WHAT HAPPENS TO ME IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU

Have you ever wondered what would happen to you if something happens to your financial advisor? It’s not pleasant to think about, especially as an advisor, but what would happen if the proverbial bus were to finally catch up with your advisor? In many cases, this can be a very disruptive event for a client who has diligently planned and developed a strong relationship with an advisor.  Fruits from this relationship can often be a well-established financial plan along with a detailed investment strategy and investment policy statement.  So what happens when your advisor is no longer able to assist you with these important planning functions?

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What Are Your Options?

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Well, at this point you will likely have several options. One option would be to find a new advisor and start the process over.  This seems to be a shame and a waste of what you have already developed.

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Another option would be for you to search out and find another advisor to help you continue what you have started. The probability of finding someone with access to the same financial planning systems, investment strategies, personality and style may be very low.  So in some respect, this may represent a starting-over period for you as well.

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Still another option may be to try and go-it-alone without the help of a new advisor and build upon what you already have established.  This may be okay if you are extremely disciplined in your attention to the details in your financial plan and investment strategies.  Additionally, you will need to be vigilant in staying informed and knowledgeable on important financial topics to continue to navigate a sometimes complex financial journey.  And don’t forget in tumultuous economic times you will need to exhibit great investment behavior and be in complete control of your emotions and decision-making capabilities.

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At Net Worth Advisory Group we believe we have a better option for our clients. All of our advisors have a well-defined continuity plan in case something happens to them. This means that if for some unfortunate reason they are no longer able to service their clients, there is a plan in place for another advisor to step in and pick up where the last one left off.  The new advisor will have access to the very same financial planning systems and investment strategies along with a detailed history of the client’s financial plan, notes, progress and performance. Certainly, there will be some differences in terms of personality and style but our experience has been that this can be a relatively seamless transition as opposed to a momentum-killing disruptive event that it often is without a continuity plan in place.

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Takeaways

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Feel free to ask your Net Worth advisor about their continuity plan and how it may benefit you if it is ever needed.  In addition to benefiting you, it also benefits your advisor or his or her heirs. If your advisor dies or becomes disabled our continuity plan allows for a portion of the continued fees to be passed along to provide support in the case of a disability or death.  We have had a need to use advisor continuity plans twice in our history. The first was for the retirement of an advisor and the second for an unfortunate and untimely death of an advisor. In both cases, the clients were presented with a seamless transition that allowed them to continue to build upon the foundation which they had in place while at the same time allowing their former advisor or advisor’s heirs to receive some much-needed support.