With 103 career titles including 20 grand slams and over $130m in career prize money, Rogers Federer is the best tennis player of all time.
And yet he has not one, but two coaches, as well as a fitness trainer.
It seems odd that someone with his level of natural talent, experience and understanding of the sport would still need anyone to advise and coach him. What could his team possibly tell him, especially as none of them will ever have got close to his level of success?
And yet when asked, Federer puts down most of his success to working with his team.
Eat your own cooking
“It’s easy to see how to improve someone else’s business, but difficult to have any perspective on your own operations.” Daniel Priestley, Founder: Dent Global.
Few people in the world of sport or business have achieved great success entirely on their own. They’ve recognised their weaknesses and worked with people who can encourage, support and mentor them to ensure they achieve their full potential.
It’s the same for planners.
Some of the best financial planners I know have hired their own family financial planner (and insist on paying the standard fees for the experience). They don’t hire them for the functional parts of the role - investment advice or tax planning (although do value an informed second opinion) - that’s the easy part of a planner’s role. They hire them to perform a role that you simply can’t do yourself.
What these smart planners know is that it’s impossible to think independently when it comes to areas to which you have an emotional attachment to the outcomes. By definition, you’re not aware of your own blind spots.
There are three key areas where a financial planner adds value to a fellow financial professional.
1. Objectivity - experienced planners have the ‘curse of knowledge’. Years spent advising clients creates biases and deeply held beliefs that are rarely challenged. It’s impossible to be truly objective when it comes to your own personal finances and easy to overlook something crucial.
Who is asking you the tough questions about your professional and personal life? Who is taking your responses and then going deeper asking you more insightful questions and getting to the core of your thoughts, concerns and ambition? The role of a ‘critical friend’ should not be underestimated.
2. Accountability - when it comes to our own personal finances, few planners have anyone holding them accountable. This is where a good planner will act as your ‘accountability partner’ and make sure you act on important issues agreed upon.
If you tell your planner that you’re going to get your wills and LPAs updated and review your business succession plans, she’ll hold your feet to the fire and make sure you get it done.
The best planner will act as a ‘strategic thinking partner’ - someone who wants the best for you - but is not you! Therefore, they’ll support and encourage you to take actions you both know are in your best interests.
3. Trusted family adviser - the classic ‘cobbler’s children’s shoes’ scenario often means that there’s no single person in the life of a financial planner who acts as their family’s trusted adviser.
One person who has spent time with you and your spouse, who understands your hopes and aspirations at a deep level, forged through meaningful and challenging conversations.
Someone that can weave that insight with the financial information, tax, estate plans, intergenerational issues and someone who truly ‘gets’ you.
Your accountant can’t do it, your colleagues can’t, and your family members certainly can’t. Let’s face it, that’s the role your play in most of your clients’ lives - why on earth would you deny your own family this invaluable resource?
DIY is for amateurs
If you’re putting up a shelf or painting the spare room and you have the time and energy to do it, go ahead and do it yourself - you may even enjoy it.
When it comes to serious matters (and there are few more serious than your own family’s financial security and wellbeing) taking a DIY approach should be avoided at all costs.
Find a financial planner that you trust and respect - but don’t know particularly well (as friends will be more forgiving of you when it comes to holding you accountable) and schedule a discovery meeting with you and your spouse.
For me, hiring a financial planner was a great decision. There’s too much at stake to go it alone.