Americans Pick Advisers Who Appreciate Their Needs, Have Track Record, Survey Says

When choosing a financial adviser, roughly half of Americans look for someone who can address their specific needs and can show an established track record, according to an annual survey released Monday by Northwestern Mutual. In an annual survey over 2,700 Americans, 54% of respondents said when choosing an adviser they look for someone who understands their specific needs for their stage in life was an important factor, and 51% said the same of an adviser who has an established track record.

The survey also found that respondents’ leading reasons for deciding to hire an adviser include accessing professional expertise they lack (48%); assistance with long-term and goal-oriented planning (48%); reducing anxiety (44%); and assistance with financial discipline (43%).

The survey found that 37% of Americans work with an adviser and that doing so can increase one’s financial confidence. When it came to retirees, a much larger 80% said they were confident they would have enough money for retirement, compared with 58% confidence of those without an adviser.

The sample was weighted for household income, so the confidence gap cannot be dismissed by the objection that those who hire advisers already have more money and are therefore more confident in their finances.

This boost in confidence was also detected in a question about the availability of Social Security, an issue seemingly unrelated to one’s access to an adviser: 66% of respondents with an adviser said they were confident that Social Security “will be there when I need it,” compared with 49% of those without an adviser.

Many respondents acknowledged a need for better financial planning: 66% of respondents said their financial planning needed improvement, up from 62% last year. The responses varied generationally, as younger respondents—79% of both Millennials and Generation Z—resoundingly answered this question in the affirmative, compared with 67% of Generation X and 52% of Baby Boomers.

However, the increase in acknowledged need for financial planning was higher for older respondents. Though 79% of Millennials and Gen Z said they needed more financial planning, 74% said the same last year. At the time, only 41% of Boomers said they needed more, compared with 52% this year, an 11-point jump.

The survey was conducted from February 17 to March 2 and sampled 2,740 American adults. The results were weighted for education, age, gender, race, region and household income.