Welcome back to our continuing series, The 10 Beliefs. We’ve outlined the seven most common mistakes we see people make in planning and saving for retirement. In our last post, the third belief, we told shared that it is possible to stop worrying about your money all the time. Now we’re going to walk you through the fourth belief, that we believe you should ask for help with your finances.
If you missed a post, or would like to start at the beginning, scroll to the bottom of this post for a complete listing.
Belief #4 - You Should Ask For Help
Mistakes happen... But when it comes to your finances, mistakes can cost you. It's okay if you need to ask for help. In fact, we think it's smart to ask for help.
Most people don’t get professional help when it comes to their finances. Instead, they try to do it themselves because: they don’t want to spend the money on a professional’s fees, society tells them that asking for help is a sign of incompetence, or maybe they just don’t know any better.
As a result, mistakes happen. Mistakes like selling at the wrong time and losing money on an investment. And then what happens? They work longer to make up for it or make sacrifices in order to survive.
But it’s not their fault. It’s not any of our faults. The financial world has changed dramatically and it’s a full-time job to keep up with it. But it’s not YOUR job. You’ve already got one, right? Do you really want another one?
No. And that’s completely understandable.
We firmly believe that you should get help. Here are three things you should look for in a financial advisor.
1. You want someone who is fee-only. Not fee-based or commission. Both of those mean the advisor, however well intentioned, is going to try to sell you products that earn them a nice, big commission check. Fee-only advisors make no money on products. Instead they get a flat fee based on your investments. What that means is that the better you do, the better they do…
2. Find someone you trust. A financial advisor will need to coach you through the market ups and downs. You need someone you feel comfortable with, enough to listen to and head their advice.
3. You want a financial advisor who is a fiduciary and has a responsibility to act in your best interest at all times.
Have you settled for less than you deserve? Are you following advice that is specific to you and your situation? Are you free from the nagging worries about your finances. Do you have the help you need to manage and plan for retirement? If you don't, you might be gambling with your future That's actually Belief #5 - You Shouldn't Guess with Your Financial Future. You can read that here.
You can also grab all of the mistakes and beliefs in a free download. Grab it here.