Andile Jonas, Head of Marketing at Momentum Savings, compares a talk with your financial adviser to a doctor’s visit.
Some people are lucky and enjoy excellent health. Others have it so hard that our hearts can only bleed for them. Then, in between, most people must visit a doctor ever so often for say the flu. Sometimes we must also discuss something embarrassing – even a stomach playing up is not the kind of conversation we usually enjoy.
A doctor’s visit is not necessarily high on the to-do list of pleasant things to look forward to, but it is necessary. Even a checkup for that woman who runs Comrades and the guy who is more supple than a Pilates instructor.
It’s not cheap to visit consulting rooms either; let alone those blood tests.
But just as we must look after our bodies, we need to measure the heartbeat and blood pressure of our finances one or twice a year. Some people do it quarterly.
So, we are prepared to spend money and time in keeping our health in check, but not that which we will need to support us through life – our finances.
Probably one of the first questions we ask a doctor is how long a problem will endure. We crave certainty.
In the same way, we should know what we’re in for regarding our purse, our purse tomorrow and our retirement purse.
A financial adviser can take the stethoscope of their financial calculator, take our current financial health into consideration and suggest the medicine we need to enjoy better health in the long run.
Maybe we’re so scared of a bitter pill that we keep postponing the conversation. Our medical analogy will illustrate that “tomorrow” is not a great strategy for either health or healthy finances.
The earlier we start looking at how we eat and exercise, the less our chances of spending more time in surrounds where the friendliest smell is antiseptics.
That doesn’t mean that I am insensitive to horrible illnesses or accidents that can come anyone’s way any day. I’m merely suggesting that long-term commitment gives you a sporting chance for what is in stall for most of us who hope to enjoy a long, meaningful life.
These are three questions I sometimes ask myself:
- Why would we get onto a scale every day and never worry about how much we are saving?
- Why would we sometimes say no to junk food but spend on luxuries as if there is no tomorrow?
- Why would we not trust Dr. Google with a health challenge but decide that Dr. AI can make a call on what our needs are and how much we should save?
Best is, a financial adviser should be just as approachable and professional as a doctor. They must be honest about your situation. And they must come up with a plan.
You can even suggest a first discussion where you make no decisions but first think things over. We know a second opinion is never a bad idea. And when you do act, as you should, you can negotiate the commission they earn on the products they suggest. You can negotiate what treatment you can afford now, and what will have to wait.
What we crave is certainty, and we owe it to ourselves, also for our long-term financial health.