Why have a Financial Adviser?

Change is inevitable, for many it can be unsettling. I am fortunate in that the clients and friends I look after have remained happy to stay with me on their financial journeys. Sometimes that journey can be more expensive than looking after your own affairs but at the end of the day it ensures your wishes are carried out to the best of your intentions.

It makes one appreciate that a client’s commitment to their adviser for the duration of their financial arrangements is fundamental to developing a strong relationship and achieving successful outcomes. It’s what an adviser can help them with that matters, and supporting those requirements over the long-term creates a unique bond. Matching the actual advice and arrangements to a client’s needs should be the highest priority for any adviser.

So what can an Adviser provide:
• Helps maintain perspective (and calm or change) during stock market turbulence.
• Able to explain and problem solve when something goes wrong.
• They provide more accurate news and updates from the real experts, steering clear of the media hype and scaremongering that is everywhere.
• Recommend tax efficient arrangements geared to your lifetime and also very importantly, after it, for your family.
• Have access to investment fund experts who often fare better than self-selected choices.
• Keep you on track as your circumstances change. Nothing ever stays the same, part of life’s rich pattern, so having a hand to hold you through that change can be comforting and supportive.
• Liaise with your tax or legal advisers to ensure your overall interests are protected.

As I reach a period in my work that extends to several decades sadly that involves clients leaving this world for the other and that alone can create enormous problems. If the next of kin are not aware of what to do, of what is required from them or where to seek advice it becomes overwhelming.

When you have friends and clients who have connected with you for many years it is often the financial adviser who can assist in this “miserable” but essential exercise. Most often once affairs are put into order during your lifetime, for those left behind, it provides a huge sense of relief.

Even in my own planning I have to consider working with other Advisers so that the increasing number of clients we look after will be managed effectively for the longer term, in case I disappear on my journey one day.

Most people will benefit from the knowledge and experience of a professional financial adviser, especially if they have a variety of assets. When deciding between working with a financial adviser or doing it yourself, you just need to weigh the benefits against what you could be missing out on.