The Real Value Of Financial Advice, Beyond Returns
Written by Lance Swansbra
When people think about financial advice, the first question is almost always the same.
“How much extra return can you get me?”
It’s a fair question. Returns matter. Investing is pointless if your money doesn’t grow. But focusing only on returns is like judging a doctor solely on how quickly you leave the waiting room. It misses what actually protects and improves your life.
In reality, the true value of financial advice has very little to do with beating the market and everything to do with decision making, behaviour, clarity, and long term outcomes. Especially when life does not go to plan.
Returns are noisy and largely uncontrollable
Let’s start with an uncomfortable truth. No adviser can control markets.
Markets go up, markets go down, and sometimes they do both in the same year just to keep things interesting! Anyone promising consistent outperformance is either lucky, misleading, or selling something with far more risk than you realise.
Good advice does not rely on predicting markets. It focuses on what can be controlled. Things like structure, tax, risk, behaviour, and timing of decisions. These factors quietly compound over decades and often matter far more than picking the perfect investment.
Two people can earn the same average return and end up in very different financial positions. The difference usually comes down to decisions, not markets.
Behaviour matters more than spreadsheets
One of the biggest destroyers of wealth is not fees, taxes, or poor investments. It’s behaviour.
We see it on a regular basis. People panic when markets fall, sit in cash for too long after selling, chase the latest hot investment, or abandon a sound plan because it feels uncomfortable in the moment.
Financial advice acts as a behavioural circuit breaker. A good adviser helps you stay invested when your instincts are screaming to do the opposite. They slow you down when emotions are running high and bring perspective when headlines are designed to provoke fear.
This is not theoretical. Numerous studies show that investor behaviour can cost people one to four percent per year in returns. Not because the investments are bad, but because decisions are mistimed.
Avoiding those mistakes over a lifetime can add more value than outperforming the market ever could.
Clarity reduces stress and improves life decisions
Money stress is rarely about numbers alone. It’s often about uncertainty.
People worry because they don’t know if they are on track, how long their money will last, or whether a decision today will come back to bite them later. This uncertainty bleeds into career choices, family decisions, and health.
One of the most underrated benefits of financial advice is clarity.
Knowing where you stand. Knowing what is possible. Knowing what trade offs you are making and why. Knowing that if life throws a curveball, there is a plan.
Clarity changes how people live. We regularly see clients make better career decisions, step back from work earlier, or say yes to opportunities they would have avoided out of fear. Not because they suddenly became wealthier overnight, but because they finally understood their position.
Advice helps you avoid costly mistakes
Big financial mistakes are rarely dramatic. They are usually quiet, reasonable sounding decisions that compound negatively over time.
Holding too much cash for too long. Taking on debt without understanding the long-term impact. Helping adult children financially without boundaries. Not structuring investments in tax effective manner. Delaying decisions because they feel too hard.
Individually, these choices might not seem disastrous. Combined, they can derail an otherwise solid financial position.
A good adviser acts as a second set of eyes. Someone who has seen these scenarios before and can help you spot issues early, before they become expensive.
Often, the value is not in what you do, but in what you avoid doing.
Strategy beats optimisation
Many people assume financial advice is about squeezing every last dollar out of the system. Minimising tax at all costs. Maximising returns at all costs. Optimising everything.
In reality, optimisation without context can be dangerous.
The best advice focuses on strategy first. What are you trying to achieve. What matters most. What risks are worth taking and which ones are not.
Sometimes the right answer is paying a little more tax in exchange for flexibility. Sometimes it’s accepting lower expected returns in exchange for sleep at night. Sometimes it’s choosing simplicity over complexity, even if the numbers look slightly less impressive on paper.
Advice is about aligning money with life, not winning a spreadsheet competition.
Life is unpredictable, advice adapts
Most people do not live a neat financial journey.
Careers change. Businesses are sold. Health issues arise. Parents age. Children grow up. Relationships evolve. Goals shift.
A static plan created once and forgotten can quickly become useless. The real value of advice comes from ongoing adjustment.
As life changes, the advice changes. Cash flow strategies evolve. Investment risk is dialled up or down. Estate plans are updated. Retirement timelines shift.
This adaptability is critical. It’s also something most people struggle to do on their own, especially when decisions are emotionally charged or when it never feels like there’s enough hours in the day.
Confidence to act when it matters most
There are moments in life when financial decisions have outsized impact.
Selling a business. Taking redundancy. Receiving an inheritance. Deciding when to retire. Helping family financially. Navigating a market crash.
In these moments, the cost of inaction or poor advice can be enormous. Having someone who understands your full picture and can guide you calmly through those decisions is invaluable.
Confidence to act, or not act, at the right time often determines outcomes far more than day to day investment performance.
Advice is not about beating the market
The best advisers are not trying to outsmart the market. They are trying to help clients outsmart themselves.
They design portfolios that match real risk tolerance, not theoretical questionnaires. They structure finances tax effectively. They plan for the boring but critical stuff like cash flow, insurance, estate planning, and contingencies.
They help clients stay the course when markets test their resolve. They bring perspective when noise gets loud.
Over time, this leads to better outcomes. Not always flashier returns, but outcomes that actually support the life you want to live.
Measuring value the right way
If you judge financial advice solely on annual returns, you will always be disappointed. Markets are unpredictable and short term performance is a poor scorecard.
A better way to measure value is to ask different questions.
Do I feel more confident about my financial future?
Do I understand my position and my options?
Am I making decisions with intention rather than fear?
Am I avoiding mistakes I might otherwise make?
Does my money support the life I want, now and in the future?
When the answer to those questions is yes, the value of advice becomes obvious?
The bottom line
Financial advice is not about finding the perfect investment or predicting the next market move. It’s about building a framework that helps you make better decisions over decades.
It’s about clarity, discipline, perspective, and alignment. It’s about protecting you from your worst instincts and giving you confidence to act when it matters most.
Returns matter, but they are only one piece of the puzzle. The real value of advice shows up quietly, steadily, and often only in hindsight.
And for most people, that value far outweighs the number at the top of an investment report.
Get in touch with Braeside Wealth today for a chat about how this approach could work for your situation. It’s the first step toward a calm, confident, and financially free retirement. Click here to book a 15-minute Good Fit Chat.
The information in this article is general information and does not take into account any person’s individual situation. You should always do your own research, or seek professional advice to assist you in making an informed decision about what suits your needs.