The Good Advisor
The Good Advisor
Robin Powell | August 13, 2020
What are people paying for when they seek out a financial planner? Where’s the real value? The answers may surprise you. Financial planners typically tout their advice on asset allocation, retirement planning, cash flow analysis, insurance, wealth protection, estate planning and so on. But is that really the benefit they bring to consumers?
Consider an entirely different business. When you take your car to get serviced, what are you paying for? Brake repair, transmission diagnosis, tire rotation, oil change? Actually, what most people want is a car that gets them safely, reliably and efficiently from A to B. They want the car serviced in good time, they want a fair estimate of what it will cost, an itemized bill, and a guarantee on parts and repairs.
Likewise, the value of a good financial planner—at least in the eyes of most clients—will often differ from the advertised services. To be sure, asset allocation and portfolio advice are important components. But these are just means to desired ends.
What people are paying for, in the final analysis, are guidance to help them meet their goals, peace of mind, a sense of security, a feeling that someone has their back and an assurance that they’ll be okay whatever the world throws at them. People value having a sense of structure about their financial life and a grasp of the choices available to them.
The technical tools that a financial planner employs—knowledge of the tax system, what drives investment returns, the role of diversification, rebalancing techniques—are without doubt critical components in delivering those desired outcomes. But they aren’t what people are paying for.
In fact, good financial planners will play a number of pivotal roles for their clients, none of which is found on the typical job description. Here are seven of those roles:
Guide. Most people know what they want or, at least, know what they don’t want out of life. What’s often missing is a sense of how they can get there. A planner provides an independent plan, showing possible pathways and the tradeoffs involved in each.
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