Personal Finance

Many people think they don't need a financial advisor but here are 3 ways mine has helped me

Christy Bieber

Published: February 13, 2025 2:05 pm

Hiring a financial advisor can be a controversial subject. Some people swear by the advice their advisor provides, but others are convinced that managing money is easy enough without professional help so there’s no reason to waste money on paying for assistance. Some also have misconceptions about what financial advisors do, assuming they’re useful only for providing investment tips or that only rich people hire them. 

One Reddit poster has addressed this issue head-on, explaining exactly how his advisor helped him and why he thinks the advice he received is so valuable. Here are the three big ways that the original poster (OP) said he has benefitted from having a financial advisor to help him out. 

1. Maximize my tax returns

The OP indicated he had received very valuable advice from his advisor when it came to saving money on his tax bill. In fact, he said that he “didn’t even know some of these deductions existed,” before he got professional advice.

It makes good sense to turn to an advisor for tax issues because the tax code is incredibly complicated. It runs around 6,871 pages, but if you add in additional regulations or official treasury interpretations of the rules, then you are at around 75,000 pages. With so many complex requirements, it comes as no surprise it takes the average person around 13 hours to prepare their returns. That’s a lot of wasted time. 

Financial advisors can offer invaluable assistance in understanding the tax rules relevant to you. Your advisor can help you decide when to itemize versus claim the standard deduction and can otherwise work with you to find opportunities for tax savings — including investing in tax-advantaged accounts such as retirement plans and HSAs and making certain that you claim all of your deductions including those you don’t need to itemize for like the student loan interest deduction. 

2. Plan for retirement

Planning for retirement is also one of the most important things that an advisor can help with. The OP explained that he is just 32 but that he’s happy his advisor helped him plan ahead to prepare for the future. There’s a lot to do to prepare for retirement including:

• Identifying a target date after considering factors like your age, health, and when to claim Social Security. 
• Estimating how much you need to save based on the amount you plan to spend and your planned safe withdrawal rate
• Determining which accounts to use, including traditional 401(K) and IRA plans that provide up-front tax savings as well as Roth plans that defer tax savings until you are a retiree. 
• Deciding on an appropriate asset allocation given your age, investing timeline, and risk tolerance

Figuring out all of these issues on your own can be overwhelming and making the wrong choices could jeopardize your future security. It’s far better to get the help you need in advance with your plans than to struggle and end up unprepared.

3. Protect my assets

Finally, protecting assets is the last key thing that the Reddit user said his advisor helped with. He said his advisor assisted him in putting the right insurance in place in case of accidents or emergencies. This, too, is crucial because having the right coverage can make all the difference if something goes wrong. Required minimum insurance rarely provides full protection for assets but things like umbrella policies or purchasing excess liability coverage can help you keep the wealth you’re working hard to build secure. 

Now, others may need help with different issues. Still, there are plenty of benefits to hiring a financial advisor — even if you aren’t rich yet. The advice your advisor offers can help you to achieve the financial success that you deserve.