The Real Costs of Switching

Paperwork. New account applications, transfer authorization forms, beneficiary designations. It's not complicated, but it's not fun either. You'll be signing things.

Account updates. If you have automatic deposits or withdrawals tied to your current accounts—payroll deposits, bill pay, Social Security direct deposit—you'll need to update those once the new accounts are open.

Different statements and logins. You'll have to learn a new online portal, a new statement format, a new way of seeing your accounts. For the first few months, you'll be looking for things in the wrong place and wondering where information is.

Building a new relationship. This is the hardest part. You're starting over with someone who doesn't know you yet. Even if your current advisor isn't great, at least they're familiar. A new advisor is an unknown. It takes time to build trust and get comfortable.

Time and energy. Between the paperwork, the account transitions, and getting up to speed with a new advisor, switching takes mental bandwidth. If you're already stretched thin, adding "find and onboard a new financial advisor" to your list might not be appealing.

These are real costs. The question is whether what you're getting is worth what you're giving up by staying.

When Staying Makes Sense

Your current advisor is good enough. Not perfect, but good enough for you to feel comfortable with their advice. They're responsive, they have the expertise in the areas that matter to you—investments, taxes, planning—and the relationship works. The benefit of switching might not justify the hassle.

You have a strong personal relationship with your advisor. Beyond the financial advice, you trust them, they've been through difficult times with you, and that relationship has real value. Just understand the tradeoff: staying for the relationship might mean accepting less optimization in your financial strategy. If you're comfortable with that tradeoff, it's a valid choice.

Your financial life is about to simplify. Maybe you're paying off your mortgage, consolidating accounts, or winding down a business. If your situation is getting simpler, you might not need the level of coordination you'd be paying for with a new advisor.

The improvement isn't clear. If you're not sure what you'd be getting that you're not getting now, switching is just change for the sake of change. That's not a good reason.

You don't want to invest the time. Switching requires effort. If you're not willing to go through discovery conversations, provide financial documents, and build a new relationship, staying where you are is the honest choice.

When Switching Makes Sense

You're not getting coordination. Your CPA and your financial advisor don't talk to each other. You're the middleman relaying information. Tax planning opportunities are being missed because no one's looking at both sides. That gap costs you money every year, and it compounds.

You're doing all the work. Your advisor gives you advice, but you're the one coordinating between professionals, managing quarterly tax payments, making sure deadlines don't slip, and keeping everything organized. You're paying for advice, but you're still carrying the burden.

Your needs have outgrown your current advisor. You were fine with basic portfolio management when your financial life was simpler. But now you have a business to exit, estate planning that needs coordination, or tax complexity your current advisor isn't equipped to handle. They're not bad—they're just not built for what you need now.

You're not confident in the advice. You ask questions and get vague answers. Strategies are suggested but never implemented. Your advisor doesn't seem to understand your situation or care about the details. You're staying because switching seems hard, not because the relationship is working.

The relationship has become transactional. You hear from them once a year for a portfolio review, maybe twice if the market drops. There's no proactive outreach, no tax planning, no coordination with your other professionals. You're paying for a service you're not really getting.

What Actually Takes Work vs. What We Handle

If you decide to switch to Atlas, here's what the process looks like:

What you'll need to do:

Sign paperwork (we prepare it, you review and sign)

Provide financial documents for planning (tax returns, statements, estate docs)

Update direct deposits or bill pay linked to old accounts

Learn a new portal and statement format

What we handle:

All coordination with the custodian to move your accounts

Following up on transfer paperwork and making sure nothing stalls

Coordinating with your current advisor if needed

Building your plan before any money moves

Setting up the new accounts

Walking you through the new systems

The paperwork is annoying, but it's short-lived. The new relationship takes time to build, but that's where the value comes from. If we're not investing in understanding your situation deeply, we can't coordinate effectively.

The Friction of Switching vs. The Cost of Staying

The question isn't whether switching is a hassle—it is. The question is whether what you're missing by staying where you are costs more than the hassle of making a change.

Switching is a one-time cost. It's a few weeks of paperwork and a few months of getting used to a new relationship. After that, it's done.

What you're missing by staying—tax opportunities, coordination between professionals, proactive planning, someone who actually reduces your workload instead of adding to it—that's a recurring cost. It compounds every year.

If your current advisor is doing a good job and the relationship is working, the friction of switching isn't worth it. Stay where you are. Seriously.

But if you're the one coordinating everything, if your CPA and advisor don't talk, if your needs have outgrown your current relationship, or if you're not confident you're getting what you're paying for—the hassle of switching is an investment. You're trading a few weeks of inconvenience for years of better coordination and less work.

What Makes the Hassle Worth It

People switch to Atlas because they're tired of being the integrator. They have a CPA, an advisor, maybe an attorney, and they're the ones making sure everyone is aligned. They want someone who handles that coordination so they don't have to.

They switch because they're approaching a major transition—selling a business, retiring, managing an inheritance—and they don't trust their current advisor to handle the complexity.

They switch because they're paying for financial advice but still doing most of the work themselves, and they want that time and energy back for something else.

If that's not you, don't switch. But if it is, the hassle is worth it.

Start With a Conversation

If you're wondering whether switching makes sense for your situation, start with a conversation. We'll talk about where you are, what's working, what's not, and whether the coordination we provide would actually solve a problem you're facing.

We're not going to tell you to switch just to switch. If your current setup is working, we'll tell you that. If we think Atlas could meaningfully improve your situation, we'll explain how. Then you decide if the benefit justifies the hassle.