Why Work with an Advisor when you can DIY?

We live in a time when you can google whatever may interest you and within thirty minutes and a few clicks, we become “experts” on the topic. We are all guilty of it - we “do our own research” and become self-proclaimed doctors with the help of WebMd, we become real estate agents with the help of Zillow and likewise financial experts with the help of CNBC and Reddit. So why work with anyone if you can do it yourself?

Motivation

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going” – Jim Ryun

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), one of the biggest factors that contribute to your overall financial success is consistency. It’s hard to put pieces in place that may take decades to produce results. How do you stick with it when there are so many competing priorities for your time and your resources pulling you in many directions?

Sometimes a life event gets us motivated to start the process - a new baby, a new house, a change in status. As with many resolutions, we are motivated to start and then get sidetracked with life, but swear we will get back to it soon; until that next priority pushes its way in. Years go by and while we know what we should be doing, we don’t have the resources to deal with it now. Time and consistency are valuable partners in achieving your goals, but who makes sure that you stay accountable?

Big Picture vs Tunnel Vision

Very few things evoke such intense and deep emotions as money. It has the power to push us both to new highs and to new lows. The connection is so deep that it is almost impossible to separate the entangled cause and effects. One of the most common causes of financial missteps are actions taken during stressful times. How do we ensure that the decisions we are making are not emotional based on today but rather are founded on a clear thought-out overall plan? How helpful would it be to have a partner by your side who is not guided by emotion, but rather by your big picture and well-being to consult with in times like these?

You don’t know what you don’t know

Trite and cliché, but true. While we can research many things, our focus may be limited to only a certain scope. Often when we discuss finances, the focus often falls on investments - picking the best company, the best stock, the best fund. This is one piece of a big puzzle and while we may have done our due diligence and research, have we thought about all the effects of our decision such as how it impacts our overall risk and taxes? If we don’t know what to look for, we don’t know what questions to ask. This is just one example, but it is often decisions like this that can impact your overall financial well-being but may not be at all evident. No one can claim to be an expert in everything, but to be able to pull in experts as needed (accountant, attorney, etc.) to build a powerful team helps to ensure that the right questions are being asked and that the decisions that are made are well thought out and evaluated from all angles.