Making financial decisions is often a big part of being an investor, but a majority of American investors seek outside advice when making personal decisions, according to a recent Gallup survey.
Using the Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index survey, more than 1,000 investors in the U.S. shared how often they use advice for different personal financial decisions.
Five common financial decisions were examined; buying a car, planning a major trip, buying a house, creating a plan for personal finances and creating a plan for college savings. With each financial decision, investors were asked if they sought outside advice and whether it was informal advice or advice from a professional.
Creating a personal financial plan was the most common area where investors asked for advice. Out of the 63% who asked for personal financial advice, 74% of them went to a professional and 24% went to an informal source for advice.
Almost half of investors (42%) asked for advice while creating a savings plan for a college education. Where they went for advice was almost even, with 48% asking a professional and 49% asking informal sources.
Buying a car was the most common financial decision of the group (82%), but the smallest number of investors asked for advice about it (28%). Of the respondents who did ask for advice, most of them opted for informal advice (81%) over professional advice (19%).
Thirty-nine percent of the investors who participated in the study sought out advice when buying a house. Half of them asked professionals and 48% used informal advice.
Some investors (31%) even asked for advice when planning for a major vacation. Most of them (76%) asked informally, but 23% sought out advice from professionals.
The report found that female investors were often more likely to ask for advice than male investors, except in the category of vacation planning.
Gallup’s bottom line said that getting professional advice for big financial decisions can be the right choice when the advice leads to cost-savings or long-term profit.
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