If you are capable of learning investment processes and evaluating investment assets and portfolios, do you still need to hire a financial advisor?
Maybe you do; maybe you don’t. That’s a decision only you can make. But I’ll show you a reason why I have been retaining my advisor for over 3 years now.
Back in 2022, my advisor had recommended me a portfolio with 20% allocation to bonds and 10% allocation to gold. I insisted that I’d not invest in gold. He agreed to change the recommendation to have 30% allocation to bonds instead (and 0% to gold).
2 years later, in 2024, I started researching different portfolio combinations. This is when I discovered that gold was a great ingredient to have in long-term portfolios. In September 2024, I wrote the following email to my advisor, asking him if I should allocate 20% of my portfolio to gold.
Email I wrote to my financial advisor; click to enlarge |
I was vehemently against gold when my advisor had recommended gold. But now I was taking a U turn and asking if I should add gold to my portfolio.
This was his response:
Email reply from my advisor; click to enlarge |
Eventually, I agreed to keep the gold allocation to 10%. Basically, I accepted the portfolio that he had originally recommended to me.
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So, why do I need an advisor? To keep me grounded and stable when I am being blown away by something new I have learnt. Some investors can find such a balance naturally; for them, an advisor may not be needed (or they may need an advisor for a different purpose). I, however, need an advisor to keep me safe from myself. 🙂