couple points on all the comments here and I'm really no expert.
Using a FA will get you what everyone else gets ... D*CK ALL
This isn't true. It's all about expectations.
First off learning to be a self investor does take time.
Time cost money.
"getting the money ball"
well it takes money to get money.
Snowy is right when he says you need $1M to be in "the club" Maybe not that much but certainly you need some cash to make cash.
Watch BNN and BNN Market Call and BNN Market Call Tonight. Listen to the callers.
watch.... but you can't take what the news and media is saying hook, line and sinker.
By the time the Globe & Mail is writting about it, those with the money already made money on it.
You're usually too late to the party. Plus so much that comes out in the news (recommendations etc) is bias.
There's been proof that people have been paid off to push this or that stock so others can profit.
You can make all this is complex as you want but there's no true magic formula.
There's plenty of books and people out there are have a good read on guidance but nothing comes with any guarantees.
For every one of those "money balls" I see in financial papers, I see 25 that tank....
this is totally true.
that's why the money ball is all about having the cash to hit it.
you can spread it over 20 stocks have get 2 good hits --- those two hits can more than make up the lost on the 18 others.
I've got 30 years until I retire and I'm very late to the DIY party. I don't have much going in now so I'm very careful. My plan was to track and acquire blue chip stock (Telus) which provide a good dividend and in 30 years time the value to have increased. I sprinkle very little in risky players but have a few like Tweed that I'm sitting on hoping they may be some minor jackpot in 5 to 10 years.
I keep my expectations tempered. I read and read and read and read, but all that takes time. I do have a couple risk players I read about jumps too early without taking the time to do my due diligence and now know I've bought at a terrible time. (from what I said above, a recommendation that came when the stock was really at a peak, waiting, I would have paid much less).
The only reason I've gotten into this is that I feel I've got decent knowledge to give it a shot, I have time and this is a small portion of my retirement portfolio I can control myself.
I would argue that a Financial Advisor is useful for someone who doesn't have the time, doesn't want to make time and doesn't care to know how things work. The trick is finding the right advisor who will get to know you, your plans, your goals and make a plan that fits. There IS actually value in that.
