--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [What if my advisor talks only about…" description: "\"[What if my advisor talks only about returns, not risk?] ... It's his job to take risk into account by telling you the range of possible outcomes you f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg" --- # \[What if my advisor talks only about returns, not risk?\]… ![“[What if my advisor talks only about returns, not risk?] ... It's his job to take risk into account by telling you the range of possible outcomes you face. If he won't, go get a new planner, someone who will get real.” quote by William Forsyth Sharpe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg) > “\[What if my advisor talks only about returns, not risk?\] ... It's his job to take risk into account by telling you the range of possible outcomes you face. If he won't, go get a new planner, someone who will get real.” William Forsyth Sharpe ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advisors should discuss both returns and risks; ignoring risk leads to poor decisions, so choose advisors who provide realistic outcome ranges. **In simple terms:** Risk must be part of investment advice. Key Takeaway Demand transparent risk assessment from advisors. Themes finance risk management advisor responsibility Mood cautious inquisitive Type practical educational When to use this quote - investment meetings - financial planning - retirement advice Key Concepts risk-return tradeoff fiduciary duty client education Questions to Reflect On - Do you understand the risk range of your investments? - How can you verify an advisor’s risk analysis? A Different Perspective Advisors may lack data to quantify risk accurately. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) ## Related quotes > [The job of dictator is now a high-risk job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-juppe/the-job-of-dictator-is-now-a-high-risk-job/) [Alain Juppe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-juppe/) > [There is no such thing as high returns without risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-schwartz/there-is-no-such-thing-as-high-returns-without-risk/) [Gerry Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-schwartz/) > [I probably have a small number of people that are consistently advisors and mentors, but I'm much more likely to have a broader array…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-minshew/i-probably-have-a-small-number-of-people-that-are-consistently/) [Kathryn Minshew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-minshew/) > [Among the most disheartening and dangerous of . . . advisors, you will often find those closest to you, your dearest friends, members of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minnie-maddern-fiske/among-the-most-disheartening-and-dangerous-of-advisors-you-will-often/) [Minnie Maddern Fiske](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minnie-maddern-fiske/) > [I can't imagine living a life without God in my life. He is my best friend, He's my buddy, He's the one that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reba-mcentire/i-can-t-imagine-living-a-life-without-god-in-my-life-he-is-my-best/) [Reba McEntire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reba-mcentire/) > [... true financial freedom doesn't depend on how much money you have. Financial freedom is when you have power over your fears and anxieties…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/true-financial-freedom-doesn-t-depend-on-how-much-money-you-have/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [When you start really respecting yourself, those you love, and your money, the result is that you start having control over your money. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suze-orman/when-you-start-really-respecting-yourself-those-you-love-and-your/) [Suze Orman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suze-orman/) > [“Choose and create a circle of proper advisors around you. Do not discuss your project with your relatives, neighbor, grandmother, friends’ friends, pastor, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmytro-zaporozhtsev/choose-and-create-a-circle-of-proper-advisors-around-you-do-not/) Dmytro Zaporozhtsev > [National security advisors are not there to be advocates, generally. They're not there to be partisans, they're not there to be ideologues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-o-donnell/national-security-advisors-are-not-there-to-be-advocates-generally/) [Lawrence O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-o-donnell/) > [“Advisors who rate the highest on reliability will not just deliver their work on time and on spec. Nor will they simply be consistent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-maister/advisors-who-rate-the-highest-on-reliability-will-not-just-deliver/) [David H. Maister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-maister/) > [Steve Jobs was a great friend as well as a trusted advisor. His legacy will extend far beyond the products he created or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-iger/steve-jobs-was-a-great-friend-as-well-as-a-trusted-advisor-his-legacy/) [Bob Iger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-iger/) > [He was a volatile mixture of confidence and vulnerability. He could deliver extended monologues on professional matters, then promptly stop in his tracks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/he-was-a-volatile-mixture-of-confidence-and-vulnerability-he-could/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [All great leaders choose great advisors, people they really trust for their governance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-payne/all-great-leaders-choose-great-advisors-people-they-really-trust-for/) [Tom Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-payne/) > [Investors, of course, can, by their own behavior make stock ownership highly risky. And many do. Active trading, attempts to "time" market movements, inadequate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-buffett/investors-of-course-can-by-their-own-behavior-make-stock-ownership/) [Warren Buffett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-buffett/) > [If you don't like the idea that most of the money spent on lottery tickets supports government programs, you should know that most of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/if-you-don-t-like-the-idea-that-most-of-the-money-spent-on-lottery/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) ## More by William Forsyth Sharpe > [Properly measured, the average actively managed dollar must underperform the average passively managed dollar, net of costs. Empirical analyses that appear to refute this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/properly-measured-the-average-actively-managed-dollar-must/) William Forsyth Sharpe > [Some investments do have higher expected returns than others. Which ones? Well, by and large they're the ones that will do the worst in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/some-investments-do-have-higher-expected-returns-than-others-which/) William Forsyth Sharpe Explore all 3 William Forsyth Sharpe quotes ## More Accounts quotes > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/with-the-truman-book-i-wrote-the-entire-account-of-his-experiences-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You've got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/you-ve-got-to-exercise-your-health-account-your-bank-account-they-re/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [Stop trying to treat music like it's a tennis shoe, something to be branded. If the music industry wants to save money, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-tweedy/stop-trying-to-treat-music-like-it-s-a-tennis-shoe-something-to-be/) [Jeff Tweedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-tweedy/) > [Anyone who thinks science is trying to make human life easier or more pleasant is utterly mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/anyone-who-thinks-science-is-trying-to-make-human-life-easier-or-more/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [That surely must be a concern to anyone who decides this drug must be given to stop transmissions, again from mother to child, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabo-mbeki/that-surely-must-be-a-concern-to-anyone-who-decides-this-drug-must-be/) [Thabo Mbeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabo-mbeki/) Browse all 2,677 Accounts quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[What if my advisor talks only about returns, not risk?] ... It's his job to take risk into account by telling you the range of possible outcomes you face. If he won't, go get a new planner, someone who will get real.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Forsyth Sharpe" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-returns-not-risk-it-s-his-job-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accounts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-returns-not-risk-it-s-his-job-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c9/william-forsyth-sharpe-83220_accounts_what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-retu_322124.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[What if my advisor talks only about returns, not risk?] ... It's his job to take risk into account by…” — William Forsyth Sharpe", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Forsyth Sharpe", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-forsyth-sharpe/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "[What if my advisor talks only...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-returns-not-risk-it-s-his-job-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-forsyth-sharpe/what-if-my-advisor-talks-only-about-returns-not-risk-it-s-his-job-to/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```