Hiring WMS
Financial Planning and Investment Advice
The Difference Between Financial Planning and Investment Advice
There is a difference between financial planning and investment advice. When you hire a financial advisor you need to know if they are providing both services, or just one or the other.
Financial planning is the ongoing process of looking at your entire financial situation and making sure all the pieces are working together to help you accomplish the best results.
When you work with a financial advisor who provides financial planning they will look at the type of mortgage you have (as well as all types of debt you may have), your tax situation, investment allocation, insurance coverage, company benefits, family situation, career stability, spending habits, wills and trusts, retirement plans; basically anything that has to do with you and your money.
This type of financial advisor can provide valuable advice that will affect numerous parts of your financial life, and they can help make sure that a decision made with one part does not have adverse affects on another part.
Investment advice is just one small piece of financial planning. It has to do with where you put your money; from picking funds inside your 401k plan to evaluating the right place to park cash reserve funds.
Financial advisors who provide investment advice help you decide the appropriate level of risk to take with your investments; they match your investment needs with upcoming cash flow needs, make the investment changes on your behalf, monitor your investments, and report the results to you.
We provide both financial planning and investment advice. By serving our clients in both capacities we can offer valuable advice that will be implemented in a timely manner, and we can make sure your investment choices fit into your overall financial plan.
Our fee schedule may be slightly higher than a firm that offers only investment advice, as the financial planning piece takes extra time and effort. The financial planning, however, is where our financial advisors help clients make decisions that put thousands of dollars back in their pockets.
