I Don’t Need A Financial Adviser!

“I don’t need a financial adviser - I can do everything myself.”

If you hear yourself thinking this - great! Because it’s almost certainly true. Every single one of my clients has the intelligence and common sense to do what I do.  Though in general, they don’t have the time to commit to this important subject.

Often I hear this phrase from people who’ve never worked with a professional adviser before, and never sat down with one to find out what’s on offer. I think maybe it could be down to a misunderstanding of the role.

As A Manager, Do You Have Problems Delegating?

Roy Walker IFA

Pretty much every senior manager I know has earned his or her position by being good, often excellent, in previous roles. That means that the Sales Director was probably a great salesman before. The CFO was probably a great management accountant. The Technical Director was a great systems analyst. The Marketing Director could probably still turn out great advertising copy. In fact, each could excel doing the job of everyone in the department that they lead. If only there was enough time.

A managerial role requires more - wisdom that comes from experience, analytical and decision making skills, ability to understand the big picture, and a vision of the future. When decisions need to be made, a good manager seeks input from his expert team, assesses the situation, considers options and makes the final call himself.

Managing your financial planning should be no different.

The problem is that financial planning is so crucially important to us, sometimes we feel we want to do everything ourselves - from the initial situation analysis, through to researching solutions, and then creating a set of options for consideration. Unfortunately, most busy executives don’t have the time they need to do the job as comprehensively as they would wish. And so it never happens, even as the months and perhaps years go past.

What Does A Professional adviser Bring To The Table?

  • Knowledge of the methods and techniques of financial planning so that you don’t need to discover them yourself
  • Experience of market cycles to help you understand investor psychology and stay rational at all times
  • Time and resources to research a range of solutions that meet your needs
  • Access to solutions and investments that are not available to the normal retail market or online providers
  • Understanding of how life circumstances can change rapidly and how to best prepare for that financially
  • A long term working relationship and trusted confidante, to ask questions of and bounce your own ideas off

A financial adviser does not make decisions for you - he gives you choices, and fully explains them, so that you can make your own best decisions.

My wife’s favourite phrase when our small daughter refuses to eat her vegetables? - Try it, you might like it!

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