What are your hopes and dreams for the future? They probably begin with being able to provide for yourself and your family. But you also might aspire to a bigger home, an exotic vacation or another luxury, savings for your children's education, and a nest egg for retirement.

While you may be able to achieve all of those things, you can't just snap your fingers and make them happen. You'll need hard work and financial discipline, and you'll need to make a long-term commitment to work toward your goals. Enlisting the services of a financial advisor could help guide you along the way.

Of course, you still would be the one calling the shots, but an advisor can provide valuable assistance in many respects. An advisor can help you:

• Assess your current financial status, including your income, investments, assets, liabilities, insurance coverage, tax situation, and estate plan;

• Set goals that are both ambitious and reasonable;

• Account for changes in your personal circumstances (births, deaths, marriage, or divorce);

• Address weaknesses in your current investment and retirement planning;

• Develop a comprehensive plan to suit your current needs and future desires.

Couldn't you do all of this on your own? If you're sufficiently savvy about financial matters you could, but few people have the time, expertise, and inclination to do all that's required. And even if you're determined to tackle your financial objectives by yourself, you could need a push to get you started. What's more, an objective third party such as a professional financial advisor may add a valuable new perspective to your own outlook. You might benefit from having someone review key decisions about your financial future.

Even if you don't feel you need the help of a financial planner now, something could happen to trigger a call for help. For instance, maybe you've inherited a large sum of money or property and you're not sure how to handle it. Perhaps you, or your spouse, have been laid off from a job and suddenly money is tight and you're forced to make financial trade-offs. Or you may require assistance on other financial fronts ranging from elder-care planning to paying higher-than-expected college costs for your kids or resolving a shortfall in your retirement savings.

If you do decide to use a professional financial advisor, you'll still need to find one who is experienced and has experience helping clients in your situation. We would be glad to show you the high level of services that we provide.