Your Advisor’s Role in Helping You Navigate the Path to Financial Success
We’ve talked about how your financial advisor is an essential guide on your journey toward your financial future. But what exactly should your financial advisor do as you navigate the highs and lows, twists and turns of your financial journey?
Your Advisor can Help You Look Beyond the Plan
Even though your financial advisor will offer you a plan to help you set your strategy in motion, at the end of the day, the plan isn’t the final destination in your planning journey. In a dynamic market and ever-changing financial environment, a financial plan can only offer so much.
This isn’t to say there is no value in a plan. After all, a plan gives you an idea of where you’re going and some steps you’ll take to get there. A plan helps you to organize your activities around an end goal, but it’s not the only thing you should focus on.
Your Advisor is Prepared to Guide You Through
Your advisor doesn’t have a crystal ball to see into the future and give you clear numbers to expect one year, five years, 25 years down the line. But your advisor does have tools to help you get through whatever obstacles you’ll encounter on your financial journey.
If you were to take a backpacking trek through a mountain range you’ve never traveled before, you’d hire a guide to help you get through safely and help you find views and scenery you might not have reasonably found on your own. However, you’d never expect your guide to give you a detailed weather forecast for each hour of your trek. Nor would you expect details about when you’d encounter wild animals, a downed tree across a portion of the path or an unforgettable sunset scene.
You would want your guide to have some essentials, like a knowledge of the trails you’ll travel and a sense of the natural features and climate in the area. You’d also expect them to carry equipment like a first aid kit and radio communication device in their backpack.
Similarly, your financial advisor is equipped to help you with the ups and downs you’ll encounter as you navigate your financial journey. They have the tools to help you work through unexpected portions of the path and the insight to help you prioritize your path depending on the outcomes you’re looking to achieve.
They can guide you through these events with pointed advice or recommendations that you wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Even though your advisor can’t predict every twist and turn, they can help you select products, actions and services to help you navigate terrain with which you’re unfamiliar.
Gear Up for Your Financial Journey
Whether you’re ready to start your financial journey or want to correct your course, look to a financial advisor who has the tools to help you navigate your pursuit of financial success. After all, the journey is a lot easier and more enjoyable when you use the help of a guide who knows the ins and out better than you do.
Your financial advisor can give you the guidance you need to monitor your progress along the path and help you update your plans along the way. Remember, just because you’ve chosen a route doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from regular updates and assistance with making implementation decisions as you go.