Is Hiring an Advisor "Worth It"?
"Can advisors add enough value to justify their fees?"
That was the provocative question posed by a reader recently in an email. He noted that most of his friends with financial advisors seemed to be satisfied with their experiences. But he considers himself a sophisticated individual investor; would an advisor add enough to his bottom line to offset the fees?
The answer is, of course, it depends. But what exactly does it depend on? To my mind, there are five key factors, some of them easy to quantify and others a lot squishier.