When Should You Reach Out To A Financial Advisor?

Today’s article will be a recurring one. The focus will be on When Should You Reach Out to Me. Video is at the bottom.

The reason it will be recurring is there are a variety of reasons as to why/when you should reach out to me. It would be WAY too long to cover in one article, so I am going to break this up and maybe hit a few events when it is time to consider jumping on my calendar. Let’s get to a few. 

• Your advisor has never asked for your tax return. 

• There have been a few surveys done in my world on the topic of what clients want their advisors to do and what advisors actually do. 

• One of the biggest gaps is between clients wanting tax planning advice and advisors actually providing said advice. 

• The short version is roughly 90% of clients want tax planning advice, while only 25% of advisors ask for their clients’ tax returns. 

• As a physician, odds are you are in a higher tax bracket. Tax planning is paramount to you meeting your financial objectives. If your advisor is not asking for your tax return then they are not seeing the whole picture. 

• Or maybe they do ask for it, but nothing ever happens after you provide a copy. 

• That is why I am in an incredibly small percentage of advisors who are both a Certified Financial Planner and also an Enrolled Agent (highest credential from the IRS). I like spending time helping clients make sure they aren’t tipping Uncle Sam. 

• Remember – It’s not what you make. It’s what you keep. 

• Having a Vision of An Ideal Future would be great.

• This is something all my clients develop.

• It is through what I refer to as Advanced Financial Planning. 

• The process is how we start our relationship and is developed over a series of four meetings. 

• To use a medical analogy, this is how I thoroughly diagnose a client before any recommendations are made. 

• Those recommendations are then summarized into a personalized plan for the client, which culminates in their Vision of An Ideal Future. 

• Basically, my physician clients seek out a better work-life balance where they can enjoy all they have worked so hard for. 

• You are paying more than $10,000 a year to your advisor and only getting investment advice. 

• As a reminder, I charge $2,500 a quarter. 

• This is for investment management, financial planning, risk management, benefits planning and more. 

• My fee is based on my knowledge, experience and service level. 

• It is not connected to what the market does. 

• And, as mentioned above, it is also not limited to only investment advice. 

• I can go on about this, but if you are paying five figures annually for just investment advice, it may be time to jump on my calendar. 

This seems like a good place to stop. As I mentioned, there are plenty more reasons why/when you should reach out to me. My calendar is always open if you wish to set up a conversation.