Who Can We Trust?
“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”
– Steven Covey
There are two different levels of trust to consider when choosing an advisor. A lot of people think of trust in the sense that “I know my advisor would never do anything to harm me”, that he or she would never knowingly cheat them or do them harm. While this level of trust is obviously very important, it sets a fairly low standard.
There is a higher standard of trust, which is the trust that you should expect from an advisor who pledges to act as a fiduciary for you and your family. An advisor who commits to act as your fiduciary is bound to always act in your best interest, and will proactively do the things which have the greatest probability of advancing your success. Your advisor should handle your money and financial decisions as you would do for yourself, if you had the benefit of all of the same knowledge and experience he or she has.
The first definition of trust is that you trust that your advisor will Never Do The Wrong Thing For You. In the second definition, you trust your advisor will Always Do The Right Thing For You. These are not just two ways of saying the same thing, and there is a difference.
Click here for a thoughtful article on how you can tell immediately if your advisor is worthy of this kind of trust: concentus.com/trust-me