September 30, 2025 • 12 mins
Most people stay with the wrong financial advisor far too long: out of loyalty, inertia, or fear of starting over. But the cost of sticking with the wrong person can be measured in dollars, stress, and lost years you can’t get back.
5 Signs You Should Fire Your Financial Advisor
1. They always say “ask your CPA” instead of doing proactive tax planning (advisors don’t file returns, but tax planning is inseparable from investing and retirement decisions).
2. They only talk about investments and ignore taxes, retirement income, insurance, and estate planning.
3. You leave meetings confused—jargon and complexity replace clear explanations.
4. Your spouse/partner is ignored or left out of meetings and decisions.
5. You wouldn’t rehire them today if you were starting fresh.
A great advisor simplifies your life, coordinates every part of the plan, and speaks plainly. If that’s not your experience, it might be time to move on.
Ready to explore whether your advisory relationship is truly serving your best interests? Take an objective look at these warning signs and consider what advice your future self would give you today.
-
Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.
The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.
Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements
Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If your financial advisor is guilty of any of the
five things I'm going to talkabout today, you should probably
consider firing them Now.
I personally am a financialadvisor, so this is not about
bashing advisors.
Rather, it's about protectingyour future and helping you
realize the five red flags thatit might be time to move on from
the current advisor you'reworking with.
I see far too many people staywith the wrong advisor because
of a sense of loyalty or inertia, or maybe just a fear of
(00:23):
starting over.
But how do you know that itmight be time for you to move on
?
Well, reason number one is ifthey continually tell you to ask
your CPA anytime you ask a taxquestion, it's probably time to
find a new advisor Now.
Your advisor is not going to bepreparing your tax return they
can't give you formal legal taxadvice in most cases but what
they can do is a tremendousamount of tax planning.
(00:43):
You cannot separate taxplanning from your investment
strategy, your retirementstrategy, especially in your
retirement years.
So much of good investing, somuch of good.
Planning has to do withunderstanding the implications
of various decisions you makewhen it comes to the taxes you
will face, and the right taxstrategy could add tens or
hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, to the value of
(01:05):
your plan over the course ofyour retirement.
So if your advisor is alwaystelling you to ask your CPA
whenever you ask a tax question,it's probably for one of two
reasons.
Number one they're probablytied up with a firm that has
such strict compliancerequirements that they don't
want any of their advisorstalking about taxes for fear of
liability.
That's the case.
Might not be your advisor'sfault, but the firm they're with
is handcuffing them.
(01:26):
Maybe time to find a newadvisor at a different firm?
Or reason number two they justdon't know.
And if they don't know, there'sno reason.
There's no way they canpossibly give you good, solid
financial advice whileseparating the tax component of
that advice.
Everything is too intertwined,too interconnected for your
advisor to be able to do thebest job for you they can
(01:46):
without understanding taximplications of things.
So if your advisor tells youask your CPA, might be time to
find a new advisor.
Reason number two it might betime to fire your advisor.
Is they only focus oninvestments Now?
If you go back in time 20, 30years ago, the main value of a
financial advisor was selectinginvestments.
You didn't have all theaccessibility, all the tools you
(02:07):
have at your disposal today togo purchase investments on your
own.
So the only way in some casesto get access to investments or
the easiest way was to have anadvisor do it for you.
But things have changed.
Things have evolved.
If all you're looking for is tohave a diversified portfolio, a
low cost portfolio, there's noneed for an advisor.
In that case, you're onlypaying your advisor a fee to do
(02:28):
something you could do on yourown or you could do at much
lower cost.
So if all your advisor is doingis that they're still operating
in a way that things were done30 plus years ago, your advisor
should be focused on everything,and by everything I mean the
investments piece, the tax piece, the retirement strategies
piece, helping with insuranceplanning, with estate planning,
understanding all the variousthings, all the nuances of how
(02:50):
all this is connected.
Because the reality is thereare different things you can do
to optimize each of those,whether it's investments, income
taxes, insurance, et cetera.
But if all you're looking at isone focused area and how to
optimize that, there's a verygood chance you're making
trade-offs or leaving money onthe table in other areas.
So a good advisor is going tohave a very well-rounded
(03:11):
knowledge across all of thesedisciplines and apply that to
you in a very unique way.
A very unique way that not onlyhelps you to optimize the
financial side of things, buttruly helps you get the most out
of life with your money.
The right advisor should helpyou live a better life.
Your life should be betterbecause of it, not just have the
right investment portfolio.
So if all your advisor evertalks about is investments,
(03:35):
probably time to find a newadvisor.
The third reason it might betime to find a new advisor is
you have no idea what they'resaying.
And if you walk away from ameeting with your advisor and
you say I'm really confused, Ihave no idea what just happened,
that's not on you, that's onyour advisor.
Your advisor should be able toarticulate things in a very
simple, understandable,digestible way.
And if they're using jargon, ifthey're talking about complex
(03:57):
strategies, that's not a youissue for not understanding,
it's a them issue for notknowing what they're talking
about well enough to articulateit to you.
Albert Einstein once said ifyou can't explain it simply, you
don't really know what you'retalking about.
That is especially true.
I would argue with advisors.
Now I'll take it a step furtherthan that.
If you don't understandanything that your advisor is
talking about, it's for one oftwo reasons.
(04:18):
Number one they don't reallyknow what they're talking about.
But if they use big words, ifthey talk in complexities, if
they use jargon, they can masktheir lack of ability to explain
it simply by portraying it assomething that you just don't
understand, because maybe yourknowledge isn't where it needs
to be.
So that's just them maskingtheir inability to show that
they actually have mastery ofthe things that a good advisor
should have mastery of if theywant the privilege and the right
(04:40):
to be your advisor.
That's potential number one.
Potential number two maybe morenefarious is they don't want
you to understand.
Sometimes complexity sells.
It's easier to overwhelmsomeone with complexity because
then they're not gonna move on.
By overcomplicating things, anadvisor really a salesperson in
this case knows that you're notgonna move on, you're not gonna
(05:00):
go do something different.
They can justify higher feesbecause it just hurts too much
your brain to think through andactually understand what's going
on.
So instead of choosingsomething different, you just
succumb to the complexity andsay you know what, fine, let's
just go ahead and do that.
But if you are notunderstanding the things that
your advisor's talking about andthis could be very basic
fundamentals of investing to themost complex estate planning
(05:22):
and investment strategies doesnot matter.
If you're not understanding it,it's not your fault.
It's the fault of your advisorfor not being able to
communicate, which typicallyshows a lack of mastery or a
lack of true understanding ontheir end.
So if you don't understand whatyour advisor is saying, or
maybe your spouse doesn'tunderstand what your advisor is
saying maybe time to find a newadvisor.
The fourth reason it might betime to find your advisor is
(05:45):
they don't involve your spousein any meetings.
I can't tell you how manypeople come to us or root
financial and they had anadvisor, but they say the reason
we're moving on is the advisoronly talked to, in most cases
the husband.
In many cases it's the husbandthat's more involved in
financial cases and the advisorwon't even acknowledge the
spouse.
All eye contact, all focus, allattention is given to the
(06:05):
husband and the spouse issitting there saying well, I'm
part of this too, and it's notalways this case, but I find
this to be the case more oftenthan not.
And here's the thing.
In many cases, it might be thehusband that's more involved
with finances or makes more ofthe decisions, but that doesn't
mean that that's the only personthat matters, because when
we're truly talking aboutfinancial planning, the money is
just a tool to accomplishsomething bigger.
(06:26):
And sure, maybe one spouse ismore involved in the tool and
the management of the tool, butboth spouses are equally
involved in what they want thattool to do for them, are equally
involved in what they wanttheir future together to be.
So if your advisor is onlytalking to your husband or is
only talking to your wife andyou're sitting there feeling
like, why am I not getting theattention?
(06:46):
Why are they not acknowledgingme?
It's time to find a new advisor.
Now, if you're the one watchingthis YouTube video, my guess is
you are that spouse in yourrelationship, assuming you're
married.
So if you're finding that,you're finding that in my
meetings with my financialadvisor, my spouse doesn't get
talked to, or maybe my spousequite simply just doesn't attend
because they're used to beingignored, they're used to being
(07:07):
neglected you absolutely needboth spouses to be involved.
This does not mean you need toshare the responsibility or the
burden of making all thefinancial decisions, but, once
again, the money is just thetool to accomplish the future
that you want to live together.
The future that you want tolive into together is very much
something that both of you share.
What if something happened toyou today?
(07:28):
Put yourself in your spouse'sissues.
They've got to go reach out toan advisor that they have no
relationship with, potentiallyeven have some resentment for,
and try to settle your affairswith them.
It's not a great position foranyone to be in.
So, regardless of who's theprimary financial decision maker
in that relationship, you needto have an advisor that involves
both of you equally, thatspeaks to both of you equally,
(07:50):
that has equal respect for bothof you, understanding that the
tools you have, the money youhave, is going to fund both of
your visions for what you wantlife to look like.
And finally, the fifth reasonyou should fire your advisor is
if you wouldn't rehire themtoday.
So often, what we do, just ashumans, is based on inertia.
Why do we do this thing thatway?
Oh well, we've always done itthat way.
(08:13):
Why are we working with thisadvisor?
Oh well, we hired them 10 yearsago.
It just feels too difficult tomake a change.
Well, one of the best thingsyou can do and this is a
universal principle across theboard is look at the things you
are doing in your life and say,if I wasn't already doing that,
is that how I would continue oris that how I would choose to
start doing things today?
And if the answer is no, itmeans that the thing you're
doing is not because it's thebest thing, it's just the thing
that you're used to.
It's the thing that inertia iscontinuing to push you into
(08:36):
doing.
Take a step back the advisorthat you have, the value that
you're getting, the relationshipthat you have there.
If you were not working withthat advisor today, would you
consciously decide to work withthem starting now?
The answer is yes, wonderful.
That's how it should be.
That means your advisor isadding value.
That means your advisorno-transcript.
(08:59):
Is it because they're alongtime friend and you don't
want to rock the boat?
Is it because a few years ago,when your parents passed, they
helped you to open a coupleaccounts and transfer money into
and you don't want to feel likeyou're letting them down by
moving on?
What is the reason you're withyour advisor?
And one thing that I find helpsme personally when I'm making
decisions like this is, I try toremove myself from the current
(09:19):
state of where I am.
In other words, I try to thinkof what would James 10 years
from now?
What will James 20 years fromnow?
What would he recommend I dotoday?
Because when we disassociateourselves, when we think about
our future selves, we thinkabout that person in the same
way we think about a stranger.
And with a stranger it's veryeasy to provide objective advice
.
We remove the emotional aspectof it and we feel like they can
(09:40):
provide objective advice.
But when we're in the midst ofit, emotions are involved,
biases are involved, fear isinvolved and it tends to
disallow us from making the mostobjective decision.
So think about it.
What would yourself in 10 yearsfrom now?
What advice would they give youabout your current advisory
relationship?
If they would say keep itamazing, job well done, you have
(10:00):
a great advisor.
But if they would say you knowwhat?
Job well done, you have a greatadvisor.
But if they would say you knowwhat, it at least makes sense to
see who else is out there,maybe that's an indication that
it's time to move on from yourcurrent advisor.
Now quick bonus point on thisAt Root Financial, where I'm the
CEO and the founder of, we havedozens and dozens and dozens of
people every single monthreaching out to us saying look,
we're interested in potentiallyworking with you, but we want to
understand more about what thatlooks like.
(10:22):
When people see what that worklooks like and they want to move
forward and start to work withRoot Financial, a common
question is well, how do Iactually go about breaking up
with my old advisor?
It can be awkward.
It can be difficult to do so.
This is where it depends uponthe level of your relationship
with them.
If you don't feel like there'smuch of a relationship, you
don't even have to tell them.
People are sometimes surprisedat how easy it is to move money
to a different advisor.
(10:42):
If you want to move money to adifferent advisor, you don't
even have to involve yourcurrent advisor.
If your money, for example, isat Fidelity and you want to move
it to a Charles Schwab or viceversa, you simply open up
accounts at the new institutionand transfer the money in kind.
The advisor is actually notpart of all that, and that's
because your advisor doesn't ownyour accounts ever.
If you're working with a thirdparty institution as your
(11:03):
custodian.
You always own your accounts,which means you can always do
with them what you want.
You don't need to get youradvisor involved Now, depending
on the brokerage from theadvisors with, that may or may
not be true, but in many casesit's much easier than people
actually think.
It is the second thing that youcan do.
If you don't want to just moveyour account but you do want to
break up with your advisor, asimple email should suffice.
(11:23):
Something that's respectful butquick and to the point.
Dear James, thank you for thetime together.
Really appreciate all the workthat you've done for me.
Based on our current financialsituation, I've decided to move
to XYZ Advisor.
You'll be noticing that theaccounts are transferring out.
Thank you in advance.
Wish you all the best.
Simple, to the point,respectful move on Advisor's
notified, but you can stillsimply move your accounts out.
(11:48):
Now, if it is a longtime friendor someone that you do have a
deeper relationship with, youcan go so far as to set up a
call and have a conversationwith them and give them details
on why you're moving, if youchoose to do so.
But I would still advise send anemail ahead of time.
Make sure they understand thatyou've already made up your mind
.
Make sure they understand thatyou've already made up your mind
.
You've already made thedecision but due to respect for
the relationship and for them,you're happy to hop on a call
and provide details as needed.
(12:08):
But as we wrap up, today, Idon't actually think everybody
needs an advisor, but for thosethat do have an advisor or need
an advisor, the right advisorcan be worth an incredible
amount, not just to theirfinancial benefit, but to the
long-term benefit and peace ofmind that a good advisor can
provide.
But it's really important youfind the right advisor, and a
(12:30):
part of that is looking at yourcurrent advisory relationship,
seeing if any of these potentialred flags exist and, if so,
moving on to one that is betterfor you in your situation.
You.
If your financial advisor is guilty of any of the
five things I'm going to talkabout today, you should probably
consider firing them Now.
I personally am a financialadvisor, so this is not about
bashing advisors.
Rather, it's about protectingyour future and helping you
realize the five red flags thatit might be time to move on from
the current advisor you'reworking with.
I see far too many people staywith the wrong advisor because
of a sense of loyalty or inertia, or maybe just a fear of
(00:23):
starting over.
But how do you know that itmight be time for you to move on
?
Well, reason number one is ifthey continually tell you to ask
your CPA anytime you ask a taxquestion, it's probably time to
find a new advisor Now.
Your advisor is not going to bepreparing your tax return they
can't give you formal legal taxadvice in most cases but what
they can do is a tremendousamount of tax planning.
(00:43):
You cannot separate taxplanning from your investment
strategy, your retirementstrategy, especially in your
retirement years.
So much of good investing, somuch of good.
Planning has to do withunderstanding the implications
of various decisions you makewhen it comes to the taxes you
will face, and the right taxstrategy could add tens or
hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, to the value of
(01:05):
your plan over the course ofyour retirement.
So if your advisor is alwaystelling you to ask your CPA
whenever you ask a tax question,it's probably for one of two
reasons.
Number one they're probablytied up with a firm that has
such strict compliancerequirements that they don't
want any of their advisorstalking about taxes for fear of
liability.
That's the case.
Might not be your advisor'sfault, but the firm they're with
is handcuffing them.
(01:26):
Maybe time to find a newadvisor at a different firm?
Or reason number two they justdon't know.
And if they don't know, there'sno reason.
There's no way they canpossibly give you good, solid
financial advice whileseparating the tax component of
that advice.
Everything is too intertwined,too interconnected for your
advisor to be able to do thebest job for you they can
(01:46):
without understanding taximplications of things.
So if your advisor tells youask your CPA, might be time to
find a new advisor.
Reason number two it might betime to fire your advisor.
Is they only focus oninvestments Now?
If you go back in time 20, 30years ago, the main value of a
financial advisor was selectinginvestments.
You didn't have all theaccessibility, all the tools you
(02:07):
have at your disposal today togo purchase investments on your
own.
So the only way in some casesto get access to investments or
the easiest way was to have anadvisor do it for you.
But things have changed.
Things have evolved.
If all you're looking for is tohave a diversified portfolio, a
low cost portfolio, there's noneed for an advisor.
In that case, you're onlypaying your advisor a fee to do
(02:28):
something you could do on yourown or you could do at much
lower cost.
So if all your advisor is doingis that they're still operating
in a way that things were done30 plus years ago, your advisor
should be focused on everything,and by everything I mean the
investments piece, the tax piece, the retirement strategies
piece, helping with insuranceplanning, with estate planning,
understanding all the variousthings, all the nuances of how
(02:50):
all this is connected.
Because the reality is thereare different things you can do
to optimize each of those,whether it's investments, income
taxes, insurance, et cetera.
But if all you're looking at isone focused area and how to
optimize that, there's a verygood chance you're making
trade-offs or leaving money onthe table in other areas.
So a good advisor is going tohave a very well-rounded
(03:11):
knowledge across all of thesedisciplines and apply that to
you in a very unique way.
A very unique way that not onlyhelps you to optimize the
financial side of things, buttruly helps you get the most out
of life with your money.
The right advisor should helpyou live a better life.
Your life should be betterbecause of it, not just have the
right investment portfolio.
So if all your advisor evertalks about is investments,
(03:35):
probably time to find a newadvisor.
The third reason it might betime to find a new advisor is
you have no idea what they'resaying.
And if you walk away from ameeting with your advisor and
you say I'm really confused, Ihave no idea what just happened,
that's not on you, that's onyour advisor.
Your advisor should be able toarticulate things in a very
simple, understandable,digestible way.
And if they're using jargon, ifthey're talking about complex
(03:57):
strategies, that's not a youissue for not understanding,
it's a them issue for notknowing what they're talking
about well enough to articulateit to you.
Albert Einstein once said ifyou can't explain it simply, you
don't really know what you'retalking about.
That is especially true.
I would argue with advisors.
Now I'll take it a step furtherthan that.
If you don't understandanything that your advisor is
talking about, it's for one oftwo reasons.
(04:18):
Number one they don't reallyknow what they're talking about.
But if they use big words, ifthey talk in complexities, if
they use jargon, they can masktheir lack of ability to explain
it simply by portraying it assomething that you just don't
understand, because maybe yourknowledge isn't where it needs
to be.
So that's just them maskingtheir inability to show that
they actually have mastery ofthe things that a good advisor
should have mastery of if theywant the privilege and the right
(04:40):
to be your advisor.
That's potential number one.
Potential number two maybe morenefarious is they don't want
you to understand.
Sometimes complexity sells.
It's easier to overwhelmsomeone with complexity because
then they're not gonna move on.
By overcomplicating things, anadvisor really a salesperson in
this case knows that you're notgonna move on, you're not gonna
(05:00):
go do something different.
They can justify higher feesbecause it just hurts too much
your brain to think through andactually understand what's going
on.
So instead of choosingsomething different, you just
succumb to the complexity andsay you know what, fine, let's
just go ahead and do that.
But if you are notunderstanding the things that
your advisor's talking about andthis could be very basic
fundamentals of investing to themost complex estate planning
(05:22):
and investment strategies doesnot matter.
If you're not understanding it,it's not your fault.
It's the fault of your advisorfor not being able to
communicate, which typicallyshows a lack of mastery or a
lack of true understanding ontheir end.
So if you don't understand whatyour advisor is saying, or
maybe your spouse doesn'tunderstand what your advisor is
saying maybe time to find a newadvisor.
The fourth reason it might betime to find your advisor is
(05:45):
they don't involve your spousein any meetings.
I can't tell you how manypeople come to us or root
financial and they had anadvisor, but they say the reason
we're moving on is the advisoronly talked to, in most cases
the husband.
In many cases it's the husbandthat's more involved in
financial cases and the advisorwon't even acknowledge the
spouse.
All eye contact, all focus, allattention is given to the
(06:05):
husband and the spouse issitting there saying well, I'm
part of this too, and it's notalways this case, but I find
this to be the case more oftenthan not.
And here's the thing.
In many cases, it might be thehusband that's more involved
with finances or makes more ofthe decisions, but that doesn't
mean that that's the only personthat matters, because when
we're truly talking aboutfinancial planning, the money is
just a tool to accomplishsomething bigger.
(06:26):
And sure, maybe one spouse ismore involved in the tool and
the management of the tool, butboth spouses are equally
involved in what they want thattool to do for them, are equally
involved in what they wanttheir future together to be.
So if your advisor is onlytalking to your husband or is
only talking to your wife andyou're sitting there feeling
like, why am I not getting theattention?
(06:46):
Why are they not acknowledgingme?
It's time to find a new advisor.
Now, if you're the one watchingthis YouTube video, my guess is
you are that spouse in yourrelationship, assuming you're
married.
So if you're finding that,you're finding that in my
meetings with my financialadvisor, my spouse doesn't get
talked to, or maybe my spousequite simply just doesn't attend
because they're used to beingignored, they're used to being
(07:07):
neglected you absolutely needboth spouses to be involved.
This does not mean you need toshare the responsibility or the
burden of making all thefinancial decisions, but, once
again, the money is just thetool to accomplish the future
that you want to live together.
The future that you want tolive into together is very much
something that both of you share.
What if something happened toyou today?
(07:28):
Put yourself in your spouse'sissues.
They've got to go reach out toan advisor that they have no
relationship with, potentiallyeven have some resentment for,
and try to settle your affairswith them.
It's not a great position foranyone to be in.
So, regardless of who's theprimary financial decision maker
in that relationship, you needto have an advisor that involves
both of you equally, thatspeaks to both of you equally,
(07:50):
that has equal respect for bothof you, understanding that the
tools you have, the money youhave, is going to fund both of
your visions for what you wantlife to look like.
And finally, the fifth reasonyou should fire your advisor is
if you wouldn't rehire themtoday.
So often, what we do, just ashumans, is based on inertia.
Why do we do this thing thatway?
Oh well, we've always done itthat way.
(08:13):
Why are we working with thisadvisor?
Oh well, we hired them 10 yearsago.
It just feels too difficult tomake a change.
Well, one of the best thingsyou can do and this is a
universal principle across theboard is look at the things you
are doing in your life and say,if I wasn't already doing that,
is that how I would continue oris that how I would choose to
start doing things today?
And if the answer is no, itmeans that the thing you're
doing is not because it's thebest thing, it's just the thing
that you're used to.
It's the thing that inertia iscontinuing to push you into
(08:36):
doing.
Take a step back the advisorthat you have, the value that
you're getting, the relationshipthat you have there.
If you were not working withthat advisor today, would you
consciously decide to work withthem starting now?
The answer is yes, wonderful.
That's how it should be.
That means your advisor isadding value.
That means your advisorno-transcript.
(08:59):
Is it because they're alongtime friend and you don't
want to rock the boat?
Is it because a few years ago,when your parents passed, they
helped you to open a coupleaccounts and transfer money into
and you don't want to feel likeyou're letting them down by
moving on?
What is the reason you're withyour advisor?
And one thing that I find helpsme personally when I'm making
decisions like this is, I try toremove myself from the current
(09:19):
state of where I am.
In other words, I try to thinkof what would James 10 years
from now?
What will James 20 years fromnow?
What would he recommend I dotoday?
Because when we disassociateourselves, when we think about
our future selves, we thinkabout that person in the same
way we think about a stranger.
And with a stranger it's veryeasy to provide objective advice
.
We remove the emotional aspectof it and we feel like they can
(09:40):
provide objective advice.
But when we're in the midst ofit, emotions are involved,
biases are involved, fear isinvolved and it tends to
disallow us from making the mostobjective decision.
So think about it.
What would yourself in 10 yearsfrom now?
What advice would they give youabout your current advisory
relationship?
If they would say keep itamazing, job well done, you have
(10:00):
a great advisor.
But if they would say you knowwhat?
Job well done, you have a greatadvisor.
But if they would say you knowwhat, it at least makes sense to
see who else is out there,maybe that's an indication that
it's time to move on from yourcurrent advisor.
Now quick bonus point on thisAt Root Financial, where I'm the
CEO and the founder of, we havedozens and dozens and dozens of
people every single monthreaching out to us saying look,
we're interested in potentiallyworking with you, but we want to
understand more about what thatlooks like.
(10:22):
When people see what that worklooks like and they want to move
forward and start to work withRoot Financial, a common
question is well, how do Iactually go about breaking up
with my old advisor?
It can be awkward.
It can be difficult to do so.
This is where it depends uponthe level of your relationship
with them.
If you don't feel like there'smuch of a relationship, you
don't even have to tell them.
People are sometimes surprisedat how easy it is to move money
to a different advisor.
(10:42):
If you want to move money to adifferent advisor, you don't
even have to involve yourcurrent advisor.
If your money, for example, isat Fidelity and you want to move
it to a Charles Schwab or viceversa, you simply open up
accounts at the new institutionand transfer the money in kind.
The advisor is actually notpart of all that, and that's
because your advisor doesn't ownyour accounts ever.
If you're working with a thirdparty institution as your
(11:03):
custodian.
You always own your accounts,which means you can always do
with them what you want.
You don't need to get youradvisor involved Now, depending
on the brokerage from theadvisors with, that may or may
not be true, but in many casesit's much easier than people
actually think.
It is the second thing that youcan do.
If you don't want to just moveyour account but you do want to
break up with your advisor, asimple email should suffice.
(11:23):
Something that's respectful butquick and to the point.
Dear James, thank you for thetime together.
Really appreciate all the workthat you've done for me.
Based on our current financialsituation, I've decided to move
to XYZ Advisor.
You'll be noticing that theaccounts are transferring out.
Thank you in advance.
Wish you all the best.
Simple, to the point,respectful move on Advisor's
notified, but you can stillsimply move your accounts out.
(11:48):
Now, if it is a longtime friendor someone that you do have a
deeper relationship with, youcan go so far as to set up a
call and have a conversationwith them and give them details
on why you're moving, if youchoose to do so.
But I would still advise send anemail ahead of time.
Make sure they understand thatyou've already made up your mind
.
Make sure they understand thatyou've already made up your mind
.
You've already made thedecision but due to respect for
the relationship and for them,you're happy to hop on a call
and provide details as needed.
(12:08):
But as we wrap up, today, Idon't actually think everybody
needs an advisor, but for thosethat do have an advisor or need
an advisor, the right advisorcan be worth an incredible
amount, not just to theirfinancial benefit, but to the
long-term benefit and peace ofmind that a good advisor can
provide.
But it's really important youfind the right advisor, and a
(12:30):
part of that is looking at yourcurrent advisory relationship,
seeing if any of these potentialred flags exist and, if so,
moving on to one that is betterfor you in your situation.
You.
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