Advisors Aren't Candy Bars | Series 4.8

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Welcome to the EnjoyMore30s Family Finance

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podcast. The only podcast dedicated to making life more

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enjoyable for young families by hitting on the financial topics

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that tend to weigh on us, stress us out, and distract our focus

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from simply enjoying life.

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Hello, and welcome once again to the EnjoyMore30s

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Family Finance Podcast, where every week we're tackling some

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of those main questions that young families face around

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finances, so that you can remove that financial anxiety, take

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great steps forward early in life, and just free yourself up

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to spend more time making life enjoyable. Now we are already on

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the eighth and final episode of this Your Major Money Misnomers

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series and what we've been doing so far in this series is

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focusing on some of those major misunderstandings, those

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misconceptions, that I see most often being an advisor. Now, as

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always, if you like what you're hearing, please make sure to

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subscribe or follow us on Apple podcast wherever you listen.

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Clicking that star, leaving a review, it honestly really,

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really helps us reach other young families out there.

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Now last week, if you remember, we discussed 'Don't Worry, We

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Are All Emotional Investors', where we covered why emotions

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tend to play such a big and frankly unwelcomed part in

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investing and what you can do to try and not have that work to

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your detriment. So check that out if you have not already.

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Today though, our title is 'Advisors Aren't Candy Bars',

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where we're going to discuss what you need to know about the

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many different types of advisors out there and what you can do to

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make sure that you find one that really is a good fit for you.

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Now, everybody has a different favorite candy bar growing up

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right? When I was a kid, my favorite candy bar by far were

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Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. If you heard the last episode I

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did, I'm not that much of a sweet tooth anymore, but at the

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time, it was definitely my favorite. Now not exactly what

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you're supposed to do, I know, but when you go to the movie

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theater, if you're like me, you may happen to buy a Reese's

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Peanut Butter Cup at the grocery store before you go to the movie

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theater because it is much much cheaper than buying it there.

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The one at the theater wasn't any better. It was exactly the

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same tasting Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, but it was just

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double the price. I'd rather have two! So I know listening

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now many of you probably have done that same thing before. And

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I honestly would probably have a little bit of a hard time

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believing if you've never done this at any point in your life.

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But you know, hey, maybe there there are some people out there

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that follow the rules exactly when it comes to that.

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The movie theater that we wanted to go to though that decision

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was different. We had a bunch of different movie theaters that we

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could choose from. They were all movie theaters, they all they

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were all showing that same exact movie, but they weren't all the

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same, like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. One was cheaper, I

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think it was closer to our home. Another had really comfy seats.

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Another one had those really big IMAX screens. And so what you

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need to know is we come across many people believing advisors

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are consistent, like a candy bar, like my Reese's Peanut

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Butter Cup, when they actually can have a lot of variety like

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the movie theaters.

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So you know when you think about it, an advisor in general is

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just someone that's out there giving you advice. That's it.

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But what they're licensed for and their approach, it greatly

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influences what your experience with them may be. So for

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starters, licensing initially dictates what they're even

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allowed to discuss with you. So let's say that someone is only

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licensed for you know insurance. That means they can only discuss

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life insurance, maybe some fixed annuities with you. That's it,

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they can't discuss investments because they're not licensed for

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investments. Now, on the flip side, if they're only licensed

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for investments, then they can't evaluate your insurance needs.

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So the licensing is really important to know because it

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dictates what they're allowed to discuss.

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When it comes to investments, there are even different types

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of licensing. So someone may only be licensed for licensed

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for commission products, which would be you know, you put money

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into it into an investment, the advisor gets a commission

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upfront and that's it. While some advisors are also licensed

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to use managed or fee based products as well. So it has an

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ongoing management fee, because there's ongoing management on

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the account with them. Maybe there's financial planning in

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that as well. So there are different structures that they

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could use. And we haven't even gotten to all the designations

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yet. So you might see a CFP, CFA or honestly a million other

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different designations out there. And so what you get to is

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this combination of licensing and designations, that can also

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dictate even whether that advisor has to act as a

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fiduciary or not, which the word fiduciary is really just a fancy

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way of saying legally having to put your interests ahead of

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their own interests.

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On top of that now is their actual approach, meaning what do

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they focus on? For whom? Is their approach investment focus,

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planning focused? Are they working with middle class

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people, high net worth people, maybe individuals versus family,

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young, old. And you can see there's a lot of possible

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combinations that can quickly escalate. And the really, really

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unfortunate part about this is that it can be really difficult

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now, for you, the consumer, when you're searching to find an

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advisor, and you want one that best fits for what you're

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looking for, and to compare it with somebody else and what

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they're offering and what that may cost, because everyone tends

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to be under this general, you know, quote, unquote, we help

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people with their finances blanket statement.

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So what you can do to help get through this is to ask

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questions, and by the more questions you ask, the more you

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understand them, and what they do. And you can find out if any

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particular advisor out there is a good fit for what you are

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looking for. So I would strongly, strongly encourage you

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to ask a lot of questions like, you know, what licensing they

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have, what designations they have, why did they choose to get

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those designations? What kind of people, you know, their firm

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prefers to work with? How many clients do they have overall?

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How much staff do they have? What do they focus on

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investments, insurance, planning? How often do they

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communicate with you? What should you expect from the

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relationship? All of these questions are really great to

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get a full understanding of who you're dealing with, and what

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they're giving you and what they specialize in to see if they're

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a great fit for what you're looking for.

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And as an advisor, myself, I consider all of this fair game.

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I can answer all of these questions so I think it's fair

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to say I expect every other advisor out there to be able to

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answer these questions. So for example, I'm licensed for all

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securities. So all investments that means whether they're

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commission or fee based, as well as life, health, disability,

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long term care insurances. I'm also mortgage originator in New

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Jersey. I have my CFP or Certified Financial Planner

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designation, which I got specifically because we focus on

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comprehensive, holistic planning for our clients at my firm. We

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work overall at this firm with middle class families,

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particularly younger families or those 10 years away from

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retirement or more, so there's time for us to really help them.

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We focus on planning, so arranging investments,

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insurance, cash flow, all that good stuff to point in that same

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direction, so that they can best achieve what would make you

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happiest in your life, which equates to what your what your

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goals are, right?

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So who am I not a good fit for? That means I am not a good fit

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for a lot of people out there. I'm not a good fit for, let's

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say, a single super high net worth individual that just wants

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help stock picking, or a company that is looking for life

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insurance to help cover some of the important members of the

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company. I'm not a good fit for either of those situations. But

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I'm sure there is someone who is a perfect fit for those

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situations out there.

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I will freely admit, of course, I am biased that having an

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advisor is a benefit to most people out there. Because you

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know, hey, I'm an advisor. And if I didn't think that I should

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probably have a different job. But it really, really, really

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needs to be the right one and the right fit for you. You need

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to be clear on who you're working with and if they're a

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good fit for what you specifically are looking for.

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And if you don't want an advisor, you know, hey, that's

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fine too. But hopefully after today, you're at least walking

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away from this episode having a better idea of how you know

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every advisor out there is not the same. They're not all candy

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bars. And if you ever wanted to, you could likely find one that

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is a fit for exactly what you want and what you're wanting

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help in doing.

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Thanks very much for tuning in today. As always, if you're able

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to implement what we're covering that is fantastic, less to worry

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about, less anxiety, full time to just focus on making life as

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enjoyable as possible. If you are wanting help with these

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things, though, please do not hesitate. You have questions,

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anything like that, want to clarify something, check out the

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Ask Joe section on the show's website www.enjoymore30s.com.

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That's www.enjoymore30s.com. And of course if you're enjoying the

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show, subscribe, review us again on Apple podcasts, wherever you

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listen. There are literally millions of young families out

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there I'm trying to reach and help just like you. And just

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like that we have another series down, Your Major Money

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Misnomers. Can't believe that already puts another one in the

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books. But next week, we will have a fantastic recap for you.

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We're going to cover all eight of these major money misnomer

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items so that you have what you need to help take action

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anywhere you have not already. So until next week, thanks for

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joining me today and I look forward to connecting with you

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again soon.

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The conversations on this show are

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Joe's opinions and provided for general information purposes

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only. They do not constitute accounting, legal, tax or other

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professional advice for your specific situation. You should

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always seek appropriate advice from a financial advisor,

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accountant, lawyer or other professional before acting upon

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any content or information found here first. Joe is affiliated

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with New Horizons Wealth Management LLC, a branch office

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of TFS Securities, Inc., and TFS Advisory Services an SEC

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registered Investment Advisor member FINRA/SIPC.