Boomer success depends on advisors

This just in – investors who get regular financial advice make better decisions than those who rarely or never get professional advice. While hardly surprising, it's good news for advisors. A recently-released report sponsored by the Retirement Income Industry Association found that investors who always or sometimes used advisors had considerably more assets than those who did not. The study, which analyzed a 10-year period from 1994 to 2004, found the inflation-adjusted difference in financial assets for investors who regularly used an advisor's counsel was $106,000, compared with $29,000 for investors who never used professional advice.

The study credits investors' willingness to collaborate with their advisors as the reason for their success. "The research suggests that collaborative advisors deliver the most benefit to households by helping them develop a comprehensive financial strategy that not only focuses on investing wisely, but also protecting the household from the unexpected," says Elvin Turner, managing director of Turner Consulting LLC and co-author of the report.

Investors who say they "always" use an advisor before making a major financial decision were more likely to use independent financial planners and certified public accounts, the study found. Those who use a professional's advice less frequently were more likely to turn to mutual fund advisors, independent insurance agents and discount brokers.