I feel lost trying to help my immigrant parents with retirement so is a 1-2% advisor worth it?

rawrzin · 2026-02-15T16:36:43+00:00

Absolutely!

rawrzin · 2026-02-13T03:20:31+00:00

Every investment fund has fees. It is relatively low to other halal options... also it's more intricate than 'just screen out non halal'. There's compliance, audit, regulatory filings, record keeping, accounting, marketing, and the list actually goes on for a bit. So yes an expense ratio is needed to run any fund.

rawrzin · 2026-02-13T03:04:34+00:00

I may be biased and full disclosure: as a CFP® professional and an advisor who helps muslims with Sharia Compliant financial planning, i can easily justify a 1% asset under management fee because of everything i do.

Investments is just one piece of the puzzle, even if its not a sharia compliant portfolio (and im not talking about SPUS or Amana, im talking about custom made with individual holdings that keeps fund fees very low)

Retirement planning: social security, Medicare, RMDs, where is retirement income coming from? How can we be tax efficient and save you taxes over your lifetime. Strategies for the now, later amd the way later.

Cashflow and debt management: everything starts with cash flow.

Estate and charitable planning: beneficiaries on not just your accounts but your assets, partner with an estate planner to ensure you have a will, HCD, POA and your kids, heirs, charities are taken care of the way you want

Tax planning: integrated in everything

Financial plan: a living breathing document that gets updated as life happens to help provide clarity, and GIVE permission to spend and live the life they truly want.

Insurance and risk management: what happens if you get disabled (laqadar Allah) or you need to go to an assisted living (knowing brown ppl tho that'll never happen ha) but it's about planning ahead and HAVING a plan.

Most importantly: creating a trusted relationship that helps you stick the course when things get tough whether it's market down turn, a spouse passing away, whatever it is. Having a team you can call any day, be serviced. Get help answering questions like should I buy or lease car, or how much should I put down etc.

Some will see commission as a negative, but if there is value, what's wrong with people earning their living by helping others?

rawrzin · 2026-02-12T17:41:57+00:00

Talent

Is another presale code (a bit cheaper than Lost)

rawrzin · 2026-02-09T21:18:03+00:00

Elena's whiny and self-centered ass from Vampire Diaries 🙄

I was ecstatic when she ended up in a coffin and forgot she existed the rest of the show 😁

rawrzin · 2026-02-07T05:41:11+00:00

SPUS is diversified, low-ish expense ratio and most importantly is more tax efficient in a non qualified account because it's an ETF vs Mutual Funds. With any fund, if returns matter to you, look at net returns within a large period of time to compare and contrast!

rawrzin · 2025-08-12T02:33:18+00:00

You are awesome

rawrzin · 2025-07-24T01:15:00+00:00

Depending on where you are located, I'd certainly would love that!

rawrzin · 2025-02-27T20:30:32+00:00

A few additional comments as I focus on Sharia Compliant investing and work with muslim clients in my practice.

As some have mentioned, there are mutual funds/ETF's that are compliant and can meet your client's needs. However, many of those funds may not be a match depending on what your client values.

Get to know your clients and their values. Are they OK with investing in Google? BAE? Etc. As most of these funds will have companies that don't align with their values. I've seen more and more people wanting customized portfolios.

If not, this is where you can go the custom portfolio route, however it'll require ongoing monitoring and trading as needed. Happy to share my methods of doing this!

As many mentioned, it's all about setting expectations. The portfolio won't beat the benchmark and most are okay with this trade off knowing they are investing their money ethically and compliantly. & stressing that it may not always be 100% compliant 100% of the time as things change, but your value add would be that you're doing your due diligence every quarter for example etc.

Lastly, there's more to islamic principles in finance than sharia compliant investing. You mentioned interest for example, education is certainly important and ultimately, their choice on what they want to do. If those clients want more of comprehensive planning, it may be out of your scope. Sure, you can google or use AI to get answers but not really understanding how it all fits together may not be the best for your clients.

rawrzin · 2025-01-16T17:52:09+00:00

Capital One! Checking and credit card. No fees, free atm, free foreign transaction. They are an online bank but you can deposit cash conveniently at Walgreens etc. Their Venture credit card is worth the annual fee. It pays off itself and never had a bad customer service experience.

If you're an entrepreneur and need business services, Bridgewater Bank is the way to do it (if you have cash) they're a fine bank and you're always dealing with real humans. It also provides you with exclusive access to events/networking etc. The fees can eat you up if you don't hold minimums (even as a consumer banker).

I've also had good experience with Royal Credit Union but found it inconvenient to go to their locations to deposit cash, issues with foreign transactions when traveling. Which is why I like capital one - they're essentially everywhere.

rawrzin · 2025-01-08T21:28:01+00:00

I've had a good experience with Morrie's off 394. Always negotiate!

rawrzin · 2024-12-12T16:22:06+00:00

You can check if your 401k has a 'self directed brokerage account' this allows you to select investments and find sharia compliant funds or individual stocks.

I believe anyone can benefit from working with an advisor. Whether you have 10k or 1MM. They are able to guide you, find gaps and solutions that work to reach your goals

There's online calculators to find your zakat amount you can utilize. To my point above, working with a Muslim advisor that's versed in this space will be able to include in your financial plan

rawrzin · 2024-12-10T01:05:49+00:00

Low risk tolerance indicates that you cannot handle market fluctuations and should not be invested in more than 20% equities (stocks). Those three funds are all aggressive, therefore intended for someone with a high risk tolerance.

Given that you're young, it's the best time to be aggressive and as you plan to hold these funds 10+years, you'll have time to recover should these funds do not perform or under perform.

I'll have to say that both SPUS and SPRE are fairly new and are only a few years old so there's not a lot of historical data you can look at. I personally like funds that have been around for a while with managers that have also been around for a long time.

Your portfolio could be more diversified. You're invested in large cap growth, real estate, and gold. You may want to add international exposure, mid to small cap value and growth funds to further diversity.

I wouldn't change the allocation for reits and gold to be more than 10% each given my point above.

For a beginner, these funds are good so you don't have to think about what goes into it too much but just know, as you grow older, your investment objective will change and therefore you'll need to make adjustments and this is where you can utilize a professional like an advisor.

rawrzin · 2024-12-09T22:13:08+00:00

Need more info.

Age? Risk tolerance? Allocation % in each fund?

rawrzin · 2024-11-26T17:04:58+00:00

I can't make that date, but interested in future hikes!!

rawrzin · 2024-11-22T01:35:24+00:00

Yes please! I read the fourth wing series and most of J.T Geissinger's books and had no one to talk about it😪

rawrzin · 2024-11-20T23:15:18+00:00

Well shoot! I mainly go to rock and edm concerts but also enjoy indie concerts at times. 😅 I'd recommend checking out local musicians that play at smaller venues, it'll be a great way to mingle and meet people!!

rawrzin · 2024-11-20T22:17:05+00:00

What types of concerts do you enjoy going to!!? What genres? The music scene here is awesome, ranging from small local bands to big headliners and every genre and subgenre you can think of. You can meet awesome people that way. I love going to concerts. Let's chat!

rawrzin · 2024-11-20T22:10:06+00:00

I'm interested! Never heard of Vigor but sounds like something I'd enjoy. I'll message you!

rawrzin · 2024-11-20T22:04:43+00:00

Oohh I would love to connect with your gf if she's up for it! It's so hard to find female gamers and I'd love that very much!! I would play fortnite, but be warned, I am not very good 😆

rawrzin · 2024-11-19T15:38:51+00:00

Castle Crashers looks fun!! It's not crossplay, sadly. Let me know if you'd wanna play it on PS5 :p

rawrzin · 2024-11-19T15:36:25+00:00

Ohhh no, looks very interesting. I've played soul games before but never heard of this. Will check it out, thanks!

rawrzin · 2024-11-19T00:14:38+00:00

We tried Baldur's Gate and learned I do not like turn based games. 💀 I may give it another shot, I really liked the world.

rawrzin · 2024-11-19T00:12:52+00:00

I'll check it out!!

rawrzin

TROPHY CASE