Are You Letting Your Financial Advisor Off the Hook?

Are You Letting Your Financial Advisor Off the Hook?

By and large, the way most of us prepare financially for our retirements or our kids’ college

tuition begins and ends with signing up for the “best” program we can find. As a result, we tend, for lack of a better term, to completely ignore what happens in between those years — which is a rather unfortunate mistake.

Of course you want to make sure that whatever you ultimately sign up for looks attractive enough. But it is no secret that, sadly, most financial professionals are experts at presenting powerful, rosy outlooks — either by using unrealistic assumptions, being naive, being genuinely clueless, and sometimes even being flat out disingenuous. And by the way, this is also the case with many so-called media money experts, marketing materials, and plans offered through your job.

So how do you keep from becoming a victim of the proverbial “it sounded really good — had I only known” syndrome? By making annual reviews a must, a without-fail part of your financial plan. I cannot reiterate this strongly enough. Ninety-nine percent of cases of disappointing financial outcomes I have helped folks deal with could have been salvaged if they’d done a simple, thorough review years ago. You see, only the rarest financial plan won’t need some sort of change or adjustment over time. But how are you supposed to know what needs to be changed or adjusted?

Besides knowing exactly where things are, a review will allow you to confirm the validity of your assumptions — and your advisor’s assumptions, too. In fact, if you ask me how you can tell if a financial professional is genuinely superior at his or her work, I’d say at the very top of the list of things is finding one who INSISTS on performing regular annual reviews, come what may, whether things are good or otherwise.

Sure, investing is a long-term venture. No question about that. But what, really, does “long-term” mean? Isn’t it simply an aggregation of what goes on over short-term periods? So, in a nutshell, it is essential that you hold your financial professionals’ feet to the fire — not literally, though — by demanding regular annual reviews.

 ___________________
It’s your financial future, no one else’s. Be sure to get the best professional advice for your situation. Call us today at   877.656.9111  or visit us on the Web to schedule your no-strings-attached consultation!