well i had an introductory talk to the financial guy
he basically wanted to get an idea of how much money i was looking to work with and what my goals were
i told him i'm looking to invest a good chunk in something that will work hard for me, but i don't want High Risk/Volatile investments
then i would have a smaller chunk to play with and be able to access if needed (ie: emergency or something) so it would need to be liquid
i have a 401k at work where I'm maxed out on my own contribution and work matches it, so he was impressed that I had that and was happy for me
he gave me 3 options on how to manage my money:
they manage my account, but i direct them what to do with investments for a flat $75 fee
they manage everything, investing and monitoring on my parameters for a 1% fee of the money amount they're managing (which isn't bad at all)
they provide an in depth financial plan for me to manage my own money outside of their control and what to invest in blah blah blah for about $200
i think i'm going to go with option 2 for now, just to get a feel for everything and learn while they do everything. i can always add or deduct from my money, so i won't be trapped.
my ultimate goal is to be set up nicely for when i'm retirement age, or if i do FUCKING AWESOME, retire early. Also i want to have money for myself in case i never marry and have money for elderly care.
the guy was very nice, so now i just have to fill out this questionnaire of how i want to invest and get back to him.