On this episode of The Retirement Huddle podcast, Mark Howard explains what we can learn about financial planning from the process of doing a home renovation.

Contractor’s discount

There are a lot of people who have plenty of money and could pay someone to do a renovation or something simple, but they will do it themselves.

For instance, with painting, a lot of people are amazed to find out that you can paint a room yourself, but it often doesn’t save you as much money as hiring people who can paint a lot better and get discounts on paint.

The same is true with the financial world. Financial professionals might be able to access certain investments at a lower cost than you’d be able to do it yourself. We also add value by giving tax advice, financial planning, legacy planning and guidance with health care.

“We’ve got the expertise all in one place here,” said Mark. “So if you’re a do-it-yourselfer, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we can save you a lot of time and money and agony.”

Passing inspection

If you’re doing any renovations, such as electrical or tearing out a wall, you’re probably going to need a permit and inspection process. It can be mind numbing and can take a long time, but it has a purpose.

In the financial world, good CPAs and tax preparers can act like an inspector and point out areas where you might make a big tax mistake or retirement planning mistake.

Specialization

You might hire someone to do specialized work on your house. The same is true in the financial world. There are certain advisors out there that have particular specializations, such as retirement planning.

Listen to the full episode or use the timestamps to jump to a specific section. Thanks for listening! We’ll be back for another show every other Thursday.

Today’s Rundown:

[1:50] – Contractor’s discount

[4:24] – Passing inspection

[6:35] – Specialization