Do you ever get concerned about managing your investments or achieving your financial goals? If you do, then you are not alone. You might have questions about how to diversify your investment portfolio, make a major purchase without harming your cash flow, or translating your personal wealth into generational wealth.
But who do you turn to for answers? This is where a financial advisor can help. If you have over $10 million to invest then you should check out this special guide for $10+ million investors.This article explains who a financial advisor is, what they do and why you should work with them.
STRATEGIES FOR FAMILIES WORTH $5 MILLION TO $500 MILLION
7 Secrets To High Net Worth Investment Management, Estate, Tax and Financial Planning
The insights you’ll discover from our published book will help you integrate a variety of wealth management tools with financial planning, providing guidance for your future security alongside complex financial strategies, so your human and financial capital will both flourish.
Clients frequently share with us how the knowledge gained from this book helped provide them tremendous clarity, shattering industry-pitched ideologies, while offering insight and direction in making such important financial decisions.
Table of Contents
As a high net worth individual, it is important that your investments are managed properly. This will allow you to achieve all your financial goals while increasing your net worth. You also want to ensure that your investment portfolio is properly managed.
You can sign up for a free consultation with Pillar Wealth Management today. This is important, especially if you have a large investment portfolio because a little error on a large portfolio can mean a large loss.
If you have an investment portfolio with $5 to $500 million or more, download The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Financial Advisor for Investors with $5 Million to $500 Million in Liquid Assets from Pillar Wealth Management, LLC.
This resource goes in-depth into how to select the best financial advisor for your unique needs.
What is the normal fee for a financial advisor?
Most financial advisors charge a percentage of the value of the assets they manage for you, ranging from 0.50% to 2.00%. Some services are paid a flat or hourly fee.
Is it worth paying for a financial advisor?
For individuals with complex financial needs or who are reluctant to trade on their own due to a lack of know-how, it’s useful to have a financial expert on board.
Who is the most trusted financial advisor?
Based on a survey of 6,500 consumers, conducted by Investor’s Business Daily in 2022, Vanguard is the most trusted financial company in the US. Fidelity ranked second.
What is the difference between a financial advisor and a financial planner?
Both financial advisors and planners provide financial services, but advisors may concentrate more on investments, while planners tend to have a more holistic approach to financial planning.
Do banks have free financial advisors?
Your bank will provide you with free financial advice although their advisors may not offer free advice in all areas of finance. It depends on the size of the bank, too.
How do I choose a financial advisor?
First, ask around your network for a recommendation. Then, you could consider a matching service such as Zoe Financial. The CFP Board also has a search function for planners.
Is Edward Jones a fiduciary?
An Edward Jones financial advisor receives a portion of the commissions you pay when you make trades. They also receive compensation through bonuses, as well as a portion of the advisory fee you pay.
How much do financial advisors make off your money?
Typically, financial advisors charge a percentage of the value of the assets they manage for you, which can vary from 0.50% to 2.00%. Clients will also pay brokerage fees.
Do financial advisors have access to your bank account?
Your financial advisor can access your investment account to manage your assets and withdraw fees from that account, but not your bank account. Be sure to monitor your investment account statements.
How much does a Fidelity financial advisor cost?
At Fidelity, you will pay a transaction fee (commission) for each trade made in your account, reported to you on your account statement. Other costs would be specified in your Customer Agreement.
The 4 Best Online Financial Advisors
Business Insider evaluated a list of registered investment advisors to select the four best online financial advisors on the basis of various factors, such as:
Costs: what are the fees and are they justified?
Selection: Is there sufficient variety in the product offerings; are other services offered?
Access: Is there a mobile app? Who can access the platform, and is it easy to navigate?
Support: What customer service options are available?
Ethics: Are the advisors fiduciaries?
Business Insider studied tech firms that offer automated portfolios with the option to access a human advisor. These firms focus on passive investing and may not allow you to buy or sell individual stock. Here are the best four.
1. Best For Low Fees: SoFi Automated Investing
Social Finance Inc. operates SoFi Invest across three platforms: SoFi Automated Investing and advisory services, Active Investing and brokerage services, and cryptocurrency.
With no advisory fee, SoFi Automated Investing provides you with a portfolio of recommended investments (you still pay fund and brokerage fees). The portfolio includes a selection of ETFs based on your answers to a questionnaire. The platform monitors and rebalances your portfolio automatically.
Your investment plan is aligned with your goals and your investments are diversified to minimize risk. Your portfolio is rebalanced on a quarterly basis. There is no minimum account balance for automated investing.
SoFi’s financial planners provide personalized investment advice and financial plans, including budgeting, debt management, cash management, and financial goal setting, with no minimum account balance. There is no fee for this service, but the recommended products may have charges.
This service does not include account monitoring. There is no minimum account value or requirement to open an account with SoFi for the use of this service, and retail investors make the ultimate decision regarding the purchase or sale of investments.
2. Best For Diversified Investing: Betterment
Betterment offers investment advice primarily over the internet. The company manages investment portfolios of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and, in certain limited cases, mutual funds (traditional securities) or digital assets (crypto). Betterment also offers retirement planning and cash management.
As an investor, you use the Betterment online platform to provide information about your investing, and the software builds and manages your portfolio based on that information. The software monitors your account on an ongoing basis. The software trades on your behalf based on asset allocation changes and account deposits or withdrawals.
Asset allocations are drawn from low-cost ETFs. Third-party providers have access to traditional securities.
The minimum initial deposit is $10. To be eligible for Betterment’s Premium offering requires a balance of at least $100,000 in traditional securities and crypto.
The Premium offering and Advice Packages provide advice from financial consultants via phone or email.
The fee for a Digital client is 0.25% annually, and for a Premium client, the fee is 0.40%.
3. Best For 529 Plans: Wealthfront
Wealthfront and Wealthfront Brokerage provide investment accounts, which may be managed accounts, IRAs, or 529 college savings plans (529 Accounts). Wealthfront advisors advise the Wealthfront 529 College Savings Plan, distributed by Wealthfront Brokerage. The Wealthfront 529 Accounts are administered by the Board of Trustees of the College Savings Plans of Nevada in conjunction with the Nevada State Treasurer.
The minimum to open a managed account is $500. Wealthfront provides fully automated investment management, but a Wealthfront Stock Account allows you to select your own stocks and ETFs. By choosing the Wealthfront recommended portfolio, your assets are invested in a diversified portfolio of ETFs, typically low-cost ETFs with high liquidity and low tracking error, and other investments.
With a managed account with at least $100,000, you gain access to 1,000 individual US stocks.
4. Best For Financial Planning And Personal Development: Ellevest
Ellevest is an investment adviser dedicated to closing the gender investment gap by advising women on financial planning and investing. According to the SEC filing, “Ellevest does not engage in market timing, make active bets on certain asset or sector classes, or time the selection of individual securities for the purpose of pursuing excess returns.”
Ellevest provides its Ellevest Programs through its website ellevest.com and its mobile app. Ellevest used ETFs and mutual funds for client investments. Digital clients pay a single asset-based fee for brokerage, custodial, and investment advisory services. Premium clients additionally get financial planning guidance. Clients also pay brokerage fees related to IRAs, mutual funds, and ETFs.
An Ellevest Executive Plan costs $9 per month, which includes five accounts and portfolios, retirement planning, tax minimization, automatic rebalancing, and discounted one-to-one financial guidance. The Plus Plan, at $5 per month, includes a diversified investment portfolio, retirement planning, tax minimization, and automatic rebalancing.
Other Online Financial Advisors
Besides the 100% online advisors, many investment companies offer an online product that investors can use to create a portfolio independently of a human advisor. Some of these companies include Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, and Morgan Stanley, which owns E-Trade.
Find a Financial Advisor Online
You can find a financial advisor online through a matching service such as Zoe Financial, Bankrate, and Facet Wealth. You can also find an advisor by using the CFP Board website search option.
Find an in-person financial advisor—
You can find an in-person advisor through the CFP Board website, the XY Planning Network, the National Association of Personal Planning Advisors (NAPFA), and the Association of African American Financial Advisors, among others.
What are your financial goals?
Before we take a deep dive into the financial professionals that can help you increase your wealth, with a focus on financial advisors near you, it is important that you understand your unique financial goals and needs.
The fact that you are a high net-worth individual with a considerable amount of wealth does not negate the fact that you still need financial goals. You must have heard the popular saying “he that fails to plan, plans to fail.” This sentiment rings true for wealth, also.
There is little that a financial advisor or wealth manager can do for you if you do not know what you want to achieve with your investments.
The first step is to make a list of the things that you want to achieve in your life. Take time to think about all the things that you would need or want.
Do you want to take an expensive vacation every 6 months? Year? Two years? Or you plan to have real estate properties in every major city of the world? What are the goals for your kids’ college education? You need to answer these questions and more.
This is important because the job of a financial advisor is to help you manage your portfolio and achieve your goals. You can sign up here for a free consultation with a Pillar Wealth Management co-founder. That job becomes redundant if you do not have any goals or do not have an idea of what you want to do with your money.
Not to worry, though, as a wealth manager will help you define what you are aiming to accomplish. When you have your goals, you can go a step further and arrange them in order of priority. This is still something that your financial advisor will work with you on, but it is good if you take some time to think about it on your own.
If you have a significant other or a family that can be impacted by your decisions, then you may want to use this time to talk with them too. Find out what their desires are and include it in your goals.
When you know what your goals are, then you are ready to meet with a financial advisor near meand start discussing how to effectively manage your wealth and achieve those goals. If you need help managing between $5 million and $500 million in liquid assets, then you should speak with our team.
Learn more about Pillar Wealth Management, LLC., wealth management services by registering for your free consultation with us. You will speak directly with company co-founders Hutch Ashoo and Chris Snyder, and we will discuss your current needs and future goals.We specialize in ultra-high net worth clients like yourself.
Value of a Financial Advisor
The basic duty of a financial advisor is to help you manage your investments. However, there are a number of professionals that fall into this category. There are professionals that help you plan your finances, buy and sell investments, buy insurance, and so much more.
There are even fresheners that give you financial advice to reduce tax liability and investment risk. As you can see, the term financial advisor is a general term that is used quite liberally.
It is therefore important that you understand the different kind of financial advice is available so that you can select the right person to help you achieve your financial goals.
As a high net worth individual, your financial situation is quite complex, and you would need a lot of help to achieve your financial goals. Let’s take a look at the various types of financial advisors that can offer you financial advice.
Robo-advisors
Robo-advisors are an option for managing your finances. However, Robo-advisors are not what you think about when you look for “traditional financial advisors near me.” Rather, a Robo-advisor is a computer software that manages your investment portfolio according to an algorithm.
For this to work, you fill out a survey form where your financial goals are discussed. You also discuss what kind of investment you prefer, your risk appetite and other important information.
With all this information, the computer algorithm then determines how best to invest your money to achieve your set goals. Some of the factors that are taken into consideration are the length of time you have to invest, the reason why you are investing and many others.
Robo-investors and Robo-advisors are helpful for those with simple investing goals. However, it may not be suitable for you, the high-net-worth individual with a huge investment portfolio.
Many Robo-advisors do not provide access to a real financial advisor near me, so it will be difficult to get your questions answered. For instance, if something happens, and you want to adjust your goals, or you want to move your investment portfolio in a different direction, it will be very difficult to get advice, which is the whole purpose of a financial advisor anyway.
This option is good for people that do not need a holistic money management service in order to achieve their financial goals.
Financial Planners
In case you prefer to work with a professional human advisor or rather than a computer algorithm, there are also several options available. The first and easiest to use as a financial planner. As with all things, a plan is essential for success.
And this is where a financial planner comes in. The job of a financial planner is to take all your financial goals into consideration and build a holistic financial plan that would chart out the way to achieve all those goals.
The process of achieving these goals include steps such as figuring out the best investments that will help you reach your goals, managing your tax liability, and using insurance products so as to secure your financial future.
A financial planner will take your consideration all your financial goals while building an investment plan that will help you succeed financially.
However, there are some potential problems using a financial planner. The first and most obvious challenge is that a financial plan alone cannot guarantee financial success. This is especially true for you as a high net worth individual.
Financial planners are limited in the services that they can provide for you. For example, financial planners cannot sell the investment and securities that you need to accomplish your financial goal.
This means that in order to accomplish your financial goals, you’ll still require the services of another financial professional to purchase bonds, stocks, and any other security that you need. A financial planner simply cannot offer a one-stop solution for most people.
Investment Brokers
The major problem that we identified with financial planners is that they cannot help you implement your plan, especially when it comes to buying and selling securities. This is where an investment broker is needed the most.
An investment broker, also known as a stockbroker, is the finance professional that is knowledgeable about investment solutions that can help you achieve your investment goals.
At the very least, you’ll need the services of a financial planner and an investment broker to achieve your financial goals. This combination can help you build your financial plan and work towards creating an investment portfolio that will follow the guidelines of that plan.
As good as these may seem, there are two major obstacles to this plan. The first is that you will need to hire and work with two separate professionals in order to create a plan and ensure that it is achieved. This is a problem because it means you have to do double the work to find the perfect fit.
You have to find a financial planner and an investment broker that you feel comfortable working with, and also feel comfortable working with each other.
If that synergy is not present, then the whole team can break down, and you do not want the situation where your financial planner and investment broker cannot work well together.
The second major problem is that working with a stockbroker can provide a conflict of interest. Most stockbrokers get paid on commission, which means that they are paid when you buy or sell a security.
The amount that they get paid varies from one security to another, and this is where the conflict of interest can arise. Supposing you are interested in planning for your retirement.
You visit your stockbroker and explain that you would like to know about mutual funds which you could invest in to grow your retirement savings.
If you’re lucky enough to have a very good stockbroker, then they would suggest the best fund for you to invest in, and of course and commission from the purchase.
But what if your stockbroker isn’t that good? Perhaps there is another fund that would provide your stockbroker with a higher commission but is not the best fund for you.
Your stockbroker might suggest that mutual fund, and a higher commission, but that puts your investment account at a disadvantage because it is not the best fund for your goals.
Unfortunately, there is nothing that stops your investment broker from doing this. As long as they suggest something that fits your need to boost your retirement savings, they are free to sell it to you.
While we hope that your investment broker will be honest enough to suggest the best possible financial products for you, you can never be too sure. And this is where financial advisor or wealth manager excels.
Before we take an in-depth look into what exactly a financial advisor does and how they can help you, you should get the free hard cover book titled The Art of Protecting Ultra-High Net Worth Portfolios and Estates: Strategies for Families Worth $25 Million to $500 Million today! We specially created this guide for you, the ultra-highnetworth individual.
How a Financial Advisor can Help
As you can see, while the financial advisor term can apply to a broad number of professionals, many of them cannot provide you with exactly what you need, especially as a high net worth individual. This is where a financial advisor specializes. A good financial advisor combines the work of a financial planner, a stockbroker and many more.
They are knowledgeable in multiple fields such as tax planning, estate planning, insurance, investment and so on. This makes them uniquely positioned to deal with the unique challenges that high-net-worth individuals face as a result of their large investment portfolios.
Essentially, a wealth advisor works with affluent clients and offers the services of both financial planners and investment brokers. They work for companies that are established as Registered Investment Advisors (RIA).
The major advantage that financial advisors have over investment brokers is that financial advisors are required by law to give you the best possible advice irrespective of how advantageous it is to them.
This is called fiduciary duty. It means that your financial advisor must provide you with the best possible advice. This means that you can be confident that any advice your financial advisor gives you is the best possible advice that there is
How to Find a Financial Advisor Near Me
When it comes to finding the best financial advisor, you can do a quick Google search for “financial advisors near me,” but that alone will not help you select the best possible financial advisor.
In your choice of a financial advisor, you must select an advisor that is uniquely suited to meet your personal financial goals. To do this, you must understand your personal financial goals before you speak with the advisor. Thankfully, there is a section above that perfectly describes how to do that.
You must know exactly the kind of financial advisor that you need when you are planning for your financial future or generational wealth. What areas would you like your financial advisor to specialize in?
Once you have this knowledge, you can then begin to conduct interviews. Most wealth management companies offer an initial consultation service to help you decide if you want to work with them.
If you are on the lookout for the best financial advisor near you, schedule your free consultation with Pillar Wealth Management, LLC. Co-founders Hutch Ashoo and Chris Snyder today.
Pillar Wealth Management LLC is a wealth management firm that specializes in managing the investment portfolios of affluent clients. Get in touch today to know all the various ways we can help you manage your wealth.
To be 100% transparent, we published this page to help filter through the mass influx of prospects, who come to us through our website and referrals, to gain only a handful of the right types of new clients who wish to engage us.
We enjoy working with high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors and families who want what we call financial serenity – the feeling that comes when you know your finances and the lifestyle you desire have been secured for life, and that you don’t have to do any of the work to manage and maintain it because you hired a trusted advisor to take care of everything.
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