vanguard cannot legally advise on external funds. Their plan only advises those $ that you direct them to manage. This is a new experience for us working with advisors but being prepared really help to guide the planning discussion accordingly. Unlike Vanguard customer lines that customers complain about, the advisor phone numbers and Secure Messaging are excellent. Again, thank you for sharing.

Sven September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
As a follow-up to their robo-advisor evaluation, M* conducted additional research.
Two hypothetical investor profiles were created.
Only seven of the 20 robo-advisors allow investors to complete risk assessments without registering.
Their sample recommendations varied widely.
Four robo-advisors recommended identical portfolios for both investor profiles.
This was surprising since the investors' time horizons differed by 18 years.
Conclusion
"Robo-advisors have one key purpose: to simplify and automate the investment process.
However, our research underscores the fact that the resulting portfolios often vary.
The upshot is that while robo-investing delivers on its promise to automate the investment process,
investors should still do their own research and make sure they’re comfortable with the recommended
portfolio before signing up with a specific provider."
Not All Robo-Advisors Are Created Equal

Observant1 September 2023 in Other Investing
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
Schwab & Wealth Enhancement Group:
Partnering for a Superior Client Experience
https://network.wealthenhancement.com/
From there, follow the full services link to:
https://network.wealthenhancement.com/services
Then to Financial Planning:
https://network.wealthenhancement.com/financial-planning
That has the link to Dynamic Cash Flow Tax Plan- Roth IRA Conversion (the sample spreadsheet)
The key is the "network" part of the URL (working with Schwab), as opposed to using "www".
The spreadsheet illustrates a straightforward strategy. "Prepay" taxes (via conversions paid for out of taxable account) as a way of moving that tax money into sheltered accounts. If it weren't for graduated tax rates, one might want to convert all of an IRA up front. Instead, convert gradually over many years, going up to but not into the next tax bracket.
(Since some states exempt some or all of the conversion amount, the combined fed/state rate on some conversions can be less than your current bracket even if you edge into the next bracket).
A first order approximation for the ultimate target is to convert enough over many years that what one is left with in the T-IRA generates RMDs not greater than one's cash flow needs (after accounting for SS, pensions, and taxable account assets). Notice in the spreadsheet that this couple never depletes their taxable account and that their RMDs are below their cash flow needs.
(Depleting taxable assets would be a good thing, because then assets would all be in tax-advantaged accounts. This couple can't do that without the conversions moving them into a higher (32%) bracket.)
This strategy depends on the assumption that one's tax bracket in retirement will not be much less than one's tax rate for the conversions. (It can be somewhat less because of the tax-sheltering effect of prepaying taxes.) Given today's low tax rates (even the spreadsheet assumes a future increase in rates), that's an assumption I've been willing to make. In the end, what taxes will be 30 years from now is a crap shoot.

msf September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services

I just got off the call with this guy [at Wealth Enhancement Group]. I was generally impressed. ( While he was not calling form his yacht, he was calling from second home in Maine!) They have a model which will calculate Roth Conversions and expected taxes with breakeven points ( Example says 2040!). Assumes 5% return in taxable and 7% in Roth
Is this the example you were shown?
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ed7df046f291c4a9e5546fc/t/63ffc63f2a2d1c36743d9803/1677706815803/Sample+Roth+Conversions+DCFI+-+2023_with+notes+-+JH.pdf

They will do financial plan free of any fees, but of course want to manage your money. The fee is fairly reasonable at 1% for first 1,000,000 up to 0.7% over 5,000,000, so in line with most firms that do portfolio management only, and a bit higher than many mutual funds.
That is certainly in line with the industry:

From: https://www.advisoryhq.com/articles/financial-advisor-fees-wealth-managers-planners-and-fee-only-advisors/
Comparison of types of services and typical fees:
https://smartasset.com/financial-advisor/financial-advisor-cost
Fees do depend on what you get. I was just looking at someone's Separately Managed Account (SMA) portfolio with a couple of hundred large cap stocks (with little S&P 500 overlap). Real portfolio, outperformed the S&P 500 net of fees since owned (about 2.5 years), fees closer to 1/2% than to 1% (well under $1M in assets). Would perform tax harvesting except it is in an IRA. Don't know about other services included.

I agree the Vanguard info is pretty comprehensive, but to me it is predictably Vanguard, ie 60/40, 20% International, tax loss harvesting. Not sure that is worth their fees which I think are 0.3% correct ?
As @hank observed, Vanguard builds a glidepath. I noted in the Robo advisor thread that per M* this is unusual for low cost (i.e. robo) advisors. Also note that that 20% international is out of 60% stock, i.e. 1/3 of equity is foreign. Vanguard, being enthusiastic about matching market attributes, observes that 40% of the equity market is abroad.
Vanguard Digital Advisor costs 20 basis points all in, or 15 basis points excluding underlying fund expenses. One adds another 15 basis points (30 basis points excluding underlying expenses) in order to get human attention and financial planning. More services, higher fees.
https://investor.vanguard.com/advice/compare-investment-advice#comparison-chart

msf September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
Having a more complete portfolio picture helped in our planning. Remember, the initial plan is merely a proposal. The clients need to review it thoroughly and make adjustments (asset allocation (risk tolerance), investment vehicles, and % active vs. % passive). We have VG to manage part of several IRA accounts for us with the objective of capital appreciation (the third bucket). We manage the other half for generating income (first and second buckets).
As @lynnbolin21 said earlier there is an element of "leap of faith" when using financial advisor. This is new to us so we take it slow. Our ultimate goal is to have a human advisor to help manage our retirement funds if and when I can no longer able to manage it.
On Vanguard site, there is other links on the bottom that have many useful information on financial planning and templates for their advisors.
https://advisors.vanguard.com/advisors-home
I found particularly informative is under the "Advisor's Alpha®" tab where it goes into Advisor's Alpha® overview, Investors' view on advice, and Behavioral coaching. On the Wealth Management tab, it goes into useful tools for Health Care Cost Estimator, Intergenerational wealth, and Roth Conversion Calculator.
I believe sharing these information is helpful for everyone's planning in the future.

Sven September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
@Derf
Funny you should ask. After asking my Schwab rep if he had some way to help me calculate Roth conversions amounts, he suggested talking to the "Wealth Enhancement Group" for a no commitment plan. WEG guy says they are the 6th largest independent advisory firm in the country with over 70 Billion in assets
I just got off the call with this guy. I was generally impressed. ( While he was not calling form his yacht, he was calling from second home in Maine!) They have a model which will calculate Roth Conversions and expected taxes with breakeven points ( Example says 2040!). Assumes 5% return in taxable and 7% in Roth
They will do financial plan free of any fees, but of course want to manage your money. The fee is fairly reasonable at 1% for first 1,000,000 up to 0.7% over 5,000,000, so in line with most firms that do portfolio management only, and a bit higher than many mutual funds.
For this you get the plan, quarterly reviews, tax planning etc. Their "value dividend growth " portfolio has returned 12% net of fees since 2007, pays 3% and lost only 7% in 2022. They also have a growth portfolio, and buy individual bonds for income. They have on site CFA, CFPs, tax lawyers estate planners etc.
I agree the Vanguard info is pretty comprehensive, but to me it is predictably Vanguard, ie 60/40, 20% International, tax loss harvesting. Not sure that is worth their fees which I think are 0.3% correct ?

sma3 September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
@Observant1- In the many years that I've been with MFO I've never seen anyone present such complete, detailed and interesting information with respect to a retirement plan that was recommended by a financial firm. Nice job! It should be useful to other MFO members, and initiate some healthy conversations.
Regards- OJ
Thanks, OJ!

Observant1 September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
Vanguard's spending strategy and recommended actions are sensible*.
The Vanguard Capital Markets Model is proprietary but appears to be robust.
Approximately half of my total portfolio is held outside of Vanguard.
While the corresponding dollar amounts are included in Vanguard's financial plan,
asset allocation for outside investments is not reflected in the current asset mix.
Examples:
Recommendation #3 - increase international to 18%
Portfolio X-Ray indicated 24.48% international exposure
Recommendation #4 - decrease U.S. large caps to 27%
Spreadsheet indicated 24.87% large cap fund exposure (actual large cap stock exposure will be less)
Consequently, Vanguard suggests making unnecessary trades (with tax consequences)
to align my portfolio with the 60/40 asset allocation target.
* Edit: Recommended actions are sensible assuming your entire portfolio is managed by Vanguard PAS.
If this is not the case, some of the recommended actions may not be prudent.

Observant1 September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
@Observant1- In the many years that I've been with MFO I've never seen anyone present such complete, detailed and interesting information with respect to a retirement plan that was recommended by a financial firm. Nice job! It should be useful to other MFO members, and initiate some healthy conversations.
Regards- OJ

Old_Joe September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services
I contacted Vanguard a few weeks ago regarding an unrelated issue.
The Vanguard rep suggested a complementary meeting with a Personal Advisor Services (PAS) professional.
A preliminary financial plan was developed and sent to me yesterday.
I won't delve into all the specific details but will provide an overview since this info may be helpful to others.
Age: Early 60s
Goal: Retire in two years
Withdrawal rate: I requested a specific dollar amount which equaled 3.03% of my total portfolio
Asset allocation to age 80: 60% stock/40% bond - completed questionaires and discussed with Vanguard
Asset allocation from age 80 to 85: 55% stock/45% bond
Asset allocation from age 85 to 100: 50% stock/50% bond
The Vanguard Capital Markets Model (VCMM) is used to forecast returns for stocks, bonds,
and short-term reserves as well as inflation rates.
Monte Carlo simulations are run to project outcomes to age 100.

Observant1 September 2023 in Fund Discussions
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
I'm inclined to think that with respect to advisory services, there are two major axes: degree of assistance desired (ranging from DIY to fully discretionary accounts) and degree of financial complexity involved.
M* suggests that as a first approximation, portfolio size is a fair indicator of complexity. The more money you have, the you tend to have special needs (e.g. complex estate planning). To this end, Exhibit 1 shows basic robo advisors targeted at the mass market (up to $100K), hybrid robos targeted more toward mass affluent ($500K to $2M), and wealth managers useful for some investors with over $2M in assets.
Obviously these are fuzzy divisions with much overlap. A not-so-wealthy individual with a complex family situation may need more help than a wealthy senior with no heirs or other issues. As you said, YMMV.

msf September 2023 in Other Investing
Robo-Advisor Evaluation
M* evaluates robo-advisors for 2023.
Best
1) Vanguard Digital Advisor and Vanguard Personal Advisor
2) Fidelity Go
3) Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Link
Video

Observant1 September 2023 in Other Investing
Wealthtrack - Weekly Investment Show
Earlier this year, Romick delivered the keynote at Morningstar’s investment conference, reflecting on his 30 years of successful investing across multiple cycles.
We asked Romick to share insights and lessons learned navigating major crises like the tech bubble, financial crisis, COVID crash, and 2022’s meltdown. Interestingly, he believes Crescent has survived by “first considering what can go wrong.”
Hear Romick’s wisdom on defensive investing, managing risk, contrarian thinking, and preparing for an uncertain future—a rare chance to learn from a legendary investor.

bee September 2023 in Fund Discussions
How would you invest $100,000 right now?
The same poster stated:
"$100K is not meaningful to change someone's life."
..........AND..........
"Why not open a new thread and ask what a windfall of $100K would mean..."
Say what?
These are two inherently conflicting statements which beg several questions, the first rhetorical one of course being,
IF $100K is not meaningful to change someone's life, how in the world can it be regarded by anyone as a "windfall"?
To wit, per Experian (bold added):
A financial windfall is money you didn't expect to receive. Financial windfalls can range in size from hundreds to millions of dollars, but whatever the amount, they offer an opportunity to improve your financial situation.
Perhaps what the poster was trying to state was best expressed recently by Agent Orange...
(Click twice on below)

See his buffonish comments at 1:00 of video:
"I know this. I don't even know that!"
Got it!

stillers September 2023 in Other Investing