Almost daily, we come across articles entitled “Do you need a financial advisor?” It is a great question and one that, frankly, is difficult to answer in a quantifiable way. In a 2016 whitepaper Vanguard concluded, “advisors can potentially add ‘about 3%’ in net returns by using the Vanguard Advisor’s Alpha framework.” We feel, however, this analysis is a little too simplistic.
One of the biggest benefits to hiring a true, comprehensive financial planner is having someone who knows your financial situation almost as well as (and, in some cases, better than) you and can assist your spouse if you unable to do so. Just this week we met with a 50-something year old client to make contingency plans for she and her husband after he suffered a sudden stroke that will probably keep him out of work for 6-12 months. Because we knew their household income, expenses, insurance protection, assets, liabilities and family situation we quickly devised a plan to provide them with income for the next several months until the disability policy begins paying.
Only she can quantify the value and peace of mind she received, but we are pretty confident her answer would be “Yes” to the question, “Do you need a financial advisor?”
