Are you paying your financial adviser too much?

Are you paying your financial adviser too much?

When it comes to seeking financial advice, investing in a financial adviser should be exactly that – a careful investment.  In the same way as allocating funds for your children’s future education or buying additional property is an investment, the saying ‘you get what you pay for’. However, is there a possibility you could even be paying too much for financial advice?

The simple answer is yes, but I would say this is often more typical from a “transactional” adviser that ends up positioning a product or 2 into your overall strategy and the relationship, both initial and ongoing, is centred around the products that were distributed or simply dispatched to you.

Fully trained, competent and qualified advisers should be highly skilled in coaching, and mentoring and are naturally at home with creating an overarching long-term and short-term vision and strategy for their clients.

Financial Advisers should and do offer so much more value, here are some highlights:

Your adviser is always on call to answer your questions—no matter what those questions are or when you think of them.

Your adviser understands your specific short-term, medium and long-term goals.

They take the time to know you, they know what you want and need to achieve those goals. The software cannot make decisions based on emotional or long term strategies that are not number related.

They highlight the risks and encourage you to take action.

Help you with often complex tax efficiency, especially where multi jurisdictions are involved.

Adapt the advice to your individual situation, open up your mindset, and help you see other concepts or ideas.

Advisers individually work with multiple types of clients. This should give them a variety of experiences. They should know the market inside out, what’s happening, and what it means to you—not just locally, but worldwide.

Most importantly, they should be a partner that you have by your side as a mentor through all of your investments throughout your life and life changes.

I believe each financial adviser’s main focus should be providing an exceptional level of service, not just automated investing.  Although you will initially pay for first-class advice, in the long term you will reach, and often exceed, your financial objectives with a committed, understanding, highly-skilled team by your side.

The most important is finding an adviser that can direct and upgrade you. Ask yourself, if you want a fitness trainer or a tennis coach – what would you expect from them? You expect a fitness trainer to be living and breathing their instructions, so take the same approach with your adviser selection. If they can’t coach themselves on financial wellness, then on what authority do they coach you.