Dallas County Living Well Magazine March/April 2016 | Page 47

held to the fiduciary standard. They are required by law to
act in your best interests. Brokers are not.

3) You Can Talk and
They Will Listen (Except when they Interrupt!)

Financial advisors are a good sounding board for a woman’s brilliant ideas. A financial advisor can give us perspective, straight talk, and valuable advice. Female brains are
more interconnected between the brain hemispheres. Male
brains have more connections within each hemisphere,
(University of Pennsylvania, Male and Female Brains Really
Are Built Differently). This means women can zigzag
between left “logic” and right “creative” more
easily than men. Female brains seem to have a stronger connection between their logical and intuitive elements.
“When women are asked to do particularly hard tasks,
they might engage very different parts of the brain,” said
Ragini Verma, an associate professor of radiology at the
University of Pennsylvania and one of the authors of the
report. “Men might over-engage just one part of the brain.”

4) To Help You Save and Budget
Women live longer than men. Time Magazine states that,
across the industrialized world, women still live five to 10
years longer than men. While everyone can put a little
money aside for retirement, a financial advisor can help
you build an investment portfolio that you won’t outlive.

Also, if there are surprises in your life that affect your income or need for capital (and there always are), your
financial advisor can be your first call. They can help
you through a crisis by planning and budgeting
in advance and then by adjusting your budget as
circumstances demand.

5) To Give You Freedom and Flexibility
Unfortunately, even though it is 2016, there is still a Gender Pay Gap. Women often earn less compensation then
men in the same position. As a result, women need every
advantage they can get, and having an experienced financial advisor can help.
Having a solid financial plan gives you the freedom to focus on what’s really important in your
life––your family, your faith, your health and happiness…
but not whether you picked the right stocks and bonds.
Financial advisors are extremely valuable and there are
differences in cost. Make sure you understand how they
are compensated and check for hidden fees that might not
be transparent.
Select a financial advisor who subscribes to a low-cost,
passive investment philosophy and adheres to the fiduciary
standard. This way, you keep more of the money you’ve
earned.

At Portfolio Solutions®, we design, implement, and maintain dedicated portfolios using low-cost, passive
investing methods so our clients keep more of what the global markets offer.
We would rather help investors earn more by controlling their investment costs
than by taking unnecessary, additional risk in their portfolios.
“Nicole C. Milici is the Chief Marketing Officer of Portfolio Solutions and leads all of the firm’s
Marketing and Outreach Strategy.”
DALLAS COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2016

45