In this MarketWatch article, financial journalist Brett Arends discusses an academic paper arguing that “talking to a financial adviser may be enough to dramatically boost people’s savings rates.”
Using data from a large retail bank, the research paper shows that there is a correlation between getting retirement related advice and an increase in tax-exempt retirement accounts and equity (stock) investments.
People were ten times likely to open a retirement account in the month they met with an advisor than in a month they didn’t.
Also, those who already have a retirement account are five times more likely to save in the month they meet with an advisor than they are in any other month.
The study involved 20,000 clients of a big Swiss bank for a 10-year period through 2021, and captured instances when the advisor initiated contact with the client.
