Top 3 Reasons to Consider Firing a Financial Advisor
Are you a woman who is recently divorced or widowed? It might be time to consider finding a new financial advisor. In this blog post, we will discuss the top three reasons you might need to hire a new financial advisor for yourself.
Story of a Widow
I’ll share a brief story as an example. A widow in her late 60s reached out to the office one day. She had been a widow for about three years and expressed a need for guidance on her savings account. This was back in 2017 when interest rates were extremely low. Thus, she wanted some advice as she felt she had too much in her savings account.
She shared that she is conservative and doesn’t trust the market. However, she wanted to invest money for the long-term without taking on too much risk. Unfortunately, the financial advisor they used to work with primarily communicated with her husband, who was an investment banker.
As a result, he kept insisting on keeping the same investment portfolio that she didn’t feel comfortable with. She felt like he didn’t want to acknowledge her as an investor but her husband was no longer here to make decisions. When she reached out to me, she was looking for someone who was willing to understand her and listen to her life goals.
Her husband had a different risk profile and educational background compared to her but the financial advisor wasn’t willing to listen to her story. This is not the first or the last time I have seen this type of situation. I encounter way too many situations where women’s voices get ignored or dismissed especially in a professional environment.
In this case, she waited for a long time before finding another advisor as she wanted to respect the advisor’s relationship with her husband. However, she realized it was time for a new relationship with an advisor who better suited her needs.
Sometimes, it can be daunting for women who have recently lost their loved ones to take action to fire a financial advisor because it can be emotionally draining. However, it might be the best time to find a new financial advisor because they can support you in this new journey.
Can you imagine having a financial advisor, who can help you cope with your new journey a little smoother? Here are top 3 reasons why you might need to fire your financial advisor and hire a new financial advisor.
3 Reasons to Fire a Financial Advisor
1. You don’t feel heard.
It’s one thing if you are not willing to talk to your financial advisor but it’s even more discouraging when you don’t feel heard by them. Discussing money is already a foreign subject for many women. Therefore, financial advisors for women need to be willing to listen and understand them. Your financial advisors should be your advocate when it comes to managing money and pursuing your financial goals.
2. They are not available to answer your questions.
It’s important that you ask your questions and it’s as important to get those questions answered. Asking questions and getting answers are the best ways to learn something new. Also, that’s how you know someone cares about you and your financial well-being. Unfortunately, there are financial advisors who might be more transactional and sales-driven so we need to be mindful of that.
3. They use jargon and you can’t understand them.
I find that some financial advisors use way too much jargon. Maybe their target audience understands those words better or maybe they want to sound smarter. Whatever the reason might be, if you don’t understand what they are saying, that’s not helpful. If they are experienced financial professionals, they should be able to speak in plain English so that you can understand them better.
Conclusion
I hope these three tips bring you some clarity about whether to keep or fire your financial advisor. Think of having a financial advisor like dating. You should feel comfortable and be able to understand each other.
Additionally, women face unique challenges in our financial lives as we tend to live longer than men. Your financial advisor should be prepared to understand your unique challenges and goals, especially if you went through recent life transitions as a woman. You deserve to feel heard and understood by your financial advisor.
Would you like to learn more about financial advisors for women? Align Financial Solutions provides financial planning for women by women. Financial advisors are so much more than just managing your investments. Contact us today to learn more to take control of your finance.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.