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Sound Advice: October 21, 2026

What's the importance of all the charts in TV commercials for financial advisers?

The charts you see in TV commercials for financial advisers can be useful, but they’re often more persuasive than informative.

A chart can make a financial strategy look objective and predictable when the underlying assumptions may be anything but.

What to be skeptical about

  • Past performance: A rising stock-market line doesn't mean your money will follow the same path in the future.
  • Cherry-picked time periods: Starting a chart at a market low and ending at a high can make almost any strategy look spectacular.
  • Missing fees and taxes: A chart may show a hypothetical return before advisory fees, fund expenses, taxes or other costs.
  • Hypothetical projections: Retirement-income or growth charts frequently depend on assumptions about investment returns, inflation, withdrawals, and longevity. Small changes in those assumptions can produce dramatically different outcomes.
  • No volatility shown: A smooth upward line can hide the fact that the actual investment experience could involve substantial losses along the way.
  • Selective comparisons: An adviser may compare their recommended strategy with an index or alternative that makes their approach look particularly attractive.
  • Illustrations aren't guarantees: Even a mathematically correct projection is not a promise that those results will occur.

The better question

When an adviser shows you a chart, don't ask only “How good does this look?” Ask:

“What assumptions produced this chart, and what happens if those assumptions are wrong?”

Then ask for the fees, taxes, risks, investment assumptions, time period, and benchmark behind it.

A beautiful chart is not evidence that an adviser is good. The quality and transparency of the assumptions behind the chart are much more important.

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