The question tends to come up not just when, but why to hire a financial advisor? So, rather than answering that straightforward, let me answer it this way: when or why would you hire a fishing guide

If you are going fishing, especially if you’re going fishing with your family, you hire a fishing guide… if you want to catch fish, it’s that simple! A fishing guide has done this all their life, that’s all they do all day every day, fish! And, they know how to put you right on the fish almost every time! If they go to a spot that doesn’t have any fish biting, they know exactly where to go next; and if that spot doesn’t work, they have other spots already in mind to always put you on the fish.  

It’s not just finding fish, you get to tell them what fish you want to fish for – Is it flounder? Is it trout? Is it red fish? Are you freshwater fishing? Do you want to go offshore? You get to choose what you’re fishing for. It should be the same way with a financial advisor – you get to choose what you’re doing and everything is based off of what you are trying to do.  

With a fishing guide, it can be as involved or not as you want it to be. They will bait the hook for you, they will take the fish off, they’ll even cast it for you, where all you have to do is reel the fish in – it can be that simple! But, if you like to do the fishing yourself, they will be there simply to put you on the fish. There’s also fishing yourself, without a guide. However, a lot of the success there comes with time and experience – sometimes it helps to have a boat (you got to be able to pay to play in a sense). But, all the years of experience of fishing yourself helps in making you a successful fisherman. That’s where bringing a guide if you don’t have all the experience or the time to put into it can help. It’s the same way with financial advice; you bring in a financial advisor as somebody who’s done this for quite some time. Someone that this is all they do, that has the experience and has the knowledge to be able to answer the questions to things that you’re looking for. Not someone who is going to put you into a cookie-cutter box but will fit the needs that you have for them, whatever it is you’re looking for. Whether you want the financial advisor that is going to both bait the hook and pull the fish in for you, or just somebody to point you to the spot the fish are going to be. 

If you’re trying to make sure that you don’t miss “the big one”, give us a call here at Next Step, we’d love to help y’all out and give you the guidance that you’re looking for. Y’all have a good one!