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Congratulations. I'm surprised this question has sat for seven hours without an answer. I'm based in New York and found myself in a similar situation some time

by dsacco 11y ago

Congratulations. I'm surprised this question has sat for seven hours without an answer. I'm based in New York and found myself in a similar situation some time ago. Note that an accountant (taxes) and a financial advisor (investments) are very different. Personally, I have an accountant for navigating tax returns, but I do not have a financial advisor, as I prefer to manage my own investments and holdings. I used to have one, but found it unnecessary after I taught myself more about investing and trading. If you are in the NYC area and don't mind a ~40 minute drive on the Taconic once or twice a year, I can recommend a good accountant for you. You can stay fully anonymous with me personally if you want, just email me anonymously. For more general advice - you usually want to find such services through a referral. Even if none of your friends have had this happen to them, you will probably have folks tied to your company who can help. Try the founders of your company, or the investors. They'll likely have good direction for you. I do recommend that you find someone who is willing to be educational and welcomes a collaborative partnership instead of someone who will just tell you what to do without explaining the benefits of various courses of action. If you decide to get a financial advisor, try to find one who will charge a flat fee. As far as questions go - ask your accountant what experience they have with liquidity events and varying streams of income. You want an accountant who is comfortable helping folks that aren't just filing traditional tax returns with one source of full-time income. For financial advisors, the single best question I have is about returns. Ask potential advisors what returns you can expect through them. If they guarantee a specific return, don't work with them. If they guarantee a return that beats the S&P 500, also don't work with them. Good luck.

kspaans 11y ago
> For financial advisors, the single best question I have is about returns. Ask potential advisors what returns you can expect through them. If they guarantee a specific return, don't work with them. If they guarantee a return that beats the S&P 500, also don't work with them. Good advice! But small nitpick: when asking about returns remember to say "after fees". A fund that tracks the S&P500 will cost you about 0.05% of assets per year. Some other funds that try to be fancy, or advisors who manage your portfolio may charge you 1% of assets per year. A fund will often have a "benchmark index" that it is trying to match or beat (such as the S&P500). Ask about performance relative to this benchmarket.

by dsacco 11y ago

kspaans 11y ago

> For financial advisors, the single best question I have is about returns. Ask potential advisors what returns you can expect through them. If they guarantee a specific return, don't work with them. If they guarantee a return that beats the S&P 500, also don't work with them. Good advice! But small nitpick: when asking about returns remember to say "after fees". A fund that tracks the S&P500 will cost you about 0.05% of assets per year. Some other funds that try to be fancy, or advisors who manage your portfolio may charge you 1% of assets per year. A fund will often have a "benchmark index" that it is trying to match or beat (such as the S&P500). Ask about performance relative to this benchmarket.