Introduction

There are numerous events to motivate individuals to seek professional investment advice. For example, you may recently have moved between tax jurisdictions, received a sum of money through prior investments, a bonus or inheritance, gone through a major life changing event (such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a spouse), or recently retired. In addition you may be disillusioned at not achieving your financial goals or simply too busy to manage your own investments.

When managing your own investments, you may not be as knowledgeable as a professional financial adviser as you simply may not be aware of all the options available to you. Additionally, even professional investors benefit from bouncing ideas off other individuals working in a similar industry.

Things to consider

– How does the advisor charge for services, and how much?

– What licenses, credentials or other certifications do they have, are you protected by a local regulator in case of future problems?

– Is the company financially strong, and how long have they been operating for?

– Beware of market-beating confidence. If an adviser predicts continued guaranteed market-beating performance, get up and walk away. An advisor should be promising good advice across a range of issues, not just investments. And inside your portfolio, they should be asking you about how many risks you want to take, how long your time horizon is and emphasizing their ability to help you achieve your goals while keeping you from making retirement ending mistakes.

Summary

You can certainly go it alone when it comes to managing your money. But you could also try to do it yourself when it comes to auto repair. In both areas, doing it yourself is a brilliant idea for some, and a flawed plan for many, many others. Mastering personal finance requires many hours of research and learning. For most, it’s not worth the time and ongoing effort. As you get older, busier and (it is hoped) more wealthy, your financial goals – and options – get more complicated. Financial advisors can also help you remain disciplined about your financial strategies. They’ll make the moves for you or stay in contact until you make them yourself. Procrastination can cause all sorts of money problems or unrealized potential, so it pays to have someone helping you to stay on track.

Additional Information Resources

Additional information resources are available by clicking on the links below:

• Financial Planning
• Investments 
• Insurance 
• Pensions
• Tools & Calculators
• News

You can also view information related to your particular stage of life:

• Starting Out
• Growing Responsibility
• Nearing Retirement
• Retired