Key Signs You Might Need to Speak with a Wealth Advisor

When it comes to managing a financial plan, some people choose to do this without the help of a professional. This might be a viable option if they have the discipline, interest, expertise, time and the ability to remove emotion from important financial decisions.  For those people, the DIY approach may, indeed, work.  However, for the many others who may lack in one (or more!) of these aforementioned areas, it may be beneficial to set up a consultation with an experienced wealth advisor.    

Here are some challenges that may indicate that you are ready to seek the advice of a professional:   

Lacking Financial Goals?

Benjamin Franklin said it best, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” This mantra is certainly true within the art of financial planning. Regardless of whether you are beginning your career, considering a career change, eyeing retirement or already retired – a financial plan is necessary. This plan should be comprehensive: how you invest, how you manage cash flow, tax strategies, insurance coverages, education funding, estate design, retirement planning, legacy planning & debt structuring.  And even within each category, there are different strategies that may be applicable to your situation….

But most importantly, if you don’t already have a plan, create one! It can start with something as simple as how much capital you will need saved in order to retire. Once you have that information, you can begin to craft a more detailed plan to get you from where you are now to where you need to be as retirement approaches.

Uncertain if Your Investment Allocation Will Meet Your Goals?

In order to fund retirement goals, most people will need to earn greater returns than the rate of interest offered by simply holding cash and/or fixed income. To do this, many investors will have an allocation to stocks within their investment portfolio. While stocks can provide a higher level of return, they generally also have a higher level of risk when compared to fixed income. An efficient financial plan should include a minimum required rate of return needed for your plan to be successful. 

Using this rate of return as a starting point, you can begin to plan for how much stock exposure you need in your investment portfolio to target this required return. As retirement draws near, you will want to manage risk in your portfolio. Importantly, you want to avoid having large losses in your retirement portfolio right as you enter retirement. Another important factor to account for is the impact of inflation; you should anticipate spending more on certain items in the future and need to account for rising prices on important items such as food, rent, healthcare, etc.

Allowing Emotions to Impact Financial Decisions?

Life can send challenging times our way and the world of investing is no different! Outside of creating a financial plan, the next most important part is sticking to it when market volatility strikes. If you find yourself making portfolio changes, especially selling investments while markets are down and/or chasing returns of the best performing stocks or asset classes when the markets are high, you might want to reconsider your decision to manage these funds on your own. In our experience, we often find that trades made during periods of heightened emotions often end up reducing the overall portfolio return. As Warren Buffett said, “Be greedy only when others are fearful.”  This practice seems easy enough in theory, but is much harder in the moment!

Short on Time and/or Financial Knowhow?

Be honest with yourself:  Do you feel competent enough to plan, proactively manage and remove emotion when dealing with your personal wealth? You might be more than qualified, but do you have the desire and time to spend managing, researching, and implementing your plan? This is where we often find many individuals who decide to take on handling their own financial planning have good intentions but eventually come to realize that they really…“don’t know what they don’t know.” And the longer a plan is not implemented, the harder it is to make course corrections.  So if you feel short on time and/or knowledge, it might be a sign you should have a discussion with a professional. 

Concerned if Your Family will be Taken Care of if Something Happens to You?

Do you feel confident that your family would be taken care of if you were to experience a period of medical issues or even worse, an early death? Many married couples operate via the “divide and conquer” method to help manage life’s many demands. Unfortunately, however, often the spouse that manages the finances might not properly outline what he/she does concerning cash flow, bill payment and other major financial matters to the other spouse; this can cause significant confusion--and stress!--- if the person who is managing these has a medical event. 

Other planning issues that often need attention are estate planning & life insurance planning; these are areas that will be addressed via a financial planning relationship. To get started, you may wish to create what we call the “In-case-something-happens-to-me” list…. At a minimum, this list should include the location of all financial accounts, important contacts, website login information, insurance information, important medical information, directions for important payments to be made (e.g., mortgage, insurance), and other important data.

In summary, the responsibilities and challenges of life come at us very fast. And the financial markets can be hard to navigate even for the most experienced investors.  If you find yourself agreeing with some of the points we have outlined above, it might be time to have a conversation with an independent, professional financial advisor.  

Feel free to reach out to us if you should have any questions.

Best,

NCM Capital Management 

Disclosures: This is not an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or asset. While the information presented herein is believed to be reliable, no representation or warranty is made concerning its accuracy. The views expressed are those of NCM Capital Management, LLC and are subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions and NCM does not undertake to update or supplement its newsletter or any of the information contained therein. Past performance may not be indicative of future results.  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will be profitable. There is no guarantee that the investment strategies discussed above will work under all market conditions or are suitable for all investors and each investor should evaluate their ability to invest long-term, especially during periods of downturn in the market. Investors should consult their investment professional prior to making an investment decision. Investment advisory services are offered through NCM Capital Management, LLC, an SEC-registered wealth advisory firm domiciled in New Jersey. This communication is not to be construed or interpreted as a solicitation or offer to sell investment advisory services.  For additional information about NCM Capital Management, LLC, you may request a copy of our disclosure statement as set forth on Form ADV. Readers are encouraged to consult with their own professional advisers, including investment advisers and tax/legal advisors. NCM Capital Management, LLC does not provide legal or tax advice. NCM Capital Management, LLC can assist in determining a suitable investing approach for individuals, which may or may not resemble the strategies outlined herein.