The Importance of Professional Advice
In an endeavor as critical as managing your investments, it is prudent to handle some situations with the help of a competent professional advisor. Many individual investors simply do not have the time, patience, or persistence to deal effectively with their investments over the long term. Many investors have the motivation to put in the required time to fully address their investments at the outset, but become less motivated as time goes by.
In addition, there are some very common mistakes that individual investors make that a professional advisor can help to overcome, including:
- Making ad hoc fear-based revisions at the first sign of market weakness
- Omitting the process of drafting an investment policy statement
- Emphasizing individual securities rather than the overall portfolio
- Failing to reevaluate their financial situation at least annually and then revise their investment policy statement
- Getting caught up in the hype of the market and lose investment focus
- Chasing the latest investment fads
When to Seek Professional Advice
There will be times when you can handle most of the management of your financial affairs. However, there will be other times when you should seek the help of an investment pro. The list below examines some of the situations when it makes the most sense to seek the help of a competent investment advisor.