| When it comes to plotting your financial course, most people will be better off if they find a qualified person to give them sound financial planning advice. There are so many products available, and so many options it would be virtually a full time job if you tried to do it yourself.
Getting qualified, professional advice is good advice, but you do have to be careful. Not everyone knows what they are talking about and many so called professionals are only interested in making a commission and really don't care all that much about you and your longterm financial goals.
The one thing you absolutely must keep in mind is that no financial planner will be able to tell you with any degree of certainty which stocks you should buy, when you should buy, etc. The market has a mind of it's own and no one has ever been able to read it with any degree of accuracy. Oh sure, sometimes someone will get lucky, but they are never able to maintain that.
Many commercials on t.v. will tout how they've outperformed this or that for the last ten years but in reality if you look closely they haven't really done any better than the market on average.
Most financial planners will only get paid when they make a sale, they work on commission. That doesn't make them, or their advice, bad...necessarily. It does, however, mean that you have to take everything they tell you with a grain of salt.
I once read a book that said you should never trust anyone to give you financial advice unless they were living off of their own investments. Think about it. If the financial planner you are thinking about working with can't make a great living off of the financial advice they are giving you, why would you trust them with your money? If they were so good at picking winners they wouldn't be working for commissions and selling things to other people,they would be living off of their own investments on a beach in Tahiti!
Having said that, it will still be beneficial for most people to enlist the aid of a financial professional, not to tell you what to do with your money, but rather to give you options and all the pros and cons of each so that you can make an informed decision as to which course of action is best for you.
You really want to be careful when 'interviewing' a financial planner. Too many 'professional planners' or more about selling you a product than giving you sound advice so you can make up your own mind.
Your money and your future is too important to just ignore. It's also too important to trust just anyone. Take some time to interview potential planners. Make sure they understand what your goals are and that they aren't just interested in making a commission and selling you a product. Sound financial planning advice is one of the best investments you can make in your future. |