Empowering Your Financial Future: Overcoming Planning Myths

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Think you need a hefty bank account to consult a financial advisor? Think again. Join Rob Wolf as he smashes common financial planning myths that keep many people from seeking the guidance they need. We'll tackle the misconception that financial advisors are only for the wealthy and explore why this belief couldn't be further from the truth. By shedding light on the varied fee structures and account minimums, I'll show you how accessible financial planning can be, regardless of your current financial situation.

Moreover, let's confront the fear that financial planning is prohibitively expensive. Discover how avoiding professional advice can actually cost you more through unnecessary tax penalties, estate planning pitfalls, and missed opportunities. I'll guide you through essential questions to ask when choosing a financial advisor and explain why a good advisor is worth their weight in gold. Whether you're starting with a modest 401k or looking to safeguard a substantial estate, this episode will empower you to make informed decisions that secure your financial future. Don't let myths stand in the way of your financial success!

Learn more about Wolf Financial Advisory:
https://www.wolffinancialadvisory.com/

Disclosure: Robert Wolf, James Koenig, Sara Wolf, and Michael Rock are investment advisor representatives of, and securities and advisory services are offered through, USA Financial Securities. Member FINRA/SIPC. Additionally, Amanda Opulskas and Adam Wallace are registered non-solicitors of USA Financial Securities, A registered investment advisor. 6020 E. Fulton St., Ada, MI 49301. Wolf Advisory Services and Wolf Financial Advisory are not affiliated with USA Financial Securities. 

The strategies and concepts discussed are for educational purposes only and do not represent specific investment, tax, or estate planning advice. Investing carries an inherent element of risk and it is in everyone’s best interests to consult a tax, legal, or investment professional. The opinions expressed herein are not meant to provide specific investment advice or serve as a prediction for future stock market performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Securities and advisory services are offered through USA Financial Securities Corp., member FINRA/SIPC. A registered investment adviser. Wolf Financial Advisory and USA Financial Securities Corp. are not affiliated entities.

Episode Transcript

Voiceover (00:00):
The strategies and concepts discussed are for
educational purposes only and donot represent specific
investment, tax or estateplanning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA

(00:22):
Financial Securities memberFINRA/ SIPC, a registered
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
Wolf Financial Advisory.
When it's important to you,it's important to us.
This is the Wolf FinancialPodcast.

(00:42):
Here's your host, Rob Wolf.
This is the Wolf FinancialPodcast.

Rob Wolf (00:47):
Good day everyone, Rob Wolf here with the Wolf
Financial Podcast.
Today we're going to becovering financial planning
myths, specifically regardingthe engagement with an advisor,

(01:24):
and I want to talk about thistoday because, through the
grapevine, we hear these thingsas far as the type of anxiety
that can be created when meetingwith a financial professional,
and things that you really needto be thinking about instead.
So, myth number one I have tohave a lot of money to see a
financial planner.
Now, it always helps when youdo have money, because if you
don't have any assets of anykind, it does make it a little

(01:48):
bit difficult.
But, with that being said, thebest place for you to start is
where you're at currently, rightnow, because you got to start
somewhere, and any financialadvisory firm that you choose to
engage with, one of thequestions that you need to ask

(02:16):
when you're doing your research,you're doing your due diligence
, is does your firm have accountminimums to take on a client?
So if you have an old 401k froman old employer that you would
like to roll over to an IRA andthat 401k has $35,000, and you

(02:39):
want to talk to an advisor aboutrolling that over, perhaps
doing some Roth planning, thingslike that.
One of the things you should beasking is do you have any
account minimums?
Now, some advisors will andsome advisory services will not.
If they don't, the nextquestion should be if I do come

(03:05):
in, who will I be seeing?
Okay, because it's reallyimportant for you to understand
some of the information.
As far as the advisors that arepart of that firm, I would
encourage anybody that islooking to do some due diligence
on a financial advisory firm togo to that firm's website and

(03:27):
check out their staff, check outthe experience to get some
insight on who you may bedealing with.
There are a lot of firms outthere that have very low
starting requirements to engagewith them, because there's a lot
of ways that advisors can makemoney.
It's not just money undermanagement that's one of the

(03:52):
ways that advisors could bemaking but they can also charge
a financial planning fee, and ifyou have a financial planner
that charges a flat fee, itdoesn't matter how much money
you have.
You can still compensate themfor their services and you can
still get the value that you'relooking for.

(04:12):
So, regardless of yoursituation and regardless of the
amount of money you have, youcan meet with the financial
planner and have a reasonableexpectation that you're going to
be getting the guidance thatyou deserve.

(04:33):
The second myth that I've comeacross is it's expensive to deal
with a financial planner.
I would counter by saying it'sexpensive not to have a
financial planner.
It's expensive when you try todo everything on your own.

(04:54):
You decide to pull money out ofthe wrong account and you end
up paying an extra $50,000 on ataxable distribution that caused
85% of your social security tobecome taxable.
It's expensive because youdon't catch that beneficiary

(05:15):
mistake and you end up leavingyour life insurance to your
ex-spouse.
It gets expensive when youhaven't done a properly planned
estate plan and you end upleaving money to a minor and
they get it all at age 18.
Folks, there's reasonablecompensation that financial

(05:39):
advisors make, just like youmake reasonable compensation for
doing what you do.
I would say any financialadvisor that's worth their
weight is going to save you morethan what they would cost you
in the long run because of theplanning process that they take
you through.
It's not all about what youmake, but how much you keep.

(06:03):
If an advisor can help you keepmore of your hard-earned money
by doing appropriate taxplanning by helping you position
money so it goes to the peopleyou want it to go to on a tax
favored basis.
They are worth their weight ingold.

(06:24):
That brings me to myth numberthree.
All advisors are like BernieMadoff it's all about the money,
the money, and there's no doubtthere are some really bad, poor

(06:44):
examples of financialstewardship when it comes to the
industry, bernie Madoff beingone of the biggest examples of
this.
That's why it's very importantthat when you're doing your due
diligence because it starts withyou you need to research the
firm that you're looking into.

(07:06):
For example, those people thatcome to my financial website, we
have something called FINRAbroker check.
This is a place that will takeyou to FINRA, which is a
overseas anybody that islicensed to sell securities, and
you can actually check on thatadvisor's work history within

(07:31):
the industry to see if there'sbeen any complaints logged
against them.
To see if there's been anycomplaints logged against them,
a good advisor will be able totell you exactly what their CRD
number is so you can plug thatright into FINRA broker check.
Chances are, if you've beenaround for a long time and you

(07:54):
have no, or maybe just one,issue, that they're probably
going to be a pretty goodopportunity to have a good
relationship with.
I'm so proud of my 29-year-pluscareer that I've never had any
incidents to have been reportedon FINRA broker check incidents

(08:17):
to have been reported on FINRAbroker check.
But there are a lot of advisorsthat have.
So it's up to the ultimateconsumer not only to do research
but the due diligence on thepeople that they're going to be
getting the advice on, to makesure that they're dealing with
somebody that is of goodcharacter and ethics.

(08:37):
Number four my advisor willlook down upon me because I
haven't done the right things isby going through an education

(09:07):
process with my clients to helpshare with them things that they
did not know of previously, tohelp explain why things work the
way they do and how they can doit better.
Going forward.
To see that light bulb go on intheir mind is precious, because

(09:28):
I know immediately I've made apositive impact in their life.
So it doesn't matter if you'vemade mistakes in the past.
We've all made mistakes in thepast because we're all human,
okay, and you could be the mostlogical person when you're

(09:50):
sitting at work.
But because we're human and wehave emotions, we will make
mistakes and it's okay.
It's okay to own them, it'sokay to talk about them and it's
best of all to learn from them,because once we learn, we gain
understanding and we can moveforward.

(10:12):
So, if you're doing your duediligence and you research the
advisor that you're looking atgoing into, you check their
FINRA broker check to make surethat their record is clean.
Don't be embarrassed to come inand share your story, because
good advisors have heard all thestories and they will help you

(10:35):
move forward with confidence.
And then, finally, for somepeople it just seems too
complicated.
There's just too many accounts.
They don't understand howinvestments work.
It's too.
They don't understand taxes.
They don't understand how theirinsurance programs work.

(10:59):
It's just too complicated andso it's just not worth their
time.
They would rather bury theirhead in the sand than deal with
a financial advisor, becauseit's like going to the dentist
office.
Well, again, if you do your duediligence and you find an
advisory firm whether it be froma introduction that a friend

(11:23):
may make or you hear somethinggood about them and you do your
research, a good financialprofessional should not only
make you at ease, feelcomfortable, with sharing your
story, but they will also helpeducate you as to what are and

(11:44):
how things work, because,ultimately, the financial
advisor is there to understandwho you are and what is
important to you.
They are there to be a guide.
You are ultimately the personthat still makes the decision.
The person that still makes thedecision.

(12:07):
The financial advisor justshares with you the benefits of
either turning left or right orgoing straight, and it's their
job to educate you on the prosand cons of any of those moves.
Once you understand that, youwill be empowered to make good
decisions based on your personal, family and beliefs and

(12:28):
everything else that's importantto you.
So, again, don't allow thecomplexity or the thought of
it's just too much to thinkabout keep you from doing it,
about.
Keep you from doing it, becausewith a good financial advisor,

(12:49):
you can be taken to things thatyou may have never thought were
possible before, and perhapsthat could be retiring a few
years earlier, perhaps that'sbeing able to do some amazing
experiences with the family thatyou never thought you could do
before.
Whatever those things are, thesooner you're able to get in

(13:10):
front of a qualifiedprofessional to share what's
important to you, the sooner youcan go and get to living your
life as full as possible.
This is Rob Wolf with the WolfFinancial Advisory Podcast.

Voiceover (13:26):
Thank you for listening to the Wolf Financial
Podcast.
For additional informationabout our firm, please visit our
website wolfadvisoryservices.
com.
Wolf Financial Advisory.
The strategies and conceptsdiscussed are for educational
purposes only and do notrepresent specific investment,

(13:47):
tax or estate planning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
Financial Securities member,FINRA/SIPC, a registered

(14:07):
investment advisor.