The internet is great, isn’t it?  Every decision-making tool you could possibly need is there, right at your fingertips.

But some decisions are more important than others.  Some could affect the very lifestyle you lead for the rest of your life.  And some could mean the difference between being able to pay for your child’s college tuition, or even your ability to pay your bills next month.

Every American worries about money at some point in their lives. Finding the best and most reliable source of advice can be a struggle for many. The wealthy have their own people and resources for research; so, they think they do not need financial advisors.

For the rest of us who are working with limited financial and other resources, the idea of a financial advisor can seem ludicrous at first glance. There can be a sense of exhaustion and even mistrust when it comes to the idea of paying someone else out of your earnings just to be told what to do with the rest of the money you have left over.

But believe it or not, getting advice from a financial advisor is more important to an average person than it is to the rich.  Think about it: If the wealthy lose a little, they know more money will come back to them eventually.  But if the average person makes one bad investment or one bad choice, a lifetime of savings can go down the drain.

So, when the stakes are nothing less than your own future, you need to talk with someone who knows what he or she is doing.  It’s easy to just Google something or watch a YouTube video about the newest stock to buy.  But for most people, stocks may not be a good or even an adequate investment.  And are these tips timely and appropriate for you? Remember that the problem with the internet is once it is there, it’s there for good.

The hallmarks of a good advisor

With lots of good, bad, old, new, and downright bizarre information on the internet, it can be difficult to sort out what is right for you. That is the true and unique value of a good financial advisor.

And who is a good financial advisor? A good financial advisor will spend time getting to know you and your specific needs.  He will want to find out where you are now and what you are looking for.  Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?  What are your goals?  He will also want to gauge how you would feel if the investment does not do as well as you had hoped. In other words, he will want to know how high your risk tolerance is and if you could financially tolerate a loss.

That flashy website may be touting some new “hot buy” information, and you might think investing in that exciting stock is a great deal. But a good financial advisor is asking the tough question: “What if it goes down?”  If that’s something YOU specifically can’t risk, then the advisor will match you with an investment to meet your needs. He will evaluate how long you have until you want to begin drawing out the money, research the history of your potential investment, and scrutinize the investment for you.

Another reason you should use advisors is because they have access to more choices for investing than the general public.  Why?  Because many of the highest quality investments do not want investors who are blindly investing their money with them.  They want well-informed shareholders, and the only way to get those is through professional advisors.

Financial advisors do what the internet can’t: They make the choices personal.  And there is very little in this world more important to your future than having enough money to accomplish your goals later in life.

I have a crystal ball, and it is just as good as yours in predicting the future. (This means it is broken,) So since I can’t see clearly what is going to happen with any investment, I feel confident that when I talk with my financial advisor, he will research the best choices for me so that my money will grow.f