There’s an uptick in how many of us are choosing to get help with managing our finances. In fact, in the ten years between 2002 and 2012, the amount of money being managed by registered financial advisors more than doubled.¹
What does everyone else know that maybe you don’t? It could be that financial planning is becoming increasingly more accessible as a result of changes in the industry and a new generation of financial advisors who are working with younger clients. It could also be that financial advisors are making themselves invaluable in everyday money decisions.
Here are just a few good reasons to have a financial advisor on speed dial.
Budgeting
As Americans, we don't do particularly well with simple budgeting! The mortgage crisis is just one such example of what can happen when we live beyond our means. Today, there are plenty of us still carrying a lot of credit card debt – even if we are high wage earners. When you have a relationship with a financial advisor, she can work with you create a budget, or better yet a cash flow management system, to help you manage where you direct your dollars. And if you have a question about whether or not a large purchase is going to bust the bank? Just ask yourself: “What would my financial advisor say?”
Stock Investing
Technology has brought us the tools to DIY with many financial functions like investing in the stock market, but to what end? Many of us lost a lot of money in the 2008 crash. Investing pundits and talking heads like to make us think we can all be stock brokers, but the reality is we don't have the time, the smarts, or the inclination to all be good stock investors. A conversation with your financial advisor can help you stay focused on the bigger picture of your life talk shop with you about the market if it’s something that really interests you.
Loans
Loans can be a complicated and messy thing to consider if you don’t have someone you trust to help explain them to you. Looking back again to the mortgage crisis, many took matters into their own hands and signed up for mortgages well beyond what they could afford, and for ridiculously over-priced homes, at that. A financial advisor will advise you to stay within your means, so next time you’re not sure if it’s the right loan for you – call your financial advisor.
Retirement
Choosing the right retirement plan is something that requires a lot of prep work, time, and commitment to learn. You can try to do this on your own, but it is probably a much better idea to sit down with your financial advisor to really plan your steps to that future end date. Wondering how much you will have needed to save by retirement? Your financial advisor will know. Not sure if you’re saving enough today to retire when you want to? Call your financial advisor. Questioning which retirement vehicles are right for you and your family? You know what I’m going to say.
Resources
- Garmhausen, Steve. Even Skilled Investors Can Use a Financial Advisor. Retrieved 6/18/2016
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Anjali Jariwala is the founder of Financial Investment Tax Advisors, a fee-only financial planning firm serving clients across the United States. Young professionals who are ready to build wealth are often met with obstacles from the very industry that should be helping them. FIT Advisors is a trustworthy alternative to the status quo. We serve physicians and business owners in the wealth accumulation stage as their financial life coach. Anjali and I became friends after meeting through the XY Planning Network, and I asked her to write some thoughts on the importance of working with an advisoras a guest topic for this site. |
Anjali Jariwala | Financial Investment Tax Advisors