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Looking after your finances isn’t always easy. It comes with the stress of managing your bills while saving for the future — and financial stress can have a big impact on your emotional and physical wellness.
If you’re feeling the effects of financial stress, talking to a financial professional can help. In fact, people with high mental health are nearly twice as likely to use a financial professional than not.1 Utilizing a financial professional can not only help you avoid making decisions that may be detrimental to your long-term goals, especially during high-stress financial conditions, but also help bolster your overall well-being.2
Learn how professional golfer Rob Labritz eased stressed during a scary diagnosis thanks to proactive planning with his financial professional.
Here are three roles a financial professional can play to help alleviate some of your stress:
1. A financial behavior coach to keep you in check
One of financial professionals’ greatest strengths is their ability to remain calm during financial volatility. Their ability to keep a level head allows them to act as a kind of behavioral coach, helping you refrain from making hasty decisions.
Individuals who work with a financial professional tend to have a written financial strategy, including a custom investment portfolio. This reflects your values, adjusts to your goals, and keeps you on track with your financial objectives. Of people who report high financial health, 53% work with a financial professional, and they’re also 22% more likely to say they’re good at sticking to a financial plan.3 This ability to map out a strategy and stick to it can help keep you from being pulled in different directions by changing economic conditions.
Believe it or not, the ability to weather the stress of financial disruption depends more on your behaviors than your income. Solid financial habits — such as making — and sticking to — long-term plans, working with a financial professional, acquiring life and disability insurance, and having a retirement savings plan has been associated with greater financial wellness and overall well-being.4
2. A professional to celebrate your wins with you
Not only are financial professionals a supportive resource during tough times, but they can also be an asset during the good times.
When you get a big raise at work, the emotional payoff is straightforward. But the economic considerations can be complex. Should you use it to whittle down student loans? Sock it away in savings? Or treat yourself to something special? By helping you plan for taxes and strategically budgeting the increased income, a financial professional can help you do all of the above with zero guilt.
Another common time of financial stress is when you’re preparing for parenthood. This happy milestone also comes with more financial responsibilities. A financial professional can help take this into account along with all your other goals to help craft a financial strategy that takes care of your family and fulfills your personal long-term goals.
3. A guide to prepare you for retirement
Working with a financial professional can help you avoid panic, and make confident decisions in the face of economic uncertainty. It can translate to a 3% higher return on average for investors who use financial professionals than for those who go the DIY route.5 Over a lifetime, that can make a significant difference in wealth accumulation for retirement.
Financial confidence and emotional confidence are inextricably linked and critical to how people feel overall about their sense of financial wellness. So, whether you’re expanding your family or preparing for retirement, it’s never too late to engage a financial professional to help smooth the way.