Will AI take over wealth planning?

From education and entertainment to medicine and transportation, artificial intelligence (AI) is having an impact on virtually every sphere of existence. That includes our financial life.

AI is already making inroads into wealth planning and can be a valuable tool for advisors. For example, AI can be used to present potential outcomes of different strategies to achieve a specific financial goal. But can AI take over the advisor’s role? Here are a few reasons why AI can be a helpful aid but not a replacement for wealth planning from an advisor.

Discussion counts. AI for wealth planning can provide financial outcomes and give you options related to your request. However, deciding on the path that’s right for you often requires discussion, which only a human can offer.

Also, personal factors affect many financial decisions. You may have your own aspirations and worries or have concerns about a family member that you’re hesitant to share with technology, but will share more comfortably with us.

Knowing you. Your values, family dynamics, near-term and long-term life goals, and changes in your personal life can all affect investment and wealth planning decisions. We get to know your unique personal and financial situation, but AI and its algorithms cannot.

Holistic view. AI is strong when dealing with investments and can deliver helpful outputs on some insurance and investment-related tax matters. Estate planning recommendations are a work in progress. We can manage your entire wealth plan, often supported by other professionals—a plan that includes investments, life and health insurance, education savings, tax strategies and estate planning.

Privacy. We can take steps to help ensure your personal and financial information remains private. If someone were to rely solely on AI for wealth planning, they wouldn’t have such assurance. As of now, the Canadian government has not passed legislation to protect AI users regarding data use or storage.