<prompt> Human: So Ive been reading a bunch of threads and hanging out in this subreddit for some time. A few topics have made me rethink my position about using a financial advisor, and after pulling all the available statements from my accounts, Ive found something rather amazing. Since March 2012, Ive lost 2707 in my accounts. Now, this may not seem like much, but my 401K which is not managed by advisor, instead through work, has gained nearly 20000 in the same time frame, with less contribution month compared to my contribution to Ameriprise. My advisor says he currently charges me 850 year for the service, which is nearly 2550, or just about the amount of money Ive lost over time. I understand there could be bad months, or even bad years. But every year Ive lost money here, with only a few months every now and then with gains. Am I jumping the gun by being squeamish with losses? People on this sub recommend just opening an account with vanguard and investing into an index fund, but I have a couple of questions:1 Before I commit to making a Vanguard account, is there anything I need to know? Should I consider a competitor option, or a different site like sigfig?2 How will the IRA contributions Ive been making this year work if I close my accounts with Ameriprise? Does it just roll over into a new account at Vanguard or other site? Or do I lose that amount from contributing to a new IRA this year?3 How exactly will the taxes work for this kind of thing? The current stocks I have now may sell at a loss or even a gain because of the stock switching my advisor does. Do I get to claim any of that as a loss on my tax returns to offset the cost? 4 My understanding is that I should just diversify into a few index funds when I open a new account. What kind of things should I look for in reading material to choose an index fund? Or are there just common well known index funds that I should invest in?5 My current ameriprise account also has a supplemental disability insurance policy that extends the policy I get through work. Should I cancel it, and if I shouldnt, can I transfer or keep ownership of that policy without an ameriprise account? Im sure there are other questions Ill probably have after reading some responses.  <response>: 850 for a financial advisor who loses money?! Impressive. Start with the FAQ; this is a very common question here. 