Morality and Money: The fundamental virtues of a good financial adviser

By Patrick Tan

People often look for the wrong things in a financial advisor. An advisor who talks merely about the accumulation of money cannot be of much value to a client. Simply put, financial planning is not about chasing after money; it is about chasing after life’s purpose. And life’s greatest purpose, in my humble opinion, is about service to others -family, friends and society. In summary, life’s purpose is about the loving relationships we forge and nurture with the people around us.

A authentic financial advisor is one who understands this and approaches the financial planning process with the intent to help his client appreciate and realize the truth about life’s purpose as well.

The possible danger in accumulating money for its own sake may be inferred from a study done on the suicide rate among the graduates of all the universities in America. Remarkably, the suicide rate among Harvard graduates is the highest among all other colleges. Harvard, as you know is the most prestigious university in America, if not the world. My opinion on a possible reason why this is so, is because these graduates study for the wrong reason. When you accumulate knowledge for the wrong reasons, or with no specific life purpose, you go berserk. When a person accumulates knowledge without focusing on personal growth, they will suffer from emotional imbalance and subsequently they lose their moral character. The same goes for the accumulation of wealth.

Confucius talked about humanity and walking a righteous path in life. In other words, be true to yourself and your life’s purpose, and based on those principles, be authentic in dealing with the people in your life. Similarly, in a financial planning relationship, we invite our clients to get into an authentic relationship with us. Your advisor should exude a moral character based on have a purposeful life and demonstrate that he or she is walking just such a righteous path.

As the wealth of a person grows, it is very likely that his emotional health deteriorates more readily. We must have a desire to succeed and to make it big in life, but not for ourselves. And once we’ve made it big, we must then be ready to let go. Most people become addicted to their success. People who have no ambition don't set out to do big things. Intelligent people know what they are capable of and set out to achieve their goals for their own satisfaction. But at the pinnacle of wisdom, a rare few set out to do big things for mankind. That's the kind of life I'm chasing after and encourage my advisors and their clients to pursue as well. It is a life rich yet simple and simple yet rich! That's how I look at my life.

I hope you find a nugget of insight in this sharing and find it useful to the pursuit of your own purpose in life as well!