Do You Need A Financial Navigator?
I get really nervous when driving in strange places. The anxiety comes from my poor sense of direction – I could get lost in a phone booth. My wife, on the other hand, makes a fine navigator. She could be trapped in an underground cave and still tell which way is north.
We didn’t plan on renting a car during our trip to Scotland and Ireland. We thought we’d mostly get around by walking and taking public transit. That worked out well in a big city like Edinburgh, but after a few days in the Scottish Highlands it was clear that a car would give us more freedom to explore our surroundings.
It’s fair to say I was scared out of my mind, not only to navigate through a foreign land but also to drive for the first time on the opposite side of the road. Still, the prospect of discovering new sights and experiences was too great to pass up, so I steeled my nerves and hired a car from the Inverness airport.
I gripped the wheel tightly, and with my wife deftly guiding us through roundabouts, across narrow roads, and underneath breathtaking viaducts, we discovered new castles, stone circles, and famous battlefields throughout the Scottish Highlands. It was a road trip to remember.
Brimming with confidence, and a newfound sense of freedom, we thought nothing of hiring a car again in Ireland and driving across the country for two-days of sightseeing.
If I were travelling solo, given my lack of navigational skills, I would’ve been forced to use technology to guide me through the journey. But GPS isn’t always fool-proof. Ask the countless number of drivers who’ve followed their car’s GPS directions only to end up in a lake.
Sure, my wife also used Google Maps to help guide us to our destinations. But instead of blindly following the voice commands (like I would do), she would use the satellite view and her keen sense of direction to keep us on course.
Having an expert navigator along for the ride gave me the confidence to do something I never thought I’d be able to do. I’ll be honest, driving in Scotland and Ireland was nerve-racking at times. But it was also a lot of fun, and I’m grateful for the experiences we had thanks to getting out of our comfort zone.
It’s because of those experiences that we had no qualms about renting a car in Italy when we visited in April. We picked up a car in Arezzo and drove to a little hilltop town in Tuscany to stay for a week. Like in the Scottish Highlands, we thought a car would be a must so we could explore all the medieval towns and villages in the region. Unlike in Scotland, we could drive on the right side of the road in Italy.
How Does This Apply To My Finances?
Some people are blessed with a strong sense of direction (like my wife). Others, like me, need help from technology and/or a trusty navigator to guide them to their destination.
When it comes to personal finance and investing, some people have a knack for it, while others need a helping hand.
Related: Your financial plan is a compass
Those with a strong financial compass understand exactly where their money goes, know how much to save, and have enough knowledge to invest on their own.
Unfortunately, some people either have no desire to learn about personal finance, or simply cannot comprehend how to make their money work for them. Like the poor traveller who’d get lost in a phone booth (me again!), those lacking in financial acumen likely need a trusted guide to help them reach their retirement destination, and navigate through all of life’s financial milestones along the way.
Most people, however, seem to fall somewhere in between. They know enough to nail the basics:
- Spend less than you earn
- Save a percentage of every paycheque
- Prioritize your financial goals
- Invest for the future
One solution for these in-betweeners is to pair technology – in this case a robo-advisor, with a navigator – in this case an unbiased fee-only financial planner.
The robo-advisor acts as the GPS, automatically monitoring and even rebalancing your investments to ensure you meet your retirement goals. Robo-advisors aren’t perfect, so while they may not steer you into a lake, most charge a fee in the 0.50% range to take the wheel and manage your investments.
Alternatively, those with a little more confidence in their investing prowess can save money by opening a discount brokerage account and purchasing a single ETF (an asset allocation ETF). With this approach, investors can build a low cost, globally diversified, and mostly hands-off investment portfolio.
So that’s how to manage your investments, leveraging technology to save on fees and build a diversified portfolio. But your investments are really just a small part of your financial plan.
A Financial Navigator
The bigger picture means asking yourself questions like, what are my financial goals for the short and long term? When should I retire? When can I afford to retire? How much do I want to spend in retirement to allow me to live comfortably? Should I take CPP at 60, or wait until 65 or even 70? Do I want to sell my house at some point and downsize, or even rent in retirement?
For answers to these questions you might find comfort talking to an unbiased financial planner. Someone who charges you by the hour or by the project, not based on how much you invest with them.
This type of accountability relationship is a lot like having a trusted navigator by your side. Someone to point you to a potential shortcut, or to avoid the road construction ahead. Perhaps someone to point out when you’re about to turn into a lake.
Are you blessed with a clear sense of direction when it comes to your finances? Or do you need a financial navigator to help guide the way?
