May 22, 2026
What Does a Financial Advisor Do – And Should I Get One?
If you are asking, “what does a financial advisor do and should i get one,” you are probably facing a decision that feels bigger than your usual budget. Maybe you inherited money, sold a business, received a settlement, or are getting close to retirement. This guide explains what an advisor actually does, when hiring one makes sense, and how to choose someone who will serve your best interest.
Quick Answer: Do I Really Need a Financial Advisor?
A financial advisor helps you create a plan for your money, make wise financial decisions, invest with discipline, lower long-term taxes, and stay steady when markets move, and advisors may be paid in different ways. You probably need one if you recently received a windfall, your financial life feels complex, or you are 5–10 years from retirement and do not have a written income plan to help you stay focused on long-term priorities.
Some DIY investors with simple finances, modest assets, and strong investing habits may not need ongoing advice. Even then, a one-time financial plan can still benefit you by clarifying estate documents, tax priorities, insurance needs, and investment strategy.
From Third Act Retirement Planning’s perspective, the right advisor should do more than manage a portfolio and instead serve as a partner in the bigger decisions around retirement, giving, and legacy. We provide fee-only, fiduciary, biblical-wisdom-based guidance for people who want wealth to support a purposeful retirement, generous giving, and a lasting legacy.
What Does a Financial Advisor Actually Do?
A financial planner usually helps you identify goals and build a comprehensive plan. A financial advisor may also manage investments. At Third Act Retirement Planning, these roles are integrated into one ongoing relationship.
A good financial advisor looks at your whole financial life: cash flow, debt, saving, accounts, investments, insurance, taxes, estate planning, healthcare, charitable giving, mortgages, and education needs such as college planning. Financial planning often involves portfolio management, retirement planning, tax optimization, and estate planning.
A good advisor will help you identify your goals and create a personalized financial strategy based on your life circumstances and future aspirations. That may include building a written plan, coordinating investment management, reviewing insurance, planning for social security, estimating retirement income, and aligning money with values.
They can save time, alleviate stress, and help you gain clarity and confidence as you navigate complex financial decisions. A key role of financial advisors is to offer objective advice, helping clients avoid emotional decision-making during market fluctuations and ensuring they stay aligned with their long-term financial goals.
For sudden wealth clients, the first 6–12 months matter. If you have an inheritance, business exit, NIL income, or legal settlement, an advisor can assist by slowing things down, organizing scattered accounts, reviewing titles and beneficiaries, and helping you avoid irreversible gifts, speculative investments, or lifestyle upgrades made too quickly.
Key Services a Financial Advisor Can Provide: Investment Management and More
A fee-only financial advisor adds value beyond picking investments. The real work is connecting a broad range of services into one plan.
Here are the main areas to expect:
Retirement planning: An advisor projects retirement age, estimates income needs, evaluates social security claiming strategies, and models required minimum distributions. The “4% rule” can be a starting point, but modern research, including Schwab’s discussion of withdrawal strategies, shows that taxes, inflation, time horizon, and other income sources should shape the final number.
Investment management: This includes diversified, long-term portfolios, risk tolerance, risk capacity, rebalancing, and tax-efficient placement of assets between taxable, IRA, and Roth accounts.
Tax planning: Advisors often coordinate with CPAs to manage capital gains, Roth conversions in low-income years, RSUs, stock options, and charitable strategies such as donor-advised funds or Qualified Charitable Distributions after age 70½.
Estate and legacy planning: Estate planning involves creating trusts, wills, and transferring assets to protect loved ones. Advisors also work with estate attorneys on powers of attorney, revocable trusts, beneficiary designations, charitable bequests, and plans for children.
Healthcare planning: This may include Medicare decisions near age 65, Medigap vs. Advantage, long-term care insurance, and projected healthcare costs in retirement.
Major life goals: Financial advisors assist with goal setting for major life events, such as buying a home or funding college tuition.
Sudden wealth organization: This includes consolidating accounts, creating a spending plan, and establishing a cooling-off period before large gifts or purchases.
At Third Act Retirement Planning, we integrate biblical wisdom into each area: stewardship, generosity, contentment, and avoiding unnecessary debt or speculation.
How Financial Advisors Get Paid (And Why Fee‑Only Matters)
How a financial advisor is paid can influence the advice you receive. Cost structures for financial advisors can include fee-only or commission-based models, so you need to understand incentives before hiring anyone.
Financial advisors can be paid in different ways, including assets under management fees, fixed rates, commissions, and trading fees. Assets under management fees typically involve charging a percentage of the total assets managed for the client, which aligns the advisor’s interests with the client’s investment growth. This AUM model is how the Third Act Retirement Planning firm charges, using transparent fee tiers.
Some financial advisors charge a flat fee or hourly rate for specific services, such as creating a financial plan or providing advice on particular financial issues. Others use annual retainers or project-based planning fees.
The biggest distinction is fee-only vs. commission-based. Fee-only advisors are paid only by clients. Commission or fee-based advisors may earn money when they sell annuities, mutual funds, insurance, or other products.
Third Act uses a fee-only, fiduciary approach to reduce conflicts of interest, avoid product commissions, and stay aligned with the client’s best interest and biblical principles about honesty and stewardship. Fiduciaries are obligated to act in the best interest of their clients at all times.
Before you sign, ask:
How do I pay you?
Do you receive commissions or third-party compensation?
What is my total annual cost, including investment expenses?
Are there trading fees, product fees, or account minimums?
Do I Need a Financial Advisor? 7 Signs It’s Time
Most people ask this question during major transitions: inheritance, business sale, divorce, retirement, starting a family, or a career change.
You have sudden wealth and feel overwhelmed. If you inherited money in 2024–2026, sold a business, received NIL income, or settled a lawsuit, you may need help with investing, debt payoff, taxes, and lifestyle decisions.
Your tax bill keeps growing. RSUs, stock options, capital gains, real estate sales, and large IRA balances can create tax problems now and in your 70s.
You are within 5–10 years of retirement. As you approach retirement or experience major life transitions, the complexity of your financial situation may increase, making it beneficial to seek professional guidance.
You and your spouse are not aligned. A neutral advisor can help with a conversation about spending, giving, children, ministries, and legacy.
Markets shake your confidence. If downturns in 2020 or 2022 made you want to sell everything, or if you chased crypto, meme stocks, or hot IPOs, objective guidance matters.
Your finances are scattered. Multiple 401(k)s, IRAs, bank accounts, old insurance policies, and unclear beneficiaries make it hard to know what you own.
You want your money to reflect your faith. You may want to support your church, charities, missions, communities, or kingdom causes but need tax-efficient strategies.
Hiring an advisor is beneficial for individuals with complex situations or those who lack time or desire to manage their investments. You may want to work with a financial advisor if you struggle to prioritize your financial goals, need a plan for where and how to save, or want help with investment management.
If 2–3 of these describe you, a fee-only fiduciary financial planner is likely worth the cost, especially across a 10–20 year retirement horizon.
How to Choose the Right Financial Planner or Advisor for You
This checklist is useful in 2024–2026, especially if you have $500k+ in investable assets, recently received a windfall, or need wealth management that fits your values.
Start with credentials. Seeking advisors with recognized designations like CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) indicates adherence to rigorous education and regulatory standards. If you want biblically informed guidance, look for Kingdom Advisor training as well. Thomas Cloud, Jr. is a Qualified Kingdom Advisor.
When choosing a financial advisor, it’s important to find someone who understands your specific needs, keeps the planning process in focus around your financial goals, and has the right expertise for areas such as retirement planning or wealth management.
Use this simple checklist:
Fiduciary duty: Ask, “Will you act as a fiduciary for me 100% of the time?” Get the answer in writing through Form ADV or an engagement agreement.
Fee transparency: request a written explanation of fees, AUM percentages, minimums, and extra planning or trading costs.
Specialization: Choose a professional who regularly serves people like you: sudden wealth families, pre-retirees, Christian families, executives, employees with stock compensation, or a company president after a business exit.
Verification: Use FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC adviser search to review registration, disclosures, and disciplinary history.
Trust and communication: Trust is a crucial element in the relationship with a financial advisor; you should feel comfortable discussing your financial situation and goals with them.
A discovery call helps you decide whether the advisor and firm are the right fit. Pay attention to whether the advisor listens, explains clearly, and can talk comfortably about family, faith, finance, and future priorities.
Third Act Retirement Planning focuses on helping clients in their “third act” of life turn windfalls into sustainable retirement income and a God-honoring legacy.
What It’s Like to Work With a Fee‑Only Financial Advisor
At Third Act Retirement Planning, the first year is designed as an ongoing partner relationship that moves clients from confusion to clarity. Financial advisors provide ongoing guidance and support, helping clients navigate complex financial decisions and adjust their strategies as life circumstances change.
The process usually begins with a 20–30 minute discovery call. We listen to your story, recent events, concerns, and goals. For instance, you might have received an inheritance in july, sold a business before the holidays, or started planning after reading nbc news, new york times, or other news about inflation and retirement.
Next comes data gathering. We review statements, tax returns, estate documents, insurance policies, debts, and resources. Then we create a baseline picture and build a written retirement and investment plan.
Implementation may include consolidating accounts, opening or closing accounts, establishing emergency reserves, creating cash buckets, and setting up investment management with a diversified portfolio.
Ongoing guidance includes regular reviews, at least annually and more often after major life events. We help clients stay focused as markets, laws, taxes, health, family needs, and goals change.
The relationship can also include prayer when clients desire it, generosity planning, and thoughtful discussion about how to bless children, grandchildren, a university, ministries, or charities without creating unhealthy dependence.
Biblical Wisdom, Stewardship, and the “Third Act” of Life
Christian financial planning begins with a simple conviction: wealth is entrusted by God. It should be managed with wisdom, humility, diligence, and generosity.
Several biblical principles shape our work:
Avoid greed and speculation.
Seek wise counsel.
Plan diligently.
Remember that life is more than possessions.
Give with joy and purpose.
These convictions affect practical recommendations. A client may need to live below their means even after a windfall, resist pressure to maximize status purchases, avoid high-interest debt, or decline investments that conflict with conscience.
The “third act” is the season when many people head beyond their primary career or business responsibilities and ask deeper questions: What is enough? Whom can I serve? What kind of legacy should my wealth create?
Our role is to translate those convictions into a concrete plan that connects investment management, retirement income, estate planning, taxes, insurance, and charitable giving.
Next Steps: Is Working With Third Act Retirement Planning Right for You?
You may benefit most from a financial advisor if your life includes complexity, sudden wealth, retirement decisions, or a desire for purpose-driven, biblically guided planning.
If you have $500k+ in investable assets, expect retirement within 5–15 years, recently received an inheritance or settlement, or simply want assistance to manage money wisely, now is a good time to seek professional advice.
To start with Third Act Retirement Planning, contact us to schedule a discovery call. There is no obligation. We will review your high-level goals, explain our process, discuss fees, and help you decide what you may gain from the relationship and whether the relationship is a good fit.
Wise, faith-informed planning today with a good advisor can turn a 2024–2026 windfall into a resilient retirement and a legacy that blesses children, grandchildren, and kingdom causes.