If you find yourself wavering back and forth on whether it's worth involving a financial professional for tax, retirement, or investment advice, consider this:
A financial professional may be able to help defend you against crime and fraud (like Batman). What’s more, they may also help you heal from financial mistakes more quickly (like Wolverine) or morph into a variety of roles—fiduciary, investment advisor, tax professional, or financial planner—like Mystique.
Financial professionals come in all capacities, and choosing a financial professional that understands your goals and challenges may be an invaluable step toward financial confidence. Below, we discuss five ways a financial professional may be your financial planning superhero.
Bringing Emotional Detachment to the Table
When it comes to tough spending decisions or volatile stock markets, the objectively correct decision may not be the most comfortable decision. A financial professional may help remove emotions from the equation when you're facing a sudden or stressful fork in the road, giving you comprehensive and informed advice that can help you avoid potential missteps.
Providing a Contingency Plan
It may be easy to assume that as long as you're paying your bills and putting a bit aside for later, you're in solid financial shape. But a financial professional may help you identify missing pieces of the puzzle (like a will and estate plan, prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, tax savings, umbrella insurance policy, or a business succession plan) that might help you avoid future setbacks.
Giving You a Cheerleader
In most cases, saving for your goals, investing, or paying down debt isn't particularly exciting. A financial professional may provide you with regular updates on your progress—and, except for your spouse or significant other, your financial professional is often the only person as invested in your financial future as you are. Having someone in your corner may also give you the extra boost you need to make challenging decisions or strive to improve on last year's numbers just a bit.
Helping You Articulate Your Goals
Often, it is tough to put a dollar amount—or timeline—on amorphous or long-term goals like "save more for retirement" or "put my child through college." How much is enough? Where should these funds be saved? How should you prioritize competing goals like retirement, debt pay-down, and child-related expenses? A financial professional may help drill down into these broad goals, breaking them down into more accessible and specific action plans, giving you actionable steps, and helping you track your progress along the way.
Imparting Services
Keeping up with changes in interest rates, securities regulations, and tax codes may be a full-time job in and of itself. For those who already have their hands full with career and family obligations, a financial professional may be an invaluable source of personalized advice and knowledge on everything from tax savings strategies to investment advice. Instead of trying to keep up with ever-shifting regulations yourself, take these obligations off your plate and put them in the hands of a professional.
Important Disclosures
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor.
This article was prepared by WriterAccess.
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