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What's the Difference Between a Wealth Manager and a Financial Advisor?

So you’ve made the decision to seek professional help with your financial retirement planning. 

Congratulations! That is by far the most important step you can take to get your financial and retirement planning on track

Now you may be wondering, “Do I need a Wealth Manager or a Financial Advisor? What’s the difference and why would I choose one over the other?” By the time you are done reading this short primer, you should have the answers to these questions and more.

Click Your State to Get Matched With Financial Advisors Who Serve Your Area

After you choose your state and answer a few questions, you can compare up to three advisors who serve your area and decide which to work with.

Investing involves risk and no situation is the same. This is in no way intended as a personal recommendation and investment decisions are solely those of the reader.

What Is a Financial Advisor?

A financial advisor is an investment professional who helps clients with a wide range of financial services. Many people have an idea of a financial advisor as someone who just executes trades on behalf of their client, but they are usually responsible for much more than that. 

Advisors often provide comprehensive financial planning and investment management, as well as offering tax advice, budgeting, and even insurance strategies to maximize their client’s retirement nest-egg.

What Is a Wealth Manager?

Wealth managers are actually a subset of financial advisors. But whereas most financial advisors serve the average investor, wealth managers primarily serve only high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. As the title implies, they usually manage large amounts of wealth for these clients.

Wealth managers offer many of the same services as a more general financial advisor, but also provide philanthropic and legal planning services, among other specialized services. A client’s needs ultimately determine which services a wealth manager will provide.

So, What’s Best for You?

Your next step should be to speak with some advisors and see which suits your financial situation. 

SmartAsset's free advisor matching tool makes it easy to find a vetted financial advisor so you can make an informed decision and choose one that best suits your individual needs. And, all of the advisors on SmartAsset’s platform are registered fiduciaries, meaning they're obligated to act in your best financial interest. The whole process only takes a few minutes.

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SmartAsset Advisors, LLC ("SmartAsset"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Financial Insight Technology, is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser.  SmartAsset’s services are limited to referring users to third party registered investment advisers and/or investment adviser representatives (“RIA/IARs”) that have elected to participate in our matching platform based on information gathered from users through our online questionnaire. SmartAsset does not review the ongoing performance of any RIA/IAR, participate in the management of any user’s account by an RIA/IAR or provide advice regarding specific investments.

We do not manage client funds or hold custody of assets, we help users connect with relevant financial advisors.

This is not an offer to buy or sell any security or interest. All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Working with an adviser may come with potential downsides such as payment of fees (which will reduce returns). There are no guarantees that working with an adviser will yield positive returns. The existence of a fiduciary duty does not prevent the rise of potential conflicts of interest.

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