How to Get Your Money's Worth From Your Financial Adviser
A good financial adviser will focus on how your financial planning and investment strategy align with your lifestyle and aspirations.

Years ago, as a stockbroker at a major brokerage firm, my job was straightforward: offer stock recommendations and hot tips. Clients came to me asking, “Where’s the best place to put my money right now?” With minimal context, I could easily direct them into investments that seemed (possibly) perfect for them and earned a nice commission for me. Back then, it wasn’t about financial advice; it was about instant gratification.
These days, you’re shortchanging yourself if you focus only on investments. Your financial life is more complex, and many financial advisers offer more than just investment advice. You should be receiving qualified financial advice that involves all aspects of your life.
This is where investors and advisers are not always aligned. A Morningstar survey asked both groups to rank the importance of 15 adviser attributes. Investors tended to focus on traditional services, such as generating investment returns, and undervalued the arguably more valuable interpersonal services that advisers offer.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
For example, most investors ranked “Helps me stay in control of my emotions” last, despite research showing that advisers acting as behavioral coaches is one of the most impactful services. This lack of appreciation for personalization and behavioral coaching can lead to missed opportunities for increasing overall wealth.
Fortunately, you can ensure that you’re not missing out. By understanding what a good adviser should provide and actively seeking those qualities, you can find the help you need and more. Here’s how.
Understand the limitations of traditional advice
In the past, a typical conversation with a financial adviser would go something like this:
You: How are my returns looking for the year?
Adviser: The market’s been strong, and our bonds have shorter durations. Our portfolios are outperforming the S&P by more than 5%. Let me show you how well we’re doing on the graph we sent you in your quarterly statement and our outlook for the next couple of quarters. Got any questions?
The problem with this approach is that it focuses almost entirely on economic and business cycles, with little consideration for how your personal investment strategy aligns with your lifestyle and aspirations. If 90% of the discussion is about external factors and only 10% on how you feel or envision your lifestyle, that’s a huge miss. After all, you’ve hired an adviser to support your lifestyle and alleviate fears about running out of money during your lifetime. Getting there can mean having to change the conversation — or finding a better adviser.
Set the right expectations
Let’s fast-forward to today, where now it’s the internet that’s the go-to source for hot tips and get-rich-quick investment schemes. People now seek financial advisers because their financial lives have become more layered and complex or because significant life changes require expert guidance. This is where holistic advice comes into play, giving you the opportunity to get more from your adviser and for your adviser to provide more.
The industry has a special term for this added value: “gamma,” a concept designed to quantify the benefits of intelligent financial planning decisions. It involves addressing decisions for a wide range of needs, from helping couples manage money to caring for special needs children, managing stock options, rolling over a 401(k) and preparing for retirement. I call this holistic financial advice, or lifestyle planning.
When you clearly articulate the reasons you want help, you’re setting expectations that can be met.
However, there can be a disconnect between your real motivations and the adviser you hire. Too many financial advisers lack the expertise to provide true holistic advice, focusing only on portfolio performance without considering your family, cash flows, real estate, legacy plans, retirement withdrawal strategies or Roth conversions. Quarterly meetings can become dull and perfunctory, leaving both you and your adviser uninspired.
The solution is to keep your best interests first at all times.
Put your needs first — and make sure your adviser does, too
The key to a truly rewarding adviser relationship is to prioritize your life, fears and aspirations. Having the right adviser is crucial to making this work.
Leslie Gagnon, living in Falmouth, Mass., illustrates this well. Despite her background — her father was a stockbroker and her ex-husband a banker — Leslie felt behind in her financial knowledge. Post-divorce, she prioritized her lifestyle in her advisory meetings, explaining: “Being divorced and feeling like an outsider means I have to put my lifestyle front and center whenever I meet with my adviser — that’s on me. And in my case, I’m lucky to have an adviser who starts every discussion connecting the dots between whatever she’s seeing and doing and how it fortifies my lifestyle.”
Her adviser, Dana Mascalo, CFP®, AAMS®, C(k)P® and Registered Life Planner® from TrinityPoint Wealth, is part of my Wealthramp network of vetted fee-only, fiduciary advisers. Her plan isn’t just built around portfolio returns or tax strategies, but with a deep understanding of her priorities: her children’s financial well-being and her legacy. As she explains, “When I talk to Leslie, it’s always about her lifestyle and priorities first. Each Zoom meeting connects market discussions with how we navigate external changes. It’s vital that Leslie becomes more confident in herself and knows she can count on us as the years go on.”
Your investments play a key role in driving the growth that later becomes your income after you stop working. But as this real-life example shows, a good adviser considers all aspects of your life — family, health, real estate, tax strategies, debt, job security, employee benefits, insurance, estate planning — everything!
You need an adviser who leverages their skills and resources as a tool in order to spend more time listening to you. This is how you truly get your money’s worth from a financial adviser.
Related Content
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
With more than 25 years in investor advocacy, Pam Krueger is the founder and CEO of Wealthramp, an SEC-registered adviser matching platform that connects consumers with rigorously vetted and qualified fee-only financial advisers. She is also the creator and co-host of the award-winning MoneyTrack investor-education TV series, seen nationally on PBS, and Friends Talk Money podcast.
-
Heirs Inheriting Crypto? Don't Make It a Headache for Them
If you have cryptocurrency in your estate, you'll need meticulous plans and clear instructions to ensure beneficiaries don't lose out after you're gone.
By Patrick M. Simasko, J.D. Published
-
DIY Retirement Planning: A Smart Move or a Risky Endeavor?
You can cut the cost of retirement planning by doing it yourself. But for something this important, it might be wiser to call in the professionals.
By Jennifer Lahaie, RICP®, CTS™, CAS® Published
-
Heirs Inheriting Crypto? Don't Make It a Headache for Them
If you have cryptocurrency in your estate, you'll need meticulous plans and clear instructions to ensure beneficiaries don't lose out after you're gone.
By Patrick M. Simasko, J.D. Published
-
DIY Retirement Planning: A Smart Move or a Risky Endeavor?
You can cut the cost of retirement planning by doing it yourself. But for something this important, it might be wiser to call in the professionals.
By Jennifer Lahaie, RICP®, CTS™, CAS® Published
-
Galentine's Day: A Time to Promote Financial Literacy Among Friends
Here are three things women can do to help their friends gain financial knowledge and confidence.
By Stacy Francis, CFP®, CDFA®, CES™ Published
-
These Two Issues Are Critical to Efficient Retirement Planning
You're saving hard for retirement, but if you're not thinking ahead about taxes and the cost of health care, your savings — and your legacy — could be at risk.
By Cliff Ambrose, FRC℠, CAS® Published
-
How to Use Good Debt (While Identifying and Avoiding Bad Debt)
Not all debt is bad, but knowing the difference between good debt and bad debt and how to use them can help you get ahead financially and stay ahead.
By Mike Decker, NSSA® Published
-
Four Potential Tax Changes to Keep Your Eye On
Many taxpayers may be surprised by a larger tax bill if the TCJA isn't extended. Check out these proactive strategies to help mitigate some of the impacts.
By Adam Frank Published
-
What Can Happen if You Live Together Without a Cohabitation Agreement?
Lots of people live together without being married, and there's nothing wrong with that, but if things go south or one partner dies, complications can ensue.
By H. Dennis Beaver, Esq. Published
-
Six Risks of Delaware Statutory Trusts in 1031 Exchanges
Here's how proper preparation can help you successfully navigate these DST risks, from market uncertainties to structural limitations.
By Daniel Goodwin Published