Americans aren't seeking financial advice primarily because they don't feel like they have enough assets, according to TIAA-CREF.

Though the benefits of professional financial advice are widely extolled in the media, almost half of U.S. investors aren’t rushing to schedule appointments with a planner because they believe they lack the assets, according to a recent study.

TIAA-CREF’s fourth annual "Advice Matters" survey found that 45 percent of Americans think they need at least $50,000 to receive professional financial advice—and of those who have never received advice, 63 percent said that they “don’t have enough money to invest.” 

“It is unfortunate that Americans delay seeking advice because they don’t think they’ve saved enough,” says Kathie Andrade, president of TIAA-CREF’s individual advisory services. “We believe advice is a critical component of someone’s financial well-being and that it has a dramatic impact on their behavior and the likelihood of having a good outcome for retirement.”

Andrade says that receiving advice doesn’t necessarily mean opening up a brokerage account or starting a relationship with an RIA.

“There are lots of tools and models available to an individual investor, and there are also phone-based options available,” Andrade says. “The important piece here is that people get advice. The form in which they seek it and receive it should be defined by their needs. It doesn’t necessarily mean a direct model.”

Advice doesn’t simply mean asset allocation or money management, either, says Andrade.

“It’s as much about the decisions they make as it is the money they’re saving,” she says. “For example, choosing to downsize or upscale their living arrangements, choosing to send children to private or public school, even the number of children they have has implications for their financial well-being over the long haul.”

Less than half of the study's respondents, 46 percent, had met with a financial advisor.

While 88 percent of respondents said that meeting with an advisor face-to-face would be valuable, respondents also recognized other options for receiving advice. Almost 80 percent of those surveyed said online tools and calculators are valuable, along with web articles, at 72 percent; printed brochures and other written materials, 70 percent; videos, 68 percent; and online chats, 58 percent.

Low-cost options like robo-advisors and products like ETFs are underutilized by their target market, Andrade says, because there’s a lack of understanding of their accessibility and affordability.

“I would say that technology represents a wonderful opportunity for the industry in general,” Andrade says. “Individuals who were traditionally underserved, we now have an opportunity to serve them directly.”

But there’s also room for improvement in the quality and quantity of advice offered online. Eighty-one percent of respondents said it would be helpful to get online advice specifically designed for their age group to ensure they have guaranteed income in retirement.

“I would say that we have just scratched the surface of what technology is going to do to the industry,” Andrade says. “We are in a very interesting time relative to being able to leverage technology to better serve people, and the technology will continue to evolve. There’s a lot more to come, its something that we welcome.”

Women in particular suffer a lack of financial planning. TIAA-CREF found that while 56 percent of men say they have received financial advice, just 43 percent of women report the same. Women were more likely to cite a lack of assets as the reason for not seeking advice.

“This is especially concerning, since women are going to control 70 percent of the wealth in this country in the coming years,” Andrade says. “It's a combination of things: the reluctance because women lack confidence at a greater rate than men. They feel that they don’t have enough saved to warrant going out and seeking advice, and time constraints. Women are working more than ever before and they feel that they don’t have the time to take out of their schedule, especially if they’re taking care of elderly parents or children. When they do reach out, they are more likely to take action than men.”

TIAA-CREF surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults online in August.

The study also found that:

79 percent of Investors who met with an advisor calculated their retirement income needs, versus just 32 percent who did not meet with an advisor.

Millennial respondents, at 42 percent, were the least likely to have received professional financial advice.

In the absence of advice, Americans underestimate their income needs in retirement, with 55 percent of respondents reporting that they think they will need 75 percent or less of their current annual income during retirement.