Does the age of your financial advisor matter? (2024)

FAQs

How old should my financial advisor be? ›

According to various studies and publications, the average age of financial advisors is somewhere between 51 and 55 years, with 38% expecting to retire in the next ten years.

In brief, consider changing financial advisors if you lose confidence in your advisor. In addition, if you're dissatisfied with your advisor's communication, you may wish to start looking for a new financial advisor. If there's a lack of transparency and trust, you should start looking for a new advisor immediately.

The number of different services and areas of expertise advisors provide makes finding the right financial advisor for your situation key — doing so means you won't end up paying for services you don't need, or working with an advisor who isn't a good fit for your financial goals.

"If judging performance only, clients need to give an advisor three to five years minimum, and realistically, five-plus is probably better," said Ryan Fuchs, a certified financial planner with Ifrah Financial Services. "It may take several years before you can truly see how an investment strategy will work.

Financial advisors and their clients tend to skew older for several good reasons. Advisors seek out the assets that senior clients have spent a lifetime accumulating, while many clients value the relevant experience that mature advisors bring to the table when investing their valuable nest eggs.

Generally, having between $50,000 and $500,000 of liquid assets to invest can be a good point to start looking at hiring a financial advisor. Some advisors have minimum asset thresholds. This could be a relatively low figure, like $25,000, but it could $500,000, $1 million or even more.

Sometimes you're just not a good fit for each other. That doesn't make anybody a good or bad person, but it doesn't mean you need to keep working together. If your advisor is on a totally different wavelength (and not in a good way), it's okay to find somebody that resonates with you.

Is 2% fee high for a financial advisor? ›

Answer: From a regulatory perspective, it's usually prohibited to ever charge more than 2%, so it's common to see fees range from as low as 0.25% all the way up to 2%, says certified financial planner Taylor Jessee at Impact Financial.

If, however, you have some money you want to invest, maybe you run a business, or you come into an inheritance, a financial advisor is a good idea to help you navigate financial decisions. Their time might seem expensive, but consider the time you would need to spend to learn as much as they know.

But these professionals are only as good as the service they provide their clients. If your financial advisor isn't paying enough attention to you, isn't listening to you, or is confusing you, it may be time to call it quits and find a new advisor who is willing to go the extra mile to keep you as a client.

Poor performance, high fees, strained communication and stagnant advice are among the reasons to look for a new advisor.

You're paying for a professional service, and if you're not satisfied, it's time to make a change. Notify them, on your terms: While it's not technically required, you should politely and respectfully inform your advisor that you're making a change. Keep it brief and professional.

The age group with the most advisers was 50-59, which dominated 33.2 per cent of the overall total. After that its was 40-49 (26.5 per cent), 30-39 (17.6 per cent), with over 60s following closely behind with 17 per cent.

However , according to a study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics , the median age for financial analysts is 37 years old , while the median age for financial managers is 46 years old . This suggests that the average age for those working in the finance industry is likely in the late 30s to mid-40s range .

When You Start Making Your Own Money. The first time you should start financial planning is once you start earning, regardless of age or income. Of course, there is nothing wrong with celebrating your first paycheck!

In reality, the financial services industry doesn't have a “too old or too young” problem anymore, because we have advisory teams.