There are generally three kinds of people when it comes to navigating money.
First, the DIYer who is determined to figure everything out alone, often because they’ve been burned before or simply don’t know where to turn. Second, the person who works with an advisor who specializes in one narrow slice of planning, usually investments or insurance. And third, the loyalist who stays with their advisor(er) long after the relationship stops serving their growing needs.
But for Veterinary practice owners, there’s a fourth dimension that rarely gets talked about: Who can coordinate your personal finances, your business, and the eventual transition or sale of your practice at the same time? Very few advisors think across all three domains. That gap gets wider as your life becomes more complex.
Financial planning is simple until it’s not. There’s no instant dopamine hit, no shiny object to unwrap, no first-class vacation attached to doing the right thing. Planning is invisible work. You don’t feel the payoff today, even though it’s shaping everything about your tomorrow. While everyone wants a great life, the truth is that the people you surround yourself with can either accelerate that goal or quietly derail it.
After years of speaking with others, the reasons people switch advisors tend to fall into five distinct categories. If any of these sound familiar, it may be time for your own audit.
The five main reasons people switch:
- Poor Communication
- Lack of Personal Attention
- Value and Transparency
- Eroded Trust
- Evolving Needs
Poor Communication
When we think about poor communication, the most common phrase we hear is, “My advisor has not reached out to me for years.” This might be how the relationship originally started, based on a product sale. When there’s a consultative relationship, there is an expectation that the person providing guidance will be there for ongoing support in many facets of life.
You might be someone who worked with an advisor within your first few years out of school and purchased insurance like long-term disability or contributed money to a Roth IRA because this appeared to be sound advice at the time. Once that transaction was complete and depending on the expertise and skillsets of that advisor, you might have gotten everything that you could have from that relationship.
This is where the breakdown can happen, and it’s a good time to evaluate your needs and wants in life to see if the relationship is supporting your current and future desires.
Lack of Personal Attention
A good chance the relationship was centered around a specific need at the time. This could have been life insurance, education savings for a child, or finding an investment for their 401(k) rollover.
These are all one-off events that can easily make people feel misinformed, misunderstood, or lack confidence in what’s happening next in their lives. As we know, our lives evolve continuously, and each day presents us with new and exciting ventures or challenges that we must figure out how to work through.
The easier solution is to react to the world around us and hope for the best in the future. Since finances appear to be complicated, people will make quick, rash decisions with the expectation that everything will work, but later find out what they did caused a tremendous monetary loss or time has lapsed that will never come back.
Value and Transparency
Since the introduction of roboadvisors, there has been a huge spotlight on investment advisors. Many options have flooded the market, allowing people to easily access investments at very low costs.
When the relationship is built solely on investment expectations, and someone could pick an ETF or index fund that outperforms what was suggested, this can cause doubts to creep into people’s minds. This can happen with insurance products, especially the ones that build up cash that is accessible. Something gets touted as being great, performing the best, only to find out later that the returns were not quite as expected, and the costs have increased substantially where they in are quick deterioration of the available cash.
Expectations are vital to a healthy client-advisor(er) relationship. From what service is offered, to what the client is expected to receive, and where the advisor(er) is going to provide support for what specific or all planning needs.
Eroded Trust
When there is a breakdown in expectations or something is miscommunicated, most people might begin to question the relationship and the validity of the advice they are receiving. Trust takes a lifetime to build, but can be destroyed in an instant.
Countless times, someone will believe an advisor’s advice purely out of their blind trust in them and later find out that the decision or product purchased was bad news bears. Most of this can be corrected based on clear and concise communication, along with transparent expectations.
Evolving Needs
At a specific time, a relationship is fitting because the person can quickly solve a problem or a need at that phase of life. This is often true when someone starts out of school and life is rather simple. Once we get married, change jobs, receive higher compensation, have children, start or purchase businesses (the list goes on and on), there are different things we just don’t know we should be doing unless you’re actively staying up to date and learning bits and pieces.
The estate plan appeared to work at that time because there were no children in the mix, but now we are concerned for the care of our minor children and providing legacy protections to them in the event something were to happen. A massive amount of assets could have been saved outside of retirement accounts, where they are taxed as they grow, and a different approach might be necessary to help manage the taxes. The retirement plan to spend what is saved is not solid and depends heavily on investment returns (imagine that your paycheck depends on the market being up or down the next month). All these examples could mean an advisor shift might be warranted.
We all make hundreds of decisions every day, and some we agonize over. Others we ignore because the weight feels too heavy, and there are seasons where it’s easier to look away and hope everything sorts itself out. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably someone who does care. Someone who wants to make the most effective and efficient decisions. Someone who recognizes that the people you partner with matter—far more than most realize.
So, take this moment as an invitation. Audit your professional relationships. Ask yourself whether you’re getting what you want and what you need for the life you’re building. The right advisor won’t just help you make decisions. They’ll help you build a future you’re proud of.
(This material is intended for general public use. By providing this content, Park Avenue Securities LLC and your financial representative are not undertaking to provide investment advice or make a recommendation for a specific individual or situation, or to otherwise act in a fiduciary capacity. Guardian, its subsidiaries, agents, and employees do not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. Consult your tax, legal, or accounting professional regarding your individual situation. Neither Guardian nor its subsidiaries issue umbrella or auto insurance. Tom Seeko, CExP, is a Registered Representative and Financial Advisor of Park Avenue Securities LLC (PAS). Securities products and advisory services offered through PAS, member FINRA, SIPC. Financial Representative of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian), New York, NY. PAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian. Florida Veterinary Advisors is not an affiliate or subsidiary of PAS or Guardian. Florida Veterinary Advisors is not registered in any state or with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a Registered Investment Advisor. The individuals associated with Florida Veterinary Advisors do not maintain specialized licenses or qualifications for the financial services provided to veterinary professionals CA Insurance License # 0K80141, AR Insurance License #15823672. #8644314.1 Exp. 12/2027)