Financial Advisor
Who Is A Financial Advisor And What Do They Do?
A financial advisor is a professional who is paid to offer financial advice to clients. Just as you would hire an architect to create a plan for your home, you hire a financial advisor to create a plan for your finances. It’s all about paying someone for the expertise you need to reach specific goals. In this case, a brighter financial future.
To be effective, you should consider a financial advisor as a partner. A financial advisor needs to get to know you well—that means understanding your current spending and savings habits, your income, and your expenses.
With that knowledge in hand, a financial advisor offers advice that you can implement across the entire breadth of your life—from budgeting in the present to retirement savings for the long term. Together you and a financial advisor refine your short- and long-term goals, and then your advisor helps you stay on track to achieve those goals.
Services Offered By Financial Advisors
1. Investment Advice
Financial advisors can help you identify the best investments for your risk tolerance and goals. They also can help you stay the course or make strategic adjustments when life’s unexpected events come calling.
2. Saving For College
With the cost of education on the rise, an advisor can help identify educational savings strategies that match your desire to fund a loved one’s education.
3. Debt Management
If you feel like your debts are standing in the way of a sound financial life, a financial advisor can create strategies to pay down your existing debt and help keep you out of debt for the long term. Less debt means more in your pocket to save.
4. Budgeting
From saving for a vacation to buying your dream home, financial advisors can help craft savings strategies for the money you both spend and save, putting your goals within reach.
5. Retirement Planning
Whether you already have some money stashed away for retirement or not, advisors can help you boost your savings, identify shortfalls and then protect what you’ve saved as you head into retirement.
Do you Need a Financial Advisor?
Now that you know what a financial advisor does, the types of advisors, and the different capabilities they can offer clients, you probably have a good idea of whether you’d find a financial advisor helpful.
No matter your current financial picture, there’s a type of financial advisory service out there that’s the right fit for your assets and goals. Your next step is doing the research, evaluating your options, and taking the next step toward financial success.
