{"id":23226,"date":"2021-01-14T09:48:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T13:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=23226"},"modified":"2021-01-24T18:07:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T22:07:51","slug":"investment-counselors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/","title":{"rendered":"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are investment counselors? What does an investment counselor do, and should you consult one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investment counselors are people who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-manage-your-finances\/\">manage your money<\/a>. Often, they&#8217;re independent firms, but can also be part of a larger bank.  Investment counselors look out for your wealth over the long term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about investment counselors, what they do, and how to find one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I<strong>nvestment Counselors and Bank Services<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Investment counsel firms manage your money for you in exchange for fees. They can be independent firms or arms of larger banks (often called private banking or wealth management).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Graham, <strong>the best investment advisors tend to be conservative in their actions and promises<\/strong>. They want to deliver acceptable returns and preserve your principal over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They may also help you meet your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/goals-change\/\">financial goals<\/a> in general, including managing your budget, planning for retirement, and customizing an investment approach for your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The primary role of such advisors may be to protect you from yourself. In times of financial duress, they act as a stabilizer, helping you avoid unwise decisions that you might indulge in alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his commentary, Zweig suggests questions to vet such an advisor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How do you define success? What would a good outcome with me be like in 10 years?<\/li><li>What\u2019s your investment philosophy?<\/li><li>How many clients do you have? What do you do for them? How often do you talk?<\/li><li>What returns are realistic for my investments?<\/li><li>Have you ever received a formal complaint?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Financial Information<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These services provide financial information to be used by customers to make their own financial decisions. They often exist as organizations that send out newsletters or provide databases of information. These services cost less than the investment advisors above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The services vary in how opinionated they are about the information they put out, which then determines how you should approach them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>On the most objective end, organizations produce merely statistical data on securities, which is the cornerstone for securities analysis. Examples of reputable firms from Graham\u2019s time include Moody\u2019s and Standard &amp; Poor\u2019s.<\/li><li>On the more opinionated end, services may issue forecasts on the direction of the market or of individual stocks. There is a large demand from investors for oracle-like advice, and businesses will always exist to supply it. Graham has a dim view of these types of forecasts and often finds them inaccurate, technically unsound, or short-sighted.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For any financial information you receive, do your own research instead of relying solely on recommendations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are investment counselors? What does an investment counselor do, and should you consult one? Investment counselors are people who manage your money. Often, they&#8217;re independent firms, but can also be part of a larger bank. Investment counselors look out for your wealth over the long term. Read more about investment counselors, what they do, and how to find one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,29,31],"tags":[184],"class_list":["post-23226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-career","category-money","tag-the-intelligent-investor","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What do investment counselors do? These counselors are in charge of your wealth for the long term\u2014here&#039;s how to find a great one.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do investment counselors do? These counselors are in charge of your wealth for the long term\u2014here&#039;s how to find a great one.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-14T13:48:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-24T22:07:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-14T13:48:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-24T22:07:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\"},\"wordCount\":424,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Intelligent Investor\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Career\",\"Money\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\",\"name\":\"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-14T13:48:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-24T22:07:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"What do investment counselors do? These counselors are in charge of your wealth for the long term\u2014here's how to find a great one.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Investing For The Future: 3 Things Millionaires Do\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It? - Shortform Books","description":"What do investment counselors do? These counselors are in charge of your wealth for the long term\u2014here's how to find a great one.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?","og_description":"What do investment counselors do? These counselors are in charge of your wealth for the long term\u2014here's how to find a great one.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-01-14T13:48:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-24T22:07:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?","datePublished":"2021-01-14T13:48:45+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-24T22:07:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/"},"wordCount":424,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg","keywords":["The Intelligent Investor"],"articleSection":["Business","Career","Money"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/","name":"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It? - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-14T13:48:45+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-24T22:07:51+00:00","description":"What do investment counselors do? These counselors are in charge of your wealth for the long term\u2014here's how to find a great one.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Investing For The Future: 3 Things Millionaires Do"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/investment-counselors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Investment Counselors: Are They Worth It?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/crucial-conversation-examples-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25050,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23226\/revisions\/25050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}