Why It Can Pay to Work with a Fiduciary Financial Planner

A really good question that we regularly get asked at our firm is, "What is the return on my investment if I hire you be my financial planner?" This question can be answered in a variety of ways, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Without going into too much detail on how a financial planner can provide value, I'd like to quickly share the results of just four of our recent financial plans, and how we were able to save just a handful of clients over $200,000 a year.

One of the things our firm regularly does for clients is analyze their investment holdings. Sometimes these investments are traditional stocks and bonds, and sometimes they're cash value life insurance and annuities. We've recently analyzed six insurance contracts that were comprised of both annuities and life insurance. After doing extensive research on all of these contracts, it became apparent that our clients were sold products that were not in their best interest. While it doesn't always make sense to disregard these products, in these cases the conclusion was clear: Our clients were sold products they didn't need, and they were paying far too much for them. Fast-forward to the end result: For just four clients, we were able to save a combined $207,340 a year in annualized contract fees and unnecessary expenses. This is just a very small sampling of the kind of quantitative value a good fiduciary advisor can provide. And, given that the DOL Fiduciary Rule was just killed this week, it's going to be increasingly important for consumers to do their homework and only work with a fee-only advisor who acts in a fiduciary capacity 100% of the time.

First Seen over here: Why It Can Pay to Work with a Fiduciary Financial Planner