Five Things I Learned in Hiring a Financial Adviser

For 25 years, I managed my family’s finances myself. Then I had one of those milestone birthdays earlier this year that makes you think about life, death and, hopefully, retirement. 

So I finally decided to hire a financial adviser to help.

It wasn’t because I suddenly decided I couldn’t manage our investments and day-to-day finances. It was because I began asking questions that I wasn’t sure I could answer. What would happen if I suddenly lost my job? Have we saved enough for retirement? And if I die tomorrow, would my wife know what we owned, where everything was and what to do next?

I also worried that after several strong years for U.S. stocks, our portfolio had become too concentrated and exposed to a crash or correction. I hadn’t rebalanced in years and I wanted to reduce some of that risk, diversify our holdings and start preparing for some worst-case scenarios.