Can you trust financial advice from an AI chatbot?
More and more people are trusting AI chatbots for financial advice. Here’s what we know about their advice.
Good luck with AI chatbots reportedly coming after financial advisor roles, advisors say.
Financial advisors are no longer just providing investment assistance and filling nest eggs. Financial advisors now serve as friends, confidants, and sometimes even day-to-day assistants, helping clients manage their lives and reduce stress. They work to help their clients live their best lives now and in the future.
Our various services to meet the different needs of our customers include: We can introduce you to and work with an estate planning attorney to create a will or trust for your children and grandchildren. Suggest a trust company that can provide medical and financial powers of attorney to people and couples without children. Ability to act as executor and trustee of an estate. They may even offer advice on caregiving, as well as budgeting and spending tips.
“If you go back 25 years, this business was primarily transactional, like investments and insurance deals,” said Brian Leitner, managing director of wealth solutions at national financial services company Mariner. Mariner provides assistance to clients dealing with the pressures of caring for aging parents, children with disabilities, and other complex health-related issues. “Now it’s across the board.”
Why is the role of financial advisors expanding?
Financial advisors are in a unique position to help clients navigate major life changes, they say. Advisors help clients raise money and realize their goals, so they know their clients’ fears, dreams, hopes, themselves, the people around them, their relationships, and what’s most important to them.
The role is much different than it was decades ago, when Mike McCracken, president and founder of Wealth Guide Financial, was learning to invest at age 14. “I used to use my father’s broker to buy stocks,” he said. “He never asked me what I was saving my money for or why I was saving it. So he put me in stocks that I was interested in, but if I wanted to buy a bike next week, I would have done that.” be It was a terrible thing to do,” because McCracken’s money would have been tied up in stocks.
“As I got more involved in practice, I started wearing double hats,” McCracken said. “As a fiduciary, I don’t just do what’s right for my clients; I need to know what’s best because I’m doing what’s best. When I give advice, it affects the rest of their lives.”
These days, financial advisors ask tough questions and dig deeper to determine if your needs and desires are being adequately met.
“Financial planning often sits at the intersection of health, family relationships, and major life decisions,” says Leitner.
How can a financial advisor help?
In addition to how to invest your funds, an advisor can make recommendations regarding taxes, charitable giving, and trust and estate planning, even if you are unable to draft the legal documents yourself. For that you need a lawyer.
Some advisors also act as day-to-day counselors, helping you create a budget and find ways to purchase almost everything. “Helping people buy cars is nothing new to us,” Leitner said. “Anytime there is a financial transaction, we want to know.”
McCracken said he regularly receives calls about whether and how to pay off his truck or how to finance a vacation home. He said he would take a thorough look at a customer’s financial situation, consider their desired lifestyle and goals, and crunch the numbers to find out when they can achieve what they want.
“Is it a financial thing? You can call me anytime,” he said.
Mariner takes its services a step further into the personal realm to help navigate the complexities of health care and long-term care. Mariner recently announced a partnership with Cariloop, a caregiving support platform that provides people with expert coaching, caregiving tools, and a network of vetted providers to help families with aging parents, children with disabilities, and other complex caregiving scenarios.
It may seem strange for a financial advisory firm to offer caregiving assistance, but according to AARP, more than 63 million Americans (nearly 1 in 4 adults) are caregivers, and nearly 1 in 3 support both a parent and a child.
Related decisions directly impact retirement planning, estate planning, and long-term financial security. As a result, more customers are turning to financial advisors for advice during these stressful times, Leitner said. She herself said, “My father’s health is not very good, so my mother is taking care of him.”
“The adoption rate has exceeded our expectations, and the testimonials bring tears to our eyes,” he says. “We are vulnerable and the stressors are caused by what is going on personally in our lives, whether it be children with special needs, mothers or fathers.”
CaliLoop provides support to Mariner employees and customers. Kariloop takes on some of the burden, such as researching companies that accept your insurance, finding vetted caregivers, calling Medicare or long-term care insurance companies on your behalf, or guiding you in finding the right individualized education program for your disabled dependent.
“Today’s advisors appear in front of their clients at the moments that matter most,” said Marty Bicknell, CEO and president of the Mariners.
Medora Lee is USA TODAY’s money, markets and personal finance reporter. Please contact us at mjlee@usatoday.com. Subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
