Advice needed from the Finance gurus ...

[snappytom]

Need advice on whether to stick it out with an advisor and the account, or bail.

It is a basic 1% annual fee account comprised of a balanced portfolio of mutual funds. The average Morningstar rating of the funds is 3.25, the annual expenses about 1K. This is on top of the 1% account fee, so it is costing me about $2k a year.

This account was opened about a year ago and the principal value is down 10%. I don't immediately need the money, but regret opening this account as I have proven I can do better on my own.

The fact it costs me more than I feel it is worth really kills me. I want to close it and invest on my own and get the principal back, but am not sure if that is the best move.

The advisor is OK, but not great. We had lunch a while back and he suggested getting out of some funds and into others. One of his suggestions I already have a sizeable position in, so he provided others. I ended up analyzing these via my Morningstar account, realizing I was doing part of his job. Since then I hate the thought of paying his fee.

What would I do with the $$ ? Buy individual stocks that are undervalued with a 5 - 10 year time frame before shifting the money slowly to a preservation and income model.

[FL Knifemaker]

I tend to be pretty aggressive an impatient, especially where brokers are concerned. I've done MUCH better on my own with my higher risk stocks and leave the slow, boring, guranteed stuff to them. I think they get a mindset for that type of investing and look no further into the markets. I pretty much stick with tech stocks/nasdaq, etc.

[WillPlay4Food]

Sounds like you need to evaluate your time horizon and willingness to accept risk. Vanguard has a simple questionnaire to help you suss out some basics. Once you've completed this check, then analyze your investments to see if your current mix is best for your goal.

My rule of thumb is, as you get closer to needing your money, the more risk averse your investing should become. I have a good 25 years before I retire so I don't mind putting more into common stocks and riding through the current roller-coaster of a market. If I were looking to retire in 5 years though, I'd definitely be looking at principal preservation and yield maximization.

I'm not a financial adviser or anything like that. This is not a professional opinion, so don't treat it as such. The good news is there's tons of investment info available on the internet, so you should be able to find corroborating information based on your goals. The bad news is there's tons of investment info available on the internet so it's going to take awhile to cut through the chaff.