Financial Advice Isn't Only For The Wealthy

Good Morning,

Have you ever wondered who is paying for financial advice? CNBC recently published an article about who is paying for this advice and a couple of days later Investment News released an article about a new type of service being offered by a major Brokerage firm. The CNBC article highlighted the following
points:

1. Most American's reject financial advice

2. 4 out of 10 workers guessed the  amount needed for retirement based on a study done by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies

3. Based on a CNBC survey, those making more than $150k a year were most likely to seek the help of a financial professional or money management app

4. People making less than $50k a year were most likely to not manage their financial future

While this might sound very dreary, the Investment News article made an announcement about Charles
Schwab now offers service that a client can receive investment management and financial planning advice for a monthly fee of $30 (including a one-time fee of $300 for the planning portion). One caveat
is that this fee will rely heavily on robo-advising which has its own flaws but this change by Schwab does make financial advice more attainable for the masses.

I am glad to see that financial advice is becoming more affordable and with financial apps, there are alternative ways to help manage your finances. The one caveat is that all advice should be taken with a grain a salt if the plan is not specifically tailored to your lifestyle and need. There is not a magic button nor pill, so unless you are paying for personalized advice discretion should be used when taking in the information. Most of us think about financial advice being just about stocks and bonds, but it is actually including savings and basic budgeting which everybody can benefit from. Finance is a topic that should not be foreign to us because we are now able to have more control over our situation/awareness than in the past. With more information available we just need to be receptive :)

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