If you can find a good investment advisor , they are worth their money. By the time you find out they are no good , you have lost a lot of money and will never see it again. With small amounts , like starting with $2,000 like your son has, and at his age, you are better off just getting an account at a discount broker. These brokers are down right cheap . No load fee and very little expense ratio. The Fidelity 500 index fund ( FXAIX) ticker charges just $15 per year per $100,000 . You will likely never beat an S&P 500 index fund. I have read for thousands of hours on how to invest, when and where. I study stocks into the night on weekends , weekdays ETC. An S&P 500 Index fund is almost impossible to beat. Those who say they beat it have not been in it for long or got lucky on Tech stocks . The way an index stock works is like a hot water heater. The hot stocks rise to the top like hot water . ( Amazon, Google Facebook ETC. ) They rise cause they are hot. When the day comes , they get over priced, people sell those individual stocks and likely buy the bottom stocks in the S&P 500, ( energy, Exxon Mobil, Cheveron ETC. When individual stock buyers buy the bottom stocks , it is like the top of the water in the hot water heater sinks cause it's cooling off, just to have the bottom water get hot and rises. This is a perfect and efficient form of rebalancing and it happens instantly. Then , better yet, the individual stock pickers do the rebalancing for you at the perfect time, so the index actually times the market perfectly, and you do nothing without even picking next years winners cause it rebalances by itself. You dont even have to study stocks. Had I known this 5 yrs ago when I started investing by myself instead of using 3 different " investors" and paying load fees sets you up to never really come close to the index fund. I now have 46 securities. I have ETF's, and like them, I also have tax free muni ETF's , sector ETF's and individual stocks.. Of my 46 securities, I have 2 that are beating my S&P 500 fund that are long term investments. That is the Fidelity and Vanguard healthcare ETF. I dont expect my bonds to beat the market however. I do have some short term stocks that are beating the S&P but over time, I wonder if enough of them will do better to offset the losers. This is why you cant beat the S&P 500 fund. You can also go with the Fidelity FZROX. There is no load and NO expense ratio ! ! ! ! It is the total American market with 3000 companies , so it includes mid and some small caps. Hope I didn't confuse you .
Last edited by ihookem; 06/18/20.
