Guest Blog Post by Tyler Landes
A financial advisor does much more than just manage your money; she helps you manage life. The reason for this is because your money is so intimately tied to areas of your life that you value most. Money in and of itself may not be the most important thing to you, but the life, people, and dreams it can support is.
Whether your life is going great at the moment or you’re in a bit of a slump, there is a certain level of care and accountability that a financial advisor can offer you that can lead to a better life.
Here are seven ways a financial advisor can make your life better:
1. Organization
Whether you are an organized person or not, being financially organized makes everyone sleep a little better at night. A financial advisor will help you sort through your financial life – literally – no matter how chaotic it is and help you implement a system by which you and others in your family more easily and effectively operate.
2. Accountability
A financial advisor is your accountability partner. She holds you accountable to making smarter financial decisions, and your relationship holds her accountable to helping you reach your financial goals and managing your financial progress. Let’s face it, we all do a little better with a little push and accountability from someone else who is invested in our success.
3. Real-Life Financial Education
Unlike general jargon-drive financial information that clutters the internet, your financial advisor provides you relevant financial education as it pertains to you and your specific situation. With more financial knowledge comes better decision-making that ultimately helps you to avoid financial mistakes that could take you off course.
4. Automation
The financial advisors who can help you automate your financial life deserve a gold star. If your financial life is set up in a way that it automatically is saving for retirement, saving for that vacation, paying fixed expenses, anticipating fluctuating costs like groceries, and even allotting monthly cash allowances for everyone in the family to spend on whatever they want…I’d say life already sounds better to me.
5. Risk Management
This may not sound fun, but it certainly is necessary to help you achieve the proverbial peace of mind so many people want when it comes to their life, and especially their financial situation. From in-depth risk analysis for your investment portfolios to insurance reviews, a financial advisor makes sure that you don’t take on more risk than you can handle and that you are adequately covered when the unexpected happens.
6. Professional Fulfillment
Your advisor can discuss your professional ambitions and empower you with information to negotiate a higher salary if you’re switching positions or companies. Knowing your value and then aligning your career aspirations with the life you want to live can be exactly what you need to have these courageous conversations with employers and potential employers.
7. Dream-Catcher
I’m reminded of that great Walt Disney quote, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” and think that financial advisors function on their client’s behalf in much the same spirit. Ultimately, a financial advisor allows you to see what’s possible when your wealth is strategically aligned with your values – and what’s possible may be much more soul-stirring than you would expect.
At the end of the day, it’s a good financial advisor’s resolve to work tirelessly in your best interest throughout your life. A good financial advisor’s mission isn’t purely analytical. Rather, it’s to help you live a better life by using all the tools, skills and technology available.
Tyler Landes is the founder of Tandem Financial Guidance, a fee-only financial planning firm in Kansas City, Missouri. Tyler and I became friends after meeting through the XY Planning Network and I asked him to write some thoughts on ways a financial planner can make your life better as a guest topic for this site.