Delivering meaningful customer service in tough times is continuing to pay off for the nation’s financial planners, with the vast majority of consumers saying they trust their own planner.
For the second consecutive year, 90 percent of middle-class Americans who work with a financial planner say they trust their own personal financial planner, according to recent survey results from the First Command Financial Behaviors Index®. Consumers say planners are earning that trust through the personalized care they have been providing during the current financial turmoil.
“Americans who choose to work with a financial planner receive a unique combination of economic and emotional assistance,” said Scott Spiker, CEO of First Command Financial Services, Inc. “The professional advice and service offered by planners generates important fiscal benefits for consumers. Through personalized advice and knowledgeable service, financial planners deliver a sense of security to consumers as they work through our sometimes-challenging economic environment. The high degree of trust revealed in our survey results underscores the profound value that financial planners bring to the lives of their clients.”
“People who are looking for financial advice they can trust do not typically rely on facts and figures,” Spiker said. “Financial planning is a trust-based profession built on a strong consumer/planner relationship.”
About the First Command Financial Behaviors Index®
Compiled by Sentient Decision Science, LLC, the First Command Financial Behaviors Index® assesses trends among the American public’s financial behaviors, attitudes and intentions through a monthly survey of approximately 1,000 U.S. consumers aged 25 to 70 with annual household incomes of at least $50,000. Results are reported quarterly. The margin of error is +/- 3.1 percent with a 95 percent level of confidence. www.firstcommand.com/research
About Sentient Decision Science, Inc.
Sentient Decision Science was commissioned by First Command to compile the Financial Behaviors Index®. SDS is a behavioral science and consumer psychology consulting firm with special vertical expertise within the financial services industry. SDS specializes in advanced research methods and statistical analysis of behavioral and attitudinal data.
About First Command
First Command Financial Services and its subsidiaries, including First Command Bank and First Command Financial Planning, assist American families in their efforts to build wealth, reduce debt and pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams—focusing on consumer behavior as the first and most powerful determinant of results. Through knowledgeable advice and coaching of the financial behaviors conducive to success, First Command Financial Advisors have built trustworthy, lasting relationships with hundreds of thousands of client families since 1958.
First Command Financial Services, Inc., is the parent of First Command Financial Planning, Inc. (Member SIPC, FINRA), First Command Insurance Services, Inc. and First Command Bank. Financial planning services and investment products, including securities, are offered by First Command Financial Planning, Inc. Insurance products and services are offered by First Command Insurance Services, Inc. Banking products and services are offered by First Command Bank. In certain states, as required by law, First Command Insurance Services, Inc. does business as a separate domestic corporation. Securities products are not FDIC insured, have no bank guarantee and may lose value. A financial plan, by itself, cannot assure that retirement or other financial goals will be met.