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By John DeGoey, CIM, CFP
Special to the Financial Independence Hub
Over the past few years, there have been dozens of articles in magazines that are distributed to financial advisors about both the value and cost of financial advice.
Most are overly simplistic to the point of being inaccurate and downright misleading. As you might imagine, any publication that caters to financial advisors will have a decidedly pro-advisor editorial perspective. That’s all fine and well, but there are nuances that are glossed over too frequently that cause some observers to worry about the soundness of financial advice echo chamber that many advisors seem to live in.
Since I’m an advisor myself, it should be obvious that I am a strong proponent of quality financial advice. The concern that I have is that within my own industry, the financial media has taken that perspective a step further and is moving toward boosterism that is almost jingoistic. There are two things that the ‘for advisors only’ media seems to gloss over. In both instances, the short shrift is because a more fulsome discussion might be awkward for certain elements of the industry.
The two things “Advisors Only” media gloss over
The two issues are:
1.) The distinction between good advice and bad advice. This is admittedly subjective, but the media doesn’t ever seem to venture into making a distinction because it seems unwilling to alienate a segment of the advisor population. Surely to goodness, not all advice is good advice and not all advisors are good advisors.
2.) The ongoing focus on the cost and value of advice while simultaneously and conspicuously remaining silent on the cost and value of investment products. Clients pay for both advice and products, so why explore one aspect ad nauseum while saying almost nothing about the other?
Let’s begin by looking at the touchy subject of what constitutes good advice in the first place. Obviously, there is no single best set of answers to this matter. Continue Reading…
