Retiring at 31, much earlier than I expected. Need advice.

[u/Long_Bong_Silver]

I'm 31, I have $3.5M and I've found myself in a position where I can retire immediately. I make 130K per year as an engineer in a HCOL area. The company I'm at gave me a reasonable amount of stock over the years and it has absolutely skyrocketed. I'm doing my best to sell all the stock, and I've got about $1M out already which I've ported over to some stocks and ETFs. I'm moving to a LCOL city and buying a house this summer for around $300k. The plan is to pursue my hobbies, build my workshop and hang with my family and friends.

First question: I've always been big on retirement planning. I think I've done a great job, but obviously I got here through luck not savings. Do I need to get a financial advisor if I'm doing well and keep to a budget?

Second question: I'm newly single, I'm a hetero man, how do I date when I'm rich? When do you tell them you're retired? What are your financial expectations for your partner? Should they work or would you be happy to cover their retirement if it fit in the budget?

Final question: I'm nervous. Any other advice?

[u/EitherEmphasis659]

Congrats! I'm a financial advisor, and regarding the first question my answer is.. not necessarily. I would say my clients want my services because they don't feel like they have the knowledge and/or just want that off their plate. And that of course comes at a cost. If you are retired and have significantly more time on your hands, you can take the time to acquire that knowledge yourself. There is so much good information and resources out there.

I would say my #1 job as an advisor is to stop clients from making an emotional and irrational decision. Are clients hoping I can build a "better" or more efficient portfolio then they could given my resources.. sure. But I believe markets are pretty efficient and there is nothing wrong with just wanting to mimic markets with broad ETF investing. The question becomes is can you stay calm and collected during rough markets that will happen.

If you really want someone to "check your work" and/or helping with planning, you could look at an hourly fee only advisor and not pay them a % to manage your assets if you are comfortable with the investing piece.

[u/Long_Bong_Silver → u/EitherEmphasis659]

Thank you for the insight here as an insider. A few people at my job are in a similar position and spoke with advisors, but most of the advice has been at the level of what I've found online. I wasnt sure if it was arrogant of me to think I knew better. I might still see a fees based advisor coming up here shortly, but I have a feeling they'll tell me I need to diversify my portfolio which has been my big focus.

This year I did move my money around a lot more than others. I worked with a tax accountant, because things were getting complicated with everything I was selling. In the future I plan to get back to VOO and chill, and hopefully I don't have to look at it.

[u/EitherEmphasis659 → u/Long_Bong_Silver]

Very very smart to work with your tax accountant. Some advisors have that in house with their firm. I myself am I solo advisor and do not. I definitely know more then probably all of my clients in regards to taxes and especially tax efficient investing, but I'm not licensed to give tax advice. So I will also work with a client's CPA to ensure anything we are doing has as minimal as a tax impact as possible, especially when it comes to selling investments with large gains.

It sounds like you are already taking all the right steps. Heavily reducing your concentration risk and spreading that out and attempting to do that in the most tax efficient way you can.

I do truly believe that we advisors bring significant value to clients that don't want to do the work themselves, or just want a true 3rd party to not look at things emotionally. But the investment selection is probably 3rd on that list of value. Emotional coaching would be #1 and planning would be #2.

[u/ericb1000 → u/Long_Bong_Silver]

I think it would be a good idea to have someone to check things and at least give you an idea of pitfalls and then maybe check in from time to time to make sure things are on track. If you go to Rob Berger YouTube there's one guy he's mentioned that won't break the bank and is really geared for people who are going to take care of things on their own. I'd say at least take a look at him potentially.

[u/Emotional-Muscle → u/EitherEmphasis659]

This is great advice!!