The Role of a Financial Professional

The key to achieving long-term objectives is planning. Your goal may be to fund your children’s college education, protect your family during your working years, or guarantee your own retirement security. These things won’t happen by accident. You must plan. You need to know what you want to achieve and then map out a strategy that will help you achieve it.

The Good News

You don’t have to do it alone. Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor does more than just sell insurance policies & investment products. He or she is a professional problem solver who can help you identify the most cost-effective products to help you meet your financial objectives.

Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor provides a full range of services. These include working with you to:

Review your individual situation and personal objectives. Perhaps your needs are so clear that life and health insurance, and or investment objectives can be determined after a few minutes of conversation. Or it may quickly become apparent that nothing short of a full-blown, detailed “fact finding” session is required, going beyond such basic vital statistics as birth dates, income assets, etc.

Why is it important to probe & ask questions? Three reasons: First, your situation and needs are different from those of your neighbors. Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor needs to understand these differences. Second, money is not a goal in and of itself; it is merely a means to an end. (Your goal may be a comfortable, secure retirement. However, the means to achieve that, for example, might be a retirement nest egg of $600,000) Finally, the more your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor knows about you, the more precise and on-target will be the recommendations you receive. As a result, your Financial & Insurance Services Advisor may take some time to discuss – and even appear to be a bit nosy about – your hopes, dreams and objectives – the things that really matter to you. By the way, all information will remain strictly confidential.

Analyze and review your needs.As needed, your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor will work with you to identify and prioritize your objectives, and then help establish benchmark goals. This is important because we live in a world in which there are unlimited resources. People often fail to achieve objectives because they try to accomplish too much at once, or they don’t attach specific deadlines to their goals.

For instance, you have a desire to retire in comfort, make sure your children are able to graduate from college debt-free, plus vacation in Hawaii every winter. But your resources may say that you cannot do it all. Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor can work with you and help you focus on what’s most important to you. Together you may find it helpful to breakdown these goals into quantifiable objectives; accumulate $600,000 by age 65, have a college fund of $40,000 in 15 years, set aside $10,000 each year for vacationing. Then you can look at available resources and decide which goals are realistic, which need to be adjusted and scaled down, and which simply must be abandoned.

Develop and implement a strategy to help you achieve your goals. Based on the information you share and the goals and means you establish, you’ll receive specific recommendations on where life and health insurance products and or investment products can help.

Coordinate your financial activities. If desired by you, your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor can also serve as your quarterback for you and the other members of your team of advisors.

Monitoring progress, provide ongoing service as your needs and situation change over time. This is crucial. Planning is not a one-shot deal. Strategies need to be adjusted periodically. Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor will work with you over the years to keep your program on track with your changing needs. By the way, there is no charge for advice, planning, or on-going service provided by Larry Cook as your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor.

Your role; it’s a crucial one. Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor cannot do it alone. It’s a two-way street. The key to getting maximum value from your relationship with your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor is communication and candor. Do the following:

Get Acquainted. It’s recommended that you contact your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor and arrange a meeting to discuss the full extent of available services, and to review your situation.

Educate your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor. Don’t expect a mind reader. Your Financial & Insurance Services Professional Advisor may anticipate many of your needs, but will not assume anything. That’s why it’s so important that you be candid in providing information.

Educate yourself. At the same time, you too should be sure to ask a lot of questions. Be nosy. Ask for details and explanations about recommendations and how certain plans may work. Remember the only “dumb question” is the one that isn’t asked.

Make it a team effort. Work together. Listen carefully to the recommendations, but remember – all decisions are yours. Make sure you’re comfortable with the outcome.

Do you have questions about this article or about Financial & Insurance Services offered by Larry Cook? Please call 858-623-8676 or 858-521-0415 to speak with Larry or a member of his Financial & Insurance Advisors team.