Behavioral and wealth considerations for seeking professional financial planning help

Abstract

This study uses a Canadian survey to examine the decisions to seek professional financial planning help. We find that people who use a financial planner have more wealth, lower subjective financial stress, and higher financial self-efficacy than people who do not use a financial planner. Using the longitudinal design of the survey we find that people with higher self-efficacy in period t-1 are more likely to seek help in period t, leading to the conclusion that high self-efficacy drives one to seek financial planning help. We do not find that subjective financial stress leads one to seek financial planning help. Implications for practitioners, consumers, and policy makers are discussed.