Many older Canadians are not getting the proper financial advice, writes Peter Watson.
The quality of the financial advice you get from your advisor is both understandable and concerning.
Younger investors aged 18 to 34 are not happy with their financial advisor, according to a Vanguard study. Only just over one in three felt they were getting high-value advice. That is understandable.
Young adults have limited financial resources, generally have lower incomes and more often their financial circumstances are relatively simple. It is understandable they are not getting high-value advice.
From a financial perspective, because their assets are relatively small and therefore any financial planning fees would likely be small, they are not typically a strong candidate in need of strong financial advice relative to those much older. Comprehensive advice is expensive.
The next statistic from the study is a concern. People aged 55 or older only felt they were getting high-value advice just over half of the time.
That is alarming, and for those in that age bracket not happy with their financial advice we recommend you treat this as a serious impediment to achieving your financial objectives.
One option is to start a conversation with your current advisor. Indicate your displeasure and present a roadmap on how your current relationship can switch from bad to good.
If the skill set you require is something that your current advisor is not comfortable with, perhaps there are others in that firm that you can be referred to. The other option is to change advisors, meaning moving to a new firm and starting over.
People over age 50 are on course to retirement. Retirement can last for many decades and for most people it will be very expensive. Planning now while time is on your side is a critical step towards success.
As stated above, when only half the people over 50 years of age are only receiving what is perceived to be good financial advice, that fact is a concern. It could be time to rethink how and where you receive comprehensive financial advice.
Peter Watson, of Watson Investments MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI offers a weekly financial planning column, Dollars & Sense. He can be contacted through www.watsoninvestments.com
