Originally Posted by Big E 757

I'm not familiar with them but I've seen their newsletters in the DTW lounge.

Be careful, I know some guys want a professional to manage their retirement savings but fees will erode growth of your nest egg.

If you do choose to go with them of financial engines, make sure they don't put you into actively managed mutual funds. Have them buy index funds. Actively managed funds charge much higher fees than index funds and those fees combined with the fees you pay a professional will only help others retire comfortably. It has been proven that even the best mutual fund managers can't consistently predict market changes, and index funds that track the S&P 500 average, do just as well as most mutual funds over the long term. Some of the fees that actively managed mutual funds charge are paid to brokers to push/sell their funds. So if you hire an advisor, chances are they are going to try to put you in actively managed funds so he will get a percentage of your funds every year plus get commissions from the funds he puts your money in. If your money made 20% a year (unusually high return) and your mutual funds take their 6-7%, then your advisor takes his 6%, you only have 7-8% left.

Tony Robbins has a new book out called Money, master the game. I'm reading it now. Do yourself a favor and read it, or a similar retirement investing book before signing up for an advisor. Tony's book breaks down how much fees charged by actively managed funds erode your savings over time. It equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars over 10-20 years.

We have access to low cost index funds in our 401K and with brokerage link, you can invest in pretty much anything.

I hope this helps.