Advisor as doctor, but we are all our own physicians...

A few months back I alluded to the fact that I see the financial advisor/planner as being a lot like a general practitioner physician: we are generalists trying to give sensible guidance on a wide array of financial topics in people's lives, ultimately referring out a lot of things (taxes, legal, etc) to other professionals. Those who try to be all things not just to all people but to any one person quickly run up against the limits of their own capacities.

In the last week or so, after getting bit by a dog (it appears I forgot to write about that, not a big deal, but there were some humorous moments) and then going to meet my new main doc and getting some bloodwork done, it was really brought home to me how true it is in this day and age that we are all our own physicians. Doctors are there to watch for things getting out of whack, to interpret blood tests and other little vitals to let us know when aging and other processes are catching up to us, and to help us do the right things in times of crisis. But mostly they are coaches who steer us towards healthy practices to slow the advance of chronic conditions to which we are all subject by modern living. They counsel exercise, decent eating, stress management, sleep, community etc. They don't have time to do much else when the clock allocates 18 minutes per appointment.

And so it is with finance. Those of us who counsel others are very limited in our span of control or influence. We can try to model, illustrate, and instill practices that will benefit people in the long run, but we can't force anyone to do anything, except for the things we have in our direct control, typically investments. Which are important but only become a dominant part of most people's financial lives relatively late in the game, when they are in their mid-to-late 50s and later. Up until then it's so much more about forecasting future needs, saving, spending, being tax-conscious, and not making crazy mistakes in investing by stretching too far for big wins. And covering one's bases with insurance.

The problem is all of this stuff is boring, complex, not sexy, it all involves a high level of abstraction and deferral of gratification. Rare is the person who enjoys these things. So our job is to continually nudge others in a sensible direction, step by plodding step.

This is also ultimately the limiting factor in the business of robo-advisors and other platforms that deliver advice over screens. They are competing for peoples' attention with cat videos, sitcoms, social networks, and the whole panoply of distractions that draw people away from domains that alternately make their eyes glaze over and elicit fear. Robo-advisors can undoubtedly provide good services and help many, particularly younger folks, but as life gets more complicated and children, dollar figures, and risks get bigger, many people need more granular listening and nudging from actual human beings.

For us as providers, as for doctors, the constant struggle is scaling, division of labor, and time management to do this well. Speaking of, gotta hop.