You Should Put Your Eggs in One Basket

Jose Alvarez, CFP®, MBA
May 24
4 min read

Updated: Jul 23

I had a meeting recently with a long-time client, someone I’ve really come to know over the years. We’ve talked about and built a plan that works with investments, but also centers around the care, impact, and longevity of himself, his wife, and his farm - the life’s work he’s poured himself into - along with their insurance policies, their grandkids, their taxes, their church, their politics...the whole picture. And, because I’m around the same age as their kids, we’ve built a connection that’s honest and mutual. It’s not just finance. It’s a relationship.

But I’m not his only advisor.

He also works with another advisor at one of the national chains that appears to value quantity of clients vs. quality of relationships for a lot longer. That relationship? It’s what you’d expect - one meeting a year, pleasantries, a quick look at performance, a polite “things look great” when the markets are going up, and a “don’t worry, we’ve seen this before” when the markets are going down - followed by a subtle ask for more assets or a referral. Then they move on.

During our last meeting, I asked why he still keeps the other advisor. And he said, “Well, everyone says don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Now, you’ve probably heard or even said that before too - especially when it comes to investing. And while I appreciate his commitment to diversification… that's not actually what that saying means.

Let’s clear this up.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is about investment concentration - not your choice of advisor.

It means you shouldn’t throw all your money into one stock or one company. Putting everything into any one stock, regardless of company, like Apple, or Exxon, or Facebook might feel exciting, but it’s risky. If that company hits a rough patch (or worse) you’ve got a problem.

That’s why we diversify: to reduce “unsystematic risk,” or risk that’s specific to a single company or sector. We spread things out across industries, geographies, and asset classes. That’s what diversification is really about.

But splitting your money across multiple advisors? That’s something else entirely and frankly, it can work against you.

This is what can happen when you try to “diversify” your advisors:

Your plan starts working against itself. When you have multiple advisors, you get multiple sets of opinions, strategies, and assumptions - often conflicting ones. That can throw your plan off course. One might focus heavily on growth, another on income, and another on preservation - all without knowing what the others are doing. If you were building a house, you wouldn’t hire three different general contractors to work on the same structure. Financial planning is no different.
You could be leaving money on the table. Most fee structures scale down as your asset size increases. For example, at Harvest Horizon Wealth, households under $1 million pay 1.10%. At $1 million or more, it’s 1.00%. So, for example, if you’ve got $500,000 with me and $500,000 elsewhere that has the same fee schedule, your total fee (without accounting for market changes) would be $11,000 in the year. By consolidating, you'd be down to $10,000. That 10% difference adds up quickly. Over five years? That’s a ~$5,000 gap - money that could’ve stayed working for you.
You lose tax efficiency. Tax strategy is a huge part of what I do - especially for business owners, farmers, and folks preparing for a sale or transition. If I’m working to harvest losses for you, but your other advisor is triggering gains or using high-turnover funds, the tax efficiency strategy breaks down fast. Even a few mismatched trades can create an unintentional tax bill, and once that happens, undoing it is unlikely.
Income planning gets messy. Retirement income is more than just “take some money out when you need it.” Where it comes from, how it’s taxed, and how it impacts Social Security, Medicare, gifting, or donations - it all matters. When advisors aren’t coordinating, it’s easy to run into unintended tax bills or income gaps. I’ve seen people over-withhold, under-spend, or lose out on tax-saving opportunities simply because no one had a full view of the plan.

Here’s the bottom line

If you’re talking about your portfolio, then you should keep those eggs in multiple baskets.

But if you’re talking about your advisory relationships? You should be putting all of your eggs in one basket.

One relationship, one strategy, one team with eyes on the whole picture.

And if you’re reading this and thinking, “Yeah... that feels familiar,” you’re not alone. Most folks don’t realize how fragmented their financial world has become until they zoom out.

That’s why these conversations matter - and it’s why I love having them.

If that’s where you are right now, let’s talk.

Jose Alvarez

Founding Advisor

Harvest Horizon Wealth Strategies

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The information presented in this blog is the opinion of the author and does not reflect the views of any other person or entity unless specified. The author may hold positions in any securities discussed in this blog. The information provided is believed to be reliable and obtained from reliable sources, but no liability is accepted for inaccuracies. Images included in this blog are created by artificial intelligence. Any resemblance to any existing persons, past or present, is purely coincidental. The information provided is for informational, entertainment, and educational purposes and should not be construed as advice. Advisory services are offered through Harvest Horizon Wealth Strategies LLC, an investment adviser registered with the state of Wisconsin.