Financial Planners can benefit most people. But there are 5 types of people who would benefit most from a financial planner. Let’s take a closer look.
“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money but you cannot get more time” -Jim Rohn
“Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” -Norman Vincent Peale
In my 20 years in the financial services industry, I’ve run across all types of people, from people just barely getting by to multimillionaires and everything in between. I believe every single person should have a plan to help them reach their financial goals. There are five specific sorts of people that I think can benefit most from working with a financial planner. We will look at these in this week’s Inside Look at Building Towards Wealth.
Financial Planner: 5 Types of people who would benefits most
The first group of people who would benefit from a financial planner:
One type of person who would benefit are those who don’t have an acumen or propensity towards being very good with money. I have seen both those that appear to be struggling and people that are rich not be very good with their money. Remember there is a difference between Rich vs Wealthy. Sometimes the only difference between those that are rich and those that are struggling is the fact that those people that are rich are able to make it faster than they can currently spend it, but they still make bad decisions with their money.
Sometimes it’s through lack of education and sometimes it’s through lack of concern that people are bad with money.
If you feel that you have a poor understanding of how markets and debt work and if you can’t ever keep yourself to a budget or if you don’t know how to set and achieve long term goals and you don’t want to learn it on your own, then working with a financial planner would be of benefit.
The second group of people that would benefit from working with a financial planner:
Are busy people looking to reclaim time. We are always trading time for money, or money for time. Some people have more responsibilities on their plate than they possibly can handle alone. I am a firm believer that your most valuable resource is time. Use it wisely!
As a father of three, two of which are under the age of three, it is very difficult for me to find time for much of anything that is not directly related to family or my work. I know I am not the only parent who feels this way. This is why I outsource my accounting, my house cleaning and so many other tasks in my life. It makes life easier and more enjoyable for me to have more time. And for that, I will trade some of my money.
A financial planner can help with sorting through your insurance needs, help you save adequately so you can reach your goals as well as direct you to appropriate investments based on your time horizon and risk tolerance. They can help you with tax planning and tax efficiency. They can help to ensure you have an appropriate estate plan as well as a host of other responsibilities that require you to make big decisions in life. All of those decisions take energy and time to make.
If you are someone who wishes they had more time, then hiring a financial planner can help.
3rd type of person who would benefit:
The third group is very smart people who want to work with people who have a very specific silo of knowledge. I readily admit that many of my clients are smarter than I am, particularly in their areas of specialty. They could easily do everything that I do for them if they wanted to apply themselves to that area.
The difference is that having been in financial services for 20 years I come with a depth of knowledge that is hard to attain by reading and researching over a short period of time.
If you are smart enough to do all of it yet realize that your mental energy is better spent in other areas, then it’s good time to work with a financial planner.
The next group who would benefit are:
Business owners. In general, most business owners I know, myself included, just want to be focused on running their business. They want to focus on their core competencies. Whether that is the ability of the ophthalmologist or chiropractor to see more patients, the owner of a manufacturing company to produce more product or the developer wanting to see their latest project come to completion. Many of them just want to focus and get rid of all the mental distractions and time wasters that can be part of what comes with running their business and planning for their personal financial future can be viewed as one of those areas.
If this sounds like you then working with a financial planner can make a lot of sense.
You may also want to work with a financial planner who specializes in working with business owners, because the type of financial planning that is done for business owners versus traditional financial planning can be very different.
Last but not least, the fifth type of person who would benefit.
The last group of people are over thinkers and people that are prone to anxiety when it comes to topics involving money. Financial matters are the number one cause of anxiety in this country, according to the American Psychological Association, and it shows that money stress is weighing on Americans health.
Having someone to go on the journey with you can often be reassuring. If someone told you to scale a mountain on your own, you might feel some anxiety about whether you could do it. If you were provided a professional guide that understood the terrain and knew how to keep you out of trouble on the hike, you would likely feel much more reassured. This is also true with working with a financial planner.
If you would like to feel less stress about your financial situation, then it might be a good idea to work with a financial planner.
Everybody should have a plan to reach their goals and you don’t have to be in one of those 5 groups to be able to benefit from a financial planner.
If you feel that you do fall in to the categories mentioned above, consider taking the first step to see if you would get value from a financial planner. If I can be of assistance please let me know and you can book a time to talk to me directly HERE.
