How We Are Different
Choosing a financial advisor can be confusing and overwhelming. After a while, they might all start to look and sound the same. But they are not all alike; some are indeed better equipped to help you than others.
It seems obvious, but when you hire a financial advisor, you're seeking guidance on substantially all aspects of your personal finance – like saving for retirement, minimizing taxes, making your money last through retirement, transferring your assets to your heirs, and so on. You want more than advice on just investments.
But truth is, most so-called financial advisors are primarily investment advisors. This is not just a matter of semantics, but a substantive distinction that will ultimately be consequential to your financial wellness.
It's true that most advisors call themselves financial advisors (or wealth advisors or other similar titles) which implies that they provide comprehensive financial advice. But what these well-meaning advisors say they do and what they do do are often out of sync. These advisors tend to be overly focused on investments, sometimes at the expense of issues critical to your financial wellness.
Why is that?
It seems obvious, but when you hire a financial advisor, you're seeking guidance on substantially all aspects of your personal finance – like saving for retirement, minimizing taxes, making your money last through retirement, transferring your assets to your heirs, and so on. You want more than advice on just investments.
But truth is, most so-called financial advisors are primarily investment advisors. This is not just a matter of semantics, but a substantive distinction that will ultimately be consequential to your financial wellness.
It's true that most advisors call themselves financial advisors (or wealth advisors or other similar titles) which implies that they provide comprehensive financial advice. But what these well-meaning advisors say they do and what they do do are often out of sync. These advisors tend to be overly focused on investments, sometimes at the expense of issues critical to your financial wellness.
Why is that?
Truth is, most so-called financial advisors are primarily investment advisors. This is a substantive distinction that will ultimately matter for your financial wellness.
It's because most financial advisors came up as investment advisors. Most started their advisory careers at large brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, where they were trained and rewarded to sell stocks and bonds, and open as many new accounts as they could. Their mission was to build and grow a book of business. They were not trained or rewarded to provide comprehensive financial advice. Thus, they unwittingly became investment-centric and product-centric. Old habits die hard, so it seems, and most still continue on this path today.
Our approach is fundamentally different. Our co-founder is a CPA who started his career at a CPA firm where he was professionally obligated to be impartial, intellectually honest and free of conflicts of interest because the public relies on both the objectivity and integrity of CPAs. When he became a financial advisor, he soon became aware that the public was largely under-served by financial advisors who are overly focused on investments, and not enough on providing comprehensive financial advice. To fill the void, he co-founded Cultivant so we can design and implement comprehensive financial strategies that address all of our clients' financial objectives.
To be sure, managing your investments is important; it's integral to sound financial planning. Still, it's only a part of the total picture. There is more to your financial wellness than just investments.
So next time you interview a financial advisor, check to see if they seem overly interested in managing your investments, or wanting to know how much money you have to invest. Or perhaps they are preoccupied with their investment prowess and stock-picking skills. Chances are, they are investment advisors, not financial advisors.
Our approach is fundamentally different. Our co-founder is a CPA who started his career at a CPA firm where he was professionally obligated to be impartial, intellectually honest and free of conflicts of interest because the public relies on both the objectivity and integrity of CPAs. When he became a financial advisor, he soon became aware that the public was largely under-served by financial advisors who are overly focused on investments, and not enough on providing comprehensive financial advice. To fill the void, he co-founded Cultivant so we can design and implement comprehensive financial strategies that address all of our clients' financial objectives.
To be sure, managing your investments is important; it's integral to sound financial planning. Still, it's only a part of the total picture. There is more to your financial wellness than just investments.
So next time you interview a financial advisor, check to see if they seem overly interested in managing your investments, or wanting to know how much money you have to invest. Or perhaps they are preoccupied with their investment prowess and stock-picking skills. Chances are, they are investment advisors, not financial advisors.