"Stock Broker" vs "Financial Advisor"
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It seems that most of us avoid the words "stock broker" like the plague. After all, we are Financial Advisors, right?
While watching football I had the random idea that, for those prospects who have money to invest, "stock broker" may be more appealing than "financial advisor."
"This is UhOh, I'm a stock broker with My Firm and I'm calling to see if you're an investor and, if so....etc"
For those who want help with investing, maybe "stock broker" is a more pure way to entice them... to make them feel like "this guy can make money for me." Financial Advisor has a deeper, more involved, more invasive feel to it. Maybe we should start out as stock brokers and evolve to becoming financial advisors?
Thoughts?
Well, there is a historical element to this, that is easy to forget, and certainly not taught.
In the old days, you needed a stock broker for access to trades, and you benefitted from a company having IPO access, along with information and research. All of that stuff is now available via the internet.
What a financial professional today is supposed to offer, is the ability to understand that information and then apply it to a certain set of circumstances that is each client.
There are precious few people, reps included, that have the ability to manage their own money. Something happens to folks when dealing with their own money, that makes them literally dangerous to their own financial health.
There is so much information out there, and so much of it is fraudulent or wrong, that it takes a very keen eye to sift through it. Toss in conflicts of interests from a professional or individual stand point, and the odds of winning the lottery or at Vegas seem good in comparison.
It is an interesting subject for sure, and I think one of the best analogies and comparisons is the relationship of intelligence or iq of a person relative to them owning a set of encyclopedias in the old days, or a computer with internet access today. It isn't the encyclopedia or the computer that makes you smart, it's the reading and studying of that material that creates knowledge and intelligence.
I must say, I'm probably more convinced than ever that the investing public needs a good financial advisor. Having a good or bad advisor the last 10 yrs is the difference between financial life and death.