By Peter Dougherty
THE business headlines announce: “Artificial Intelligence could eliminate the need for financial advisors.”
We see enough of those headlines over time and decide the rumors might be true.
They aren’t.
Those who argue that financial advisors will be replaced by technology mention the service businesses AI has already disrupted: software development services and tax form preparation, among others.
Those observers are overlooking some fundamental points. They’re watching the waves but ignoring the tide.
Financial advice is as much behavioral as it is analytical. It requires trust, it’s more complicated if we’re an expat, it’s personal, it requires context, and it involves accountability.
Behaviour
Up to 80% of our success as investors is determined by our behaviour. If we panic during downturns, chase hot investments, overspend during good times and fail to stick to our plans, we’re unlikely to be successful investors.
Only 20% of investment success is dependent on our investment choices themselves. A good advisor, acting as a behavioral coach, can help prevent costly emotional decisions.
Artificial Intelligence provides analysis, but can it help calm us during a market crash, talk us out of panic selling, or remind us of our commitment to a long-term plan?
Trust
Trust is not easily automated. Many financial planning topics – such as inheritance, fear of running out of money, our difficulties sticking to a budget, retirement insecurity – are sensitive.
We trust people, not algorithms, with these decisions. Even if AI calculates the optimal strategy, we still want a trusted human to interpret these results and how they best fit into our life.
When We Cross Borders, AI Gets Crossed Up
Cross-border financial planning is much harder to automate than ordinary financial planning, which makes it better suited for human advisors.
The main reason is that it involves ambiguity, interpretation, and coordination across multiple legal systems, not just calculations.
Ordinary planning often deals with one country’s tax code and regulations.
Financial planning for expats could involve dual tax residency, currency exchange risk, tax treaties, reporting penalties, differing pension rules, etc.
These interactions often create situations not clearly covered by rules, where professionals must interpret intent and risk.
Cross-border guidelines change often and sometimes differ in interpretation between countries. A human advisor can track regulatory updates, consult specialists (tax lawyers, accountants), and adjust strategies when governments reinterpret rules. AI systems can’t.
It’s Personal
Financial planning is personal. Our financial lives are seldom straightforward optimization problems.
Instead, we are juggling complications and trade-offs such as family members in different countries, aging parents, tax complexities, inheritance across jurisdictions, and emotional priorities (savings, legacy, children, lifestyle).
Two people with the same assets may need completely different strategies. Artificial Intelligence might provide them the same one.
It Requires Context
An AI algorithm might tell us:
“The optimal strategy is A.”
But an advisor might say:
“Yes, but given the tax impact, your family situation and the current exchange rate, we should do Z.”
Accountability
Many of us know what we should do financially. Yet, we still don’t do it.
AI tools can suggest actions, but they cannot create personal accountability the same way a human relationship can: via follow-through, structured check-ins, or reassurance during uncertainty.
Clearly, AI won’t replace financial advisors. The real shift won’t be away from advisors to Artificial Intelligence, but instead from financial advisors who do not effectively use technology to those who do. AI won’t replace good financial advisors, but it will augment their work.
Peter Dougherty is a Financial Planner at BISSAN Wealth Management in Spain. He holds an MBA in finance from Columbia University in New York and an MS in Spanish Taxation (Máster en Fiscalidad y Tributación) from Nebrija University in Spain. He is a European Financial Planner (EFP) in Spain and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® in the United States.
For more information: https://www.financial-planning-in-spain.com
Peter Dougherty
- MBA in finance
- MS in Spanish taxation
- BS in Economics
- European Financial Planner in Spain
- Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® in U.S.
- Author of two financial planning books
Certified Financial Planner™ in U.S.
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