Financial advisor - do you use one?

[StaxBundlez]

ok i think i get what your asking..
lol
if you wanna manage your finance then yes u can sit down with a FA and you can run through the whole scheme of things to work out financial goals and what not

accountants are good because they know all the legal aspects of taxes and investing blah blah

i dunno
i am studying to become a FA right now as well
but there seems to be alot of hostility towards them lol

I say it doesnt hurt o sit down and talk to one

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by syee

Hindsight is 20/20. If anyone knew this was coming, I'm sure they would have got out as soon as they could. The truth is that nobody saw it and everyone's been burned a little bit.

Warren Buffet pulled out before the decline, and lost minimal on what he left in compared to others.

I pulled my entire non-registered portfolio out and cashed it in after the bounce in early 2008 where the DOW/TSE peaked again. Had to pay some taxes, yet suffered zero losses. I let my registered portfolio ride (since I'm in it for the long run) and am down ~35% now, >50% late last year.

Anyone with brains could see this coming, yet most didn't want to see it coming, double-digit returns can do that to you.

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by syee

Actually I haven't gone for any advice. I'm still hanging on to my cash (as well as 2 years worth of RRSP's that are sitting in a cash account which I guess I would consider myself lucky with) so I'm looking to see what the best approach would be.

The best approach would have been to take advantage of the gains over the past 6 years rather than sit on the sidelines.

Here's one of Scotia's funds that has been badly hurt:
http://morningstar.scotiabank.com/gl...asp?fundid=116

If you had $10K invested in it in 2003, you'd still have $20K today. That's a doubling in 6 years, or about 12% annually.

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I really hate all those crying over their portfolios being decimated. My portfolio was down > 50% at one point last year, yet overall compared to the amount I've invested since 2002, I'm still UP.

We've all been banking lifestyles on crazy returns, rather than the 100 year average 10% for the market and 5% for housing. Its time for a reality check: even with the downturn, most of us are better off than we were 6 years ago.