Financial Advisor Recommendation

I hire a CPA. I screwed up our taxes a few years ago and got a couple nasty IRS letters. I'm willing to pay to not have that happen ever again.
That’s good. There is your tax advice. Ask him about certain investments and how they would be taxed in comparison to others when needed.

My advice is when nearing retirement (from the posts you have made), you don’t need to shift to bonds (I hate bonds fyi) but maybe look at funds that will pay dividends and have been consistent with that. That will create a revenue stream and if they have been consistent in that, a 5% drop wouldn’t affect your revenue from them for retirement. It would also allow growth to help keep up with inflation.
 
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I would recommend Rick Ferri. He is a Fiduciary fee only advisor, and is an active member on the Bogleheads forum. He has written several books, a couple I have read.
We are in the same boat as you, and used him last year. He will help you with a plan, and you self manage your assets. You can check out his web page here: https://rickferri.com/investors/
 
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Let me clarify: Im in agreement with Bogleheada when it comes to actively a managed funds. Im not willing to pay someone to do that because it costs more in the long run.

My comment on the 5% was meant to be an indication that the size of my funds has reached a point where small mistakes can hurt.

Im really looking for financial planning. Things like: balance between stocks/bonds, when to move into lower risk investments as I age, how to make sure I’m in the best situation for taxes, etc etc.

These are all things I could research myself but I just don’t have the time/energy.
Vanguard has target date funds that do stock/bond balancing for you as you approach retirement, though IMO they move to bonds faster than necessary. Since you are about 40...2045 retirement fund is VTIVX.
 
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I hire a CPA. I screwed up our taxes a few years ago and got a couple nasty IRS letters. I'm willing to pay to not have that happen ever again.

Never had the IRS on me but I will gladly pay my CPA to do my taxes every year exactly for this reason. Not only saves me time but he knows the tax code way better than I do but I also own some livestock with my parents so the income and expenses I have with that also adds a twist to how I can take certain relevant expenses (such as his professional fees) and include that as a farm expense to minimize the tax bill on any farm income I make. I figure if the IRS every wants to sniff around my tax returns having them done by a CPA should limit my risk with that. Not that I have anything for them to scrutinize anyways as ideally I would love to have little to no refund every year and try to do what I can to not give uncle Sam an interest free loan by setting my withholdings properly.
 
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Never had the IRS on me but I will gladly pay my CPA to do my taxes every year exactly for this reason. Not only saves me time but he knows the tax code way better than I do but I also own some livestock with my parents so the income and expenses I have with that also adds a twist to how I can take certain relevant expenses (such as his professional fees) and include that as a farm expense to minimize the tax bill on any farm income I make. I figure if the IRS every wants to sniff around my tax returns having them done by a CPA should limit my risk with that. Not that I have anything for them to scrutinize anyways as ideally I would love to have little to no refund every year and try to do what I can to not give uncle Sam an interest free loan by setting my withholdings properly.
What do you call your tax prep fees? Consultant fees?
 
Never had the IRS on me but I will gladly pay my CPA to do my taxes every year exactly for this reason. Not only saves me time but he knows the tax code way better than I do but I also own some livestock with my parents so the income and expenses I have with that also adds a twist to how I can take certain relevant expenses (such as his professional fees) and include that as a farm expense to minimize the tax bill on any farm income I make. I figure if the IRS every wants to sniff around my tax returns having them done by a CPA should limit my risk with that. Not that I have anything for them to scrutinize anyways as ideally I would love to have little to no refund every year and try to do what I can to not give uncle Sam an interest free loan by setting my withholdings properly.
My experience was pretty easy, but sucked a lot. We started an LLC in 2018 and I tried to do the taxes myself. When doing my 2019 taxes, I realized I had screwed up my 2018 taxes.

I got in touch with a pro right away and paid a pretty penny to fix 2018 taxes and take over my 2019 filing.

I then got a letter from the IRS in January 2021 (that’s right, two years later) saying my 2018 taxes were filed improperly and I owed them $5,000. Of course, it was impossible to actually get in touch with anyone over there. So I mailed a response. 3 weeks later I get another letter notifying me that I hadn’t paid the $5,000, fines were being added, AND I had 30 days to pay before they put a lien on my property.

By the grace of God, I called and got through, using my one get of jail free card to be granted forgiveness.

I still have a little anxiety every day when I check the mailbox.
 
Save the fees and move it to vanguard and do it yourself. Low cost ETFs/Mutal funds will beat advisors because of the fees they charge. Or just find one you can pay by the hour.
 
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