Vanguard, the most fee-sensitive, anti-Advisor, pro-do it yourself financial company that I know, did a study, the results of which are published in their paper titled, Advisor’s Alpha.

Vanguard concludes, beautifully, that the value added by working with a competent financial advisor is roughly 3% per year, net after fees.

Studies done by Morningstar, Aon Hewitt and the Investment Funds Institute of Canada all back up Vanguard’s findings.

The Canadian study went further, finding 61% of those paying for advice answered affirmatively to, “I have peace of mind” compared to only 36% of the “no plan” peers.

While I’m a firm, yet biased believer, the math doesn’t lie. The multiplication of those gains over a lifetime of investing is staggering.