In 2021, a study by Herbers & Company polled 1,000 random consumers with more than $250,000 in assets and found that “those who had hired a financial advisor were nearly three times happier with their life than others.”
The study identified and assessed four primary factors that make people happy: fulfillment, intention, impact and gratefulness, and “found that all four happiness factors are heightened in consumers who worked with a financial advisor.”
The study could not distinguish whether happier couples are more likely to hire an advisor or whether the conversations that advisors prompt about wealth, accomplishment, financial goals and desired impact create an increased awareness that boosts the factors that influence happiness.
Interestingly, the magnitude of wealth matters, and there seems to be a critical inflection point: $1.2 million, at which the impact of hiring an advisor matters most, especially as wealth increases.
Despite being married to an advisor who would answer the title question with a resounding, “obviously,” the punch line for advisors is two-fold and may confirm what they already suspected: Hiring an advisor earlier, rather than later, can increase a client’s sense of happiness; and if you are above that critical asset level of $1.2 million, hiring an advisor might be the silver bullet that allows money to buy happiness after all. Christy Charise, Founder & CEO of Strategic Advisor
www.strategicadvisor.co