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How Your Financial Planner’s Network Can Help

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If you have ever thought about hiring a financial planner, it may have been for one of these common issues. Perhaps you are looking for help to better understand investing and the markets, or maybe you need to get on track financially or are close to retirement and need to know if you will be ok.

While these are all great reasons to seek out financial advice, and a financial planner is precisely the professional who can help you navigate these issues, there are many other less-thought-of areas in which a financial planner can help.

One significant way a financial planner can provide value is by making the expertise of their network available to you when you need it the most.

It’s All About Relationships

While technology and innovation continue to help push economic growth to new heights, in many businesses relationships are still the key driving force for advancement.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman speaks to the power of relationships in his book The Start-Up of You:

Relationships matter to your career no matter the organization or your level of seniority because, ultimately, every job boils down to interacting with people. People control resources, opportunities, information, and the like. Think of it as I to the power of We. An individual's power is raised exponentially with the help of a team (a network).

This is especially relevant in the role of a financial planner. The financial planner must not only develop a relationship with the client based on trust, but they must also develop a relationship and network of experts throughout the financial industry.

With so much information available today online and otherwise, it can feel impossible to find the answers you’re looking for regarding your specific financial question or situation. And finding the right professionals who possess the specific knowledge you need can only help cut through the noise and serve your interests best.

Connecting you to a Strong Team/Network

A financial planner should be your objective financial advocate through different financial decisions and transactions, big and small.  A good financial planner is the one who has a strong team, either internally or externally, and who leverages that expertise when necessary.

Financial planners have education, training, and expertise in a wide array of personal finance matters, but that doesn’t mean they try or can realistically be the expert in all areas of finance all the time. From Certified Public Accountants to insurance agents and attorneys, a financial planner should have access to the proverbial Rolodex of professionals that can add specific expertise when needed.

I personally was able to benefit from the strength and expertise of my business network when my home recently flooded. My basement sump pump failed after being overrun with ten inches of rain in nine days. Luckily, my insurance agent Bill Van Jura , of Fraleigh and Rakow, is one of those experts I lean on for insurance matters.

When I bought my home in 2012, he was concerned with a past instance of the basement flooding. What I didn’t know was that homeowner’s insurance does not typically cover flood damage. Obtaining separate flood insurance can be quite expensive and possibly unnecessary in my particular situation.  He had the knowledge to add a “Escape of Water from Sump” rider to my policy. For only $89 per year (I have lived in the home for 6 years so $534), I was able to recoup over $10k in damages. He knew the importance of the details. 

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Conclusion

One of the greatest values a financial planner can deliver is to keep a vigilant watch over your entire financial life and manage the minutiae along the way. A good financial planner leverages the experts around them to help manage these risks. 

As you consider financial professionals, take a look at the team and network they support themselves with. Are they adding value through a team and do they have experts who can help when needed?

Have questions? Lets talk.