Investing.
Instead of hiring a financial pro to create a plan and manage your investment portfolio, save by consulting with an adviser just to set up the portfolio. Then monitor and rebalance your portfolio once a year or so on your own. Before hiring, look first for free personal and online help at financial firms that want to get or keep you as a customer.
Real estate.
If you use a real estate agent to sell your home, you’ll have to fork over a percentage of the sale price. Selling a home by yourself (and pocketing that percentage) is easiest when there are many buyers in the market and your property is in a highly desirable location.
Estate planning.
Attorneys can cost from $750 to $3,5000 to draw up a will and other estate plans. In many cases, hiring an attorney is the best move. But if your financial life is uncomplicated and you have modest assets, you can consider boilerplate forms, such as those at www.lawdepot.com. You also could consult an attorney for a review of these papers to be sure the document has been filled out and filed correctly.
Taxes.
Tax software makes preparing your own returns relatively painless. But if you don’t have the patience to spend time at your computer, pay a tax preparer to complete your return once. Then do it yourself the next year with software, using the previous year’s return as a model.
Best online discount brokerages
If you want to minimize costs when trading securities, consider opening an account at an online discount broker. Not only do online brokers charge less than full-service brokers for trades but they also provide a range of other services—such as screening tools, analyst reports and news clippings. Consumer Reports® recently rated 19 online brokers based on trading costs, customer service and other factors. Here were the top five:
1. www.firsttrade.com
2. www.schwab.com
3. www.etrade.com
4. www.scottrade.com
5. www.tradeking.com
