One of my favorite endeavors as an investment advisor is to speak with new and prospective clients about their market views, current holdings, and past histories. It provides me with an opportunity to learn from their successes and missteps, as well as provide insight into how they can lower their fees or make adjustments to reach their goals. 

Many investors that I speak with have been very successful in their careers and have always managed their money themselves. They are ultimately their own advisor. However, they may not be satisfied with their results or know that they need to turn it over to someone with the time, tools, and discipline to properly manage their nest egg.

Others may have inherited an older advisor from their parents or chosen someone that was recommended by a friend. This group has generally given that person the benefit of the doubt based on perceived goodwill, but are recently not happy with their returns or portfolio structure.

There are also a thousand other reasons why you may feel the distress that it’s time to look for an advisor that you can align yourself with better philosophically. Below is my list of traits that may help you decide when it’s time to enlist the help of a new advisor:

  • You find yourself shaping your portfolio according to the current (or future) political candidates.
  • You own silver miners, biotech stocks, and small cap energy companies, but think bonds are risky.
  • You get the majority of your investment advice from CNBC or Fox Business.
  • You sell everything on EVERY 7% drop and buy back again at new highs.
  • You own 17 large-cap actively managed mutual funds and can’t explain why.
  • You think owning gold is similar to holding cash.
  • Your broker keeps calling about this private REIT with an incredible yield.
  • You have a broker.
  • You subscribe to 8 different newsletters who all provide conflicting advice, but you do it anyways to stay “diversified”.
  • You don’t want to sell that mutual fund that has sucked for ten years straight because of “tax purposes”.
  • You own something with a sales load or surrender charge.
  • You check Zerohedge and Drudge Report more than Facebook.
  • You click on any headline that starts with “Dow”, “crash”, or “watch out”.
  • More than 50% of your portfolio has been in cash for the last 5-years because you are too afraid to put it to work.
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