This is a harsh proclamation, but let me explain.
There is more information freely available at our fingertips than at any time in history.
How much information? So much, it’s hard to even know for sure.
I did a quick Google search to see roughly how many web pages there are in existence. One source proclaimed the number is 6 billion. Another said 50 billion. Yet another said 35 trillion!
Clearly, some of those figures are off. But it’s safe to assume the number is at least in the billions.
From that count, there are easily millions of pages dedicated to financial planning, investment management, asset allocation, retirement planning, etc.
All the information and advice that financial advisors provide to clients can, in theory, be learned on one’s own. Your clients don’t need you. They can learn it all themselves, usually for free!
Yet, they still come to you anyway.
Why? Because while that information is there for the taking, most consumers don’t have the wherewithal or desire to learn it themselves.
Some outgoing do-it-yourselfers joyfully travel down the financial planning rabbit hole, but they are the minority. The overwhelming majority comprises folks either not (yet) obtaining the information/advice from any source or who are seeking an experienced professional such as you.
I would argue that advisors are not in the knowledge business; you are in the let-me-solve-it-for-you business.
I’d like to think with enough time and desire, I could learn enough about taxes to do my annual returns, even with my non-cookie cutter tax situation.
Guess what? I have no desire at all to do that. I pay someone to do it for me.