Getting Started Investing: Do It Yourself or Hire an Advisor?

Know Yourself Before You Begin Investing to Maximize Your Success

There’s a wealth of information available online for people interested in investing. Even if you are a big time proponent of doing-it-yourself, there are certain things you would never attempt on your own. You wouldn’t perform your own root canal, refine your own gasoline or sculpt your own engagement ring. But many people are willing to risk their entire future by trying to manage their own investments.

Investing is too important to base on internet articles.

Seemingly, one of the biggest problems with getting started in investing is the sheer amount of information you will need to master. Not only are there many types of investments, there are sub-categories within each and then you’ll still need to select specific opportunities. What is significantly harder than learning about company fundamentals and to read charts is gaining a profound understanding of yourself.

When you invest, you need to know who you are and what you can accept investing in. Some people are willing to risk everything. Others will risk nothing. Most people, however, are somewhere in the middle. Moreover, your willingness to accept risk will, most likely, change over time.

When you’re just starting out, you’re probably more likely to accept more risky investments than when you’re within a year of retiring. While this isn’t shocking news to most people, where self-advised investors run into problems is accurately assessing both their own willingness to accept risk and the riskiness of a particular investment.

The situation that a self-advised investor faces, then, is mastering the unforgiving market while developing a high level of self-understanding as it relates to the market. Add in the stress of gaining or losing real money complicating an already difficult situation and it’s no wonder many people who invest for themselves make very costly mistakes.

The Advantages of Working Without an Advisor

There are a few advantages to investing without the help of a financial advisor. The most obvious is you don’t have to pay anybody so all the money you make is yours to keep. This might seem like a major victory, but since many professional advisors charge a small percentage of assets under management, you’re not really saving a lot.

Additionally, if the advisor is able to make you significantly more money through your investments, that fee will be more than worth it.

Another benefit to investing by yourself is the sense of accomplishment that comes with knowing you did something by yourself. Assuming you are successful with your investments, nobody can take away the satisfaction of beating the market.

Reasons You Need an Investment Advisor

The advantages of working with a financial advisor are almost the exact opposite of the problems you’ll face investing by yourself. Financial advisors have a major head start in their understanding of the market. They’ve dedicated their professional career to creating investment portfolios and have a firm grasp of the options available to investors. They know the relative benefits of bonds, stocks, cash and, more importantly, have a better sense of what the right mix is for your financial situation.

Most importantly, investment advisors have years of experience working with all kinds of people who have widely varying investment needs.

This gives them valuable insight when creating your portfolio. Your needs are unique and so is your willingness to take on risky investments. Your investment portfolio needs to match both your financial situation and your risk aversion level. Getting either wrong will lead to disappointment or financial disaster. With a financial advisor guiding you through the process, you are much more likely to end up with a portfolio that fits you and can take you where you want to go.

Investing is more than just creating a portfolio. You need to manage your investments over the long term to account for market fluctuations and other events. This is where having the help of a financial advisor can prove invaluable.

Many inexperienced investors panic or overreact to normal fluctuations in the market. Conversely, they may ignore warning signs that the market is about to decline or miss promising signs that things are looking up. With advice from a professional financial services advisor, you can be better equipped to react properly to all sorts of situations.

Find an Advisor; Get Started Investing

One last benefit to working with an investment advisor is that it makes you more likely to actually start investing. It’s easy to stall and postpone your foray into investing if you’re acting alone. There’s always more you can learn and reasons for you to wait before you start. But once you involve another person, there’s more accountability and you’re more likely to move forward and start investing.

The hardest part of investing is getting started.

Make sure you get over the hurdle of starting down the road to financial success by working with somebody to keep you accountable. For as great as the idea of investing without an advisor is, it’s very likely to remain just an idea. The best way to turn your dreams of investing into reality is to work with somebody who will keep moving the ball forward on your behalf.

Catholic? You Only Need a Financial Advisor If You Take Your Faith Seriously

For Catholics, there is one more concern that comes into play when deciding whether to invest with a financial advisor or go it alone: are your investments in line with your morals? It’s no secret that some businesses are engaged in activities that are at odds with Catholic morality. Can you invest in a company that provides abortions? Or a business that employs slave labor? The answer provided by the USCCB is no. Catholic investors must not invest in businesses that engage in behavior contrary to the faith.

The bishops do not provide a list of companies that Catholic investors should avoid. This is understandable since corporate policies change and there’s a never ending series of buyouts and mergers. Keeping a list of forbidden equities up to date would be very difficult and beyond the scope of what the USCCB should be doing.

As a self-advised individual, screening out the bad actors is next to impossible. Simply keeping up with what is happening in the market is difficult enough. Adding another layer to the equation makes being a faithful Catholic and a good investor nearly impossible without help. Summit’s investment advisors for Catholics, however, have tasked themselves with doing just this. Thanks to a network of socially responsible investment agents, we’re able to keep out businesses that offend Catholic values.

Schedule Free Consultation Today

Not only do we screen out bad actors, we take active steps in promoting good. Building the culture of life involves more than tearing down the opposition. A portion of our advisor fees are donated to actively lobby and advocate for good causes. The results have been very encouraging.

Working with Summit lets individual Catholics take advantage of all the benefits of having a professional financial advisor plus safeguards for their faith. Get started investing in accord with your faith today with Summit.

Contact Summit to schedule a free consultation on investing by yourself or using a financial advisor.

Post from: Insights