5 Signs You Need a Financial Advisor (even if you think you don't)
DEAR ADVISORS,
The most common question I get asked is, “Why would I hire an advisor if I can do this myself?” That is a valid question! However, not hiring your own advisor comes with many risks as well. Nobody can be completely objective about their own financial plan. We start out with the best intentions of making progress on our financial goals, but most often those good intentions get directed towards working on our clients’ plans instead of our own! There are 5 signs that you probably need to hire your own advisor.
You’re a high earner, in a top tax bracket - Advisory firm owners or partners of established firms typically make upwards of $200,000 per year. That puts you in the 32% tax bracket, or higher. Most advisors I talk to are already familiar with retirement savings strategies, and the options for retirement plans for that level of income, but not many have put those strategies into practice for themselves. I also get a lot of questions about retirement plans, because most firms don’t service many of them. While they understand the concept, they haven’t figured out how to execute on it. That’s actually one of the best kept secrets in our industry - that advisors don’t know everything. That’s okay! It’s more important that you know who to call to get it done for you. We have years of experience getting plans set up and managing them, so don’t hesitate to give us a call!
You know you need to take action, but keep putting it off - Our very first financial planning client told me that they didn’t want to pay our fee, but they can’t afford not to because it’s been sitting on their desk for years and haven’t made any progress! They have some annuities that need to be reviewed, they’re not sure if they’re on track for retirement, and they need to start working on selling their firm in the next 5-10 years. These things fall into the category of important but not urgent. That’s when most people decide to hire an advisor, and we financial advisors are no different. Don’t be your own worst client!
You’re not on the same page with your spouse, when it comes to your finances - When one of the spouses is a financial advisor, I usually see one of two things happen. First, the non-advisor spouse trusts their advisor spouse completely, so they ignore anything and everything to do with money. The non-advisor spouse truly needs to have a financial guide they know and trust to turn to if something were to happen. Second, the non-advisor spouse may be uncomfortable, or disagree with, some decisions of the advisor spouse. The advisor spouse is technically making the right decision from a financial standpoint, but the non-advisor spouse isn’t on the same page with the behavioral finance aspect and has different values and priorities in life (i.e. lower risk profile, prioritize family time, etc.) Working with an unbiased third-party can vastly improve communication between spouses about money! It may seem simple, but working with an advisor to listen, and appreciate your partners viewpoint will improve your financial conversations and other areas of your relationship as well!
You are an advisory firm owner - As a business owner myself, I’m familiar with never-ending checklist of things necessary to keep the lights on and keep the business growing. Hiring my own financial advisor has helped ease the weight of my own financial future off my shoulders. Knowing that I’m on track to reach my financial goals frees up my time and attention to focus on my business. It’s hard to know what to outsource, and what to knuckle down and do myself. I’m so glad we decided to outsource our own financial planning! Whenever I think of something I want to research or resolve in our financial plan, I email our advisor and I know we have time set aside to cover that at our next meeting. It’s been a huge relief, and my husband feels more comfortable taking on the risk of my owning a business now that we have an unbiased advisor to be a sounding board for financial decisions!
You don’t know if you’re on track for retirement - Believe it or not, some financial advisors are actually NOT on track for retirement! When this happens, it unfortunately keeps the advisor from asking for help to get back on track. Don’t let that advisor be you! We’ve worked with advisors who have substantial debt, and advisors who can’t seem to get their own financial life in order. Surprisingly enough, I’ve found that the work we advisors do for our clients is often impossible to do for ourselves! There is definitely some kind of mental or emotional block, which we can overcome by hiring our own advisor. You can’t put a price on making progress, and answering the questions around how much you need to retire on your own terms!
I used to believe that everyone needs an advisor, but now I don’t think that’s true. If those 5 things aren’t a problem for you, then you probably don’t need an advisor! But for the rest of us mere mortal advisors, hiring our own financial planner is a huge blessing! It has vastly improved my life, my marriage, and our business. I hope we can do the same for you. It’s our priority to help you secure the future of your family and your financial advisory firm!
Warm regards,
Brooklyn
P.S.
At Ellevate Advisors, we believe that advisors deserve to retire too. What does that look like for you, your family, and your business? Let’s figure it out together! Click here to schedule an initial phone call with our team today or get to know me on my bio here!