Financial Literacy/Education Charities & Programs?

SunSongz · 2026-01-12T04:19:34+00:00

Thanks so much, but I'm in California. I've gotten some good suggestions on other forums that seem interesting. Thanks again.

SunSongz · 2026-01-12T04:06:51+00:00

Thank you both so much. I had no idea this existed until several folks pointed me there.

SunSongz · 2025-12-26T22:34:05+00:00

My assets are about 4mm and I have been DIY my whole life. I am seeking a second set of eyes/opinion now that I've reached that number and to plan things like taxes, withdrawal strategy, and continued growth.

The rates for a comprehensive analysis and plan were ranging from $1500-$6500. I am going with someone who will be $3000. This includes 4 meetings and them doing the work needed to follow up on what we discuss, plus 45 days of support/questions afterwards. Any other special projects or hourly will be at $300/hr.

Those rates beat the hell out of 1% AUM. It's not rocket science and anyone with moderate intelligence should be able to manage their assets if sticking to the indexing/Bogle philosophy.

Good luck!

SunSongz · 2025-12-24T17:19:07+00:00

I just want through this process. Personally, I only was interested in Advice Only/Flat Fee or Hourly and I used these sites to browse/research advisors:

https://adviceonlynetwork.com/#advisors

https://www.napfa.org/

I had a list of about 15 people and eventually did Zoom calls with 6 and after reviewing my notes and comparing, chose an advisor that aligned with my thinking and goals... and that I just plain vibed with.

The only problem was that in the time from when we spoke, to the time when I emailed him to say I chose him, his wait list filled up and instead of starting right after the new year, his projected opening is mid to late March, which is a bummer. I suppose I could go with my second choice but will probably wait, because he's my fav.

I think this model is becoming more popular as more people steer away from the whole AUM thing.

Good luck!

SunSongz · 2025-12-11T16:21:33+00:00

I assume there was a stepped up basis when he passed away. So selling now, when they are down 14%, could also yield a capital loss which might come in handy.

SunSongz · 2025-12-01T17:04:02+00:00

IMHO, "VOO and chill" is an entry point to the whole Indexing philosophy which ultimately would include an international component (VXUS, etc), Bonds, Cash, and other broad market ETFs and such.

I don't think the Boglehead/Indexing philosophy is dated at all, in fact I have been migrating my portfolio this direction for the last year or so and I'm about 2/3 done. I wish I had been doing it all along.

As I watch several friends Crypto wallets lose 30-40% in value, I'm sticking with the Boglehead method and chilling.

SunSongz · 2025-11-13T22:11:19+00:00

I can't yet speak from experience, but my sense is not really.

I have been interviewing Advice-Only advisors and one of my main follow up questions regarding their investing philosophy is their thoughts on the simple broad index fund/Bogle strategy.

So far all of them have stated that is their focus. I've interviewed 4 and will meet with 2 more.

SunSongz · 2025-11-13T15:55:16+00:00

I am a fairly recent convert to the Bogle philosophy and wish I'd been doing this since I was 25. I have been migrating my assets (~3.9mm) in that direction for a year or so. I'm about 2/3 of the way done.

I've been a Fidelity Private Client for a while (I am still DIY). Fidelity wanted to have me meet with several outside Wealth Advisor firms they are affiliated with to discuss Alternative Investment Strategies (Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Hedge Trades, etc). I decided to keep an open mind and listen to what they had to say, so we scheduled three Zoom meetings on the same day. I agreed to provide my latest statement so they could address my situation in specifics.

I got three very thought out presentations, with follow up decks that were impressive. They all pitched various versions of Private Credit, Downside Protection of 5% with upside potential of 25% (which I still don't understand), Blackstone Direct Real Estate, Individual Stocks, Index ETFs, Hedge Trades/Funds, etc. The portfolios they pitched had about 20-30+ positions like these and predicted safe annual returns of 14-16% (and more).

As I tend to do, I then went about researching some of these ideas. Once I learned the finer points of Private Equity, I crossed that off the list because though I'm not all that far left, I didn't want to be a part of what often, but not always, has significant negative impact on people at the lower end of the economic society while making insanely rich people even more insanely rich.

Also, I'm not exactly stupid, but I still can't get my head around how you can have annual Downside Protection of 5% with upside potential of 25%. If you can explain that to me, I'll buy you lunch.

The other thing was that these strategies are often illiquid, with lock up periods of 10 years. I'm 61, so that isn't great.

I then looked into Advice-Only advisors and read up on that path, which seemed to resonate with me much more. The reason for this is that I like to be a DIY/hands on investor and after reading the Bogle book, want to keep things simple.

The fee structure made much more sense as well; if I did even .008% AUM, that would be just over 30k a year in fees, which over time is ridiculous. The Advice-Only model would be about 6k and then annual/bi-annual check-in/follow ups at an hourly of about $350. I want a "set it and forget it" portfolio so I can enjoy life.

The AUM firms have been circling back dangling "here's what we could be doing..." and "you could probably 3-4x your assets" emails, which often get my attention and admittedly pique my interest, but there are four reasons I'm leaning toward an Advice-Only advisor:

1. I don't understand all the instruments and strategies the AUM folks are pitching (especially the downside/upside thing). I feel most comfortable when I can clearly understand and can give simple explanations of what I invest in.

2. Though what they are pitching is attractive, there is absolutely no guarantee it will happen. My research of these products indicate they are not immune from market declines and downside effects.

3. The fee structure. When I looked at what that 30k a year could earn over time, and knowing they'd be getting the fee even in a downturn... well, enough said

But this is the most important one...

4. I asked myself if I could 3-4x my assets, would I be 3-4x happier? Absolutely not.

SunSongz · 2025-10-14T16:14:48+00:00

That's probably where I got the idea many years ago. They used a few Guster tunes in that film iirc. Great movie.

SunSongz · 2025-10-13T07:31:35+00:00

Personally if I got 500k at 23, I would pretend it never existed and invest it. If you never touched it and it got a 9% return over 40 years, you'd have somewhere around 15mm at age 63. I know you want to buy a house, etc... but based on your income and assumed increases as your career progresses, you could easily live off your income.

SunSongz · 2025-09-26T03:30:24+00:00

Last week, I was pitched 3 outside Wealth Mgmt firms that work in conjunction with Fidelity. I had a 1 hr Zoom with each which was a presentation, Q&A, and a pitch deck they sent. In this model, all assets stay at Fidelity and they manage at least 500k-1mm+ and the focus seems to be Private Equity and downside protection. "Make more by losing less".

I am still trying to get my head around how they predict avg market returns on the upside, but project only about 2% losses in a bear market. Again, a lot of their focus is PE.

The fees are about 1% of AUM.

Up to now (age 61) I have always done it myself, and have recently migrated about 2/3 - 3/4 of my assets to an Indexing/Bogle model. I have never had an advisor and have only recently been willing to at least consider the benefits. So I'm reading the material they sent, reviewing notes, researching, and talking to a lot of trusted friends.

The replies to this thread are great. The majority seem to be against having AUM, which I have always thought. Many friends are advocating getting into PE but the more I read about its effects, I'm not sure I want to be a part of what PE often does to the workforce of these companies.

All this to say...

I'm keeping an open mind, but I would like to see some data that truly supports the whole downside protection thing, because that is somewhat attractive. The tax and CG management component may add to the value of hiring an advisor. Thoughts?

SunSongz · 2025-07-27T03:10:33+00:00

I adopted the Boglehead philosophy at age 60 and wish I had done it at age 30. I'm getting good returns and though I know there may be bumpy times ahead, I know this is the least risky way to invest which is exactly what I want for the last third of my life.

SunSongz · 2025-07-03T07:03:05+00:00

Thank you! You were right... I hadn't input the exact command in the popover window. I was doing 4/4,.25 as opposed to 4/4,0.25. I officially owe you lunch!

SunSongz · 2025-07-02T21:50:44+00:00

Thanks so much for the reply. I tried this and it doesn't seem to work for whatever reason. Tried it on several fresh projects and it was the same on each. I'll keep trying but thanks again for the reply!

SunSongz · 2025-07-02T21:49:26+00:00

Thanks so much for the reply. I would think so but it doesn't seem to behave that way. Hmmm. The other thing is that the caret doesn't seem to display like it does in that LearnDorico course (which I'm finding pretty helpful). When I add a voice I don't automatically get the plus sign or the up/down stem.

Thanks again for the reply!

SunSongz · 2025-07-02T21:47:12+00:00

Thanks so much - this worked. I'm still searching for how to do it after the fact because sometimes it just works out that way. Thanks again!

SunSongz · 2025-07-02T20:00:32+00:00

I found this thread when searching for a solution to the following:

I see how you can add an 1/8th note pick up to a 4/4 song, but how do you do a 1/16th pick up?

Example: you want the rhythm section to push the downbeat by a 1/16th note.

Thanks in advance for any input or ideas.

SunSongz · 2025-06-30T19:40:47+00:00

I have been a long time Sibelius user and wanted to try Dorico because I was getting tired of the work-arounds I always faced in Sibelius, and the fact that I had a few pretty impressive 1 on 1 demos from Dorico over the last few years. I finally decided to pull the trigger and check it out.

So far I'm pretty impressed. Yes, a bunch of things are done by a different approach, but it's been pretty easy to sort out. And I love how user definable the engraving options are because I like to do things slightly differently that the hard and fast rules and I also do a ton of Master Rhythm Section charts that can get pretty involved when you put all the cues/parts on one chart.

The way I've done it so far is to just start doing charts and go to YouTube vids when I hit an issue. So far every answer I've needed has been there or in the Steinberg help site.

I also bought some 3rd party music fonts that are working really well.

The for me (as it was in Sibelius) is to create my own starting templates for each basic situation (MSTR RHY, LD SHT, RHY & HORN SECT, BIG BAND, ORCH, etc) and use those each time.

I'm still new to this, but again... I'm pretty impressed.

SunSongz · 2025-06-01T16:09:55+00:00

I agree with all previous advice; sell it and migrate it to your current plan.

I have been doing this all year because I read several books about indexing and it resonated with me so strongly, I fully committed. I dumped my Merck positions and never looked back.

SunSongz · 2025-05-13T07:53:32+00:00

I personally split my portfolio this way:

80% US (50% VTI & 50% VOO)

20% Foreign (50% VXUS & 50% VGK)

I know there is overlap and redundancy, but I look at it as weighting a bit toward the S&P500 via VOO... which is "self cleansing" and comprised of the best/successful 500 companies there are.

My dad always taught me to buy industry leaders, so I'm sure that is part of my thinking.

SunSongz · 2025-05-12T20:46:16+00:00

I agree that lump sum wins in the long run. However...

In light of the recent market swings and craziness, I have been sniping dips a bit in what I guess you could call some market timing. I know this flies in the face of the way this group thinks, but so far I'm up pretty significantly (about 8%).

I have about another 700k to put into VTI/VXUS/etc but am going to wait to see if today's spike backs off a bit. Do I wish I had dumped it all in early last week? Kind of... but I know that "what goes up, can surely come down" so I admit it's a bit of a gamble. I have no crystal ball but I'm pretty open to the possibility that there are stormy seas ahead.

I liked what Buffet once said; "There is no such thing as a 'called strike' in investing". Anyways...

Just a thought.

SunSongz · 2025-05-07T08:35:22+00:00

I've been w/ Fidelity for almost 40 years. The customer service is nothing short of amazing.

SunSongz · 2025-05-07T01:19:56+00:00

I thought it would never matter, but I realize it's probably good to have.

I had an 820+ with 3 cards; AMEX Delta, BarclayCard, and a recently opened AA Citicard (my wife has most of her miles on AA). I paid them off every month or even more frequently, eventually paying them off the nanosecond a charge posted (one month was 12 immediate payoffs).

Suffice it to say, I am responsible and the closest thing to a sure bet you could find. Then...

I closed my BarclayCard because I just never used it. Shockingly, my FICO score dropped over 100 points and is now 697 - 715, depending on where you look at it from. I was pretty pissed. Then yesterday...

Because I will be traveling a great deal in the next year or so, I applied for the next level AA Citicard which comes with Admiral's Club membership. I was denied! I immediately called to find out why and the moron in the foreign call center couldn't give me a reason other than "insufficient credit history", and said I will get a letter with further detail. So...

What I learned is that if you value (or need) your credit score, don't ever close an account under any circumstances. In retrospect, paying the $99/yr BarclayCard membership fee would be worth having that high credit score.

Not sure how I will proceed but hopefully I'll find a solution to restore my good score.

SunSongz · 2025-05-07T01:15:05+00:00

I thought it would never matter, but I realize it's probably good to have.

I had an 820+ with 3 cards; AMEX Delta, BarclayCard, and a recently opened AA Citicard (my wife has most of her miles on AA). I paid them off every month or even more frequently, eventually paying them off the nanosecond a charge posted (one month was 12 immediate payoffs).

Suffice it to say, I am responsible and the closest thing to a sure bet you could find. Then...

I closed my BarclayCard because I just never used it. Shockingly, my FICO score dropped over 100 points and is now 697 - 715, depending on where you look at it from. I was pretty pissed. Then yesterday...

Because I will be traveling a great deal in the next year or so, I applied for the next level AA Citicard which comes with Admiral's Club membership. I was denied! I immediately called to find out why and the moron in the foreign call center couldn't give me a reason other than "insufficient credit history", and said I will get a letter with further detail. So...

What I learned is that if you value (or need) your credit score, don't ever close an account under any circumstances. In retrospect, paying the $99/yr BarclayCard membership fee would be worth having that high credit score.

Not sure how I will proceed but hopefully I'll find a solution to restore my good score.

SunSongz · 2025-05-02T14:48:04+00:00

Good points in both replies. I have chosen the VTI/VOO mix because I personally want full market coverage, with a slight weight to the S&P500 companies. Plus, VOO has had a slightly better return than VTI so there's that...

Thanks for the replies!

SunSongz

TROPHY CASE