Breaking Up with Your Financial Advisor

Today, I'm talking to my friend Joe Saul-Sehy from the Stacking Benjamins Podcast about breaking up with your financial advisor – how to do it and when you should do it. This topic came to me after a conversation with a future client who was concerned about letting her current financial advisor know she was leaving. As Neil Sedaka shares so well, breaking up is hard to do, but breaking up with your financial advisor does not have to be a hard or stressful task.The fact is that most financial advisors, even the best ones, have been broken up with a client at some point in their careers, so it's part of the job. Joe and I offer our advice for what's best; and honestly I was shocked by Joe's response. No matter what approach you take, though, never stay in an uncomfortable relationship with your financial advisor just because you're afraid to break up with him or her.

Podcast Notes

  • It is hard to breakup with your financial advisor because your relationship with your advisor is often more intimate than any other relationship because they know everything about your financial situation.

  • If you decide to break up with your financial advisor, make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons. Poor performance is not always a good reason to break up with your advisor.

  • Some good reasons to contemplate breaking up with your advisor include:

    • Poor communication

    • Feeling frustrated with or unable to understand what the advisor is saying

    • No investment policy statement

    • No set expectations

    • Expectations are not met

  • To breakup with your financial advisor:

    • Send them an email

    • Don’t be afraid to ignore them

    • Remove your advisor from your accounts

    • Have them put you on the do not call list

    • Make it a fast and clean break; don’t keep going back for more and don't keep accounts with multiple advisors if you don't have to

Have you ever broken up with a financial advisor?