Oftentimes in life we seek advice or guidance from other important people in our lives — be that your spouse, siblings, best friend, business partners, or even your parents. However, they may not always be the best sources of information. They mean well, but they’re not experts in everything. That being said, following in their footsteps may also not be the best plan for your financial well-being. You may also seek out advice from pundits you see on TV or read in magazines or newspapers. Ultimately we make our choices the way others tell us to or based on how we’ve seen them make their choices. We don’t judge whether they’ve been good or bad at it.  We wouldn’t do this in other spheres: When you’re really ill and you go to a physician, you’re putting your trust in their hands to guide you past that illness. Unfortunately, perhaps, poor financial “health” doesn’t always alert us with recognizable symptoms in the way that poor physical health usually does; often the effects of our poor financial choices creep up on us over a long period. We don’t always remember that what we’re hearing or reading or being told doesn’t always apply specifically to us. It’s for the masses or based on someone’s past experiences, which doesn’t always mean the best advice for you.

And what’s scary about making poor financial decisions is that it could take decades to see their impact. Cash flow will start to get tight and we won’t be able to afford certain things we had hoped. Maybe we won’t be able to travel as much as we had hoped or our dream home isn’t exactly what we had envisioned. But without proper guidance you may never know what financial decisions affected your future, and you could continue on the path without correcting it. There aren’t any warning signs in the present. It’s why one needs to seek out personalized advice from an expert.

For more information about finding your own path for the wisest financial decisions for your life, visit tswealth.com.