Once you enter retirement (or preparation), your financial life will become even more complicated. There are assets to protect (and continue to grow), taxes to optimize, legacy to leave. It makes sense to ask for help to ensure everything is done right.
But finding the best financial advisor for you is easier than ever to say. There are many qualified professionals available. However, some people are not suited to manage your money.
Continue reading the step-by-step approach to finding and hearing financial advisors. This way, you can work with experts with backgrounds and skillsets tailored to your needs today to enjoy future rewards for a long time.
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1. Make your needs clear
List for you everything you want to do before embarking on your quest to find the ideal financial advisor for your unique situation. You may need help:
By managing your retirement income with the most tax-efficient wayplaning, reselecting the right insurance policy for your future is the scope of long-term care that will nurture your assets in a safe and sustainable way.
Next, add a list of required traits and personality traits. For example, you might want a warm, great listener, and an interesting trustee (someone who works in your best interests, not in the company’s company).
2. Tap Network
Your friends who are in a similar financial situation may already work with the advisor they love and are happy to recommend. Ask them for an introduction and their honest opinion.
If you are unable to find a financial advisor via word of mouth, please run a search on the CFP Board and the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors (NAPFA) website. We will receive a pre-built list of experts in your area and remove you from the hassle of searching on Google.
3. Check your credentials
By now, you probably have a solid list of financial advisors to consider. It’s time to start narrowing them down.
The first step is to check your credentials. For example, if they claim to be Certified Financial Planners (CFP®), you can check their status on the CFP board’s website. Search results also reveal whether the advisor has been disciplined by the board or declared bankruptcy within the last decade.
4. Measure expertise
CFP® is trained to deal with a wide range of financial concerns, but many have positioned themselves as go-to advisors for select groups such as retirees and young professionals.
They may also specialize in taxes, real estate planning, investments, or other financial areas. You’ll want to partner with someone with deep expertise in situations and concerns related to your life stage and goals.
You will gain a strong sense of experience and abilities as a financial advisor.
Financial organizations, books, presentations, research papers, etc. of the company’s website professional social media presence (particularly LinkedIn)
Look at the language they use. Does it resonate with you?
5. Read reviews and testimony
(Image credit: Getty Images)
At this stage, Google is your friend. Plug in the name of each advisor you are considering and see if you get results. You can also check out specific platforms such as The Better Business Bureau, TrustPilot, Yelp, or your local chamber of commerce.
Read some reviews, testimony and be aware of positive or negative patterns. In general, you will want to see a long history of happy clients.
6. Interview multiple experts
Once you have a short list of potential financial advisors, contact us by calling our office or using the online form on our website to schedule your first conversation. You don’t have to pay anything to learn more about their practice.
Make sure you check them out during your chat.
Qualification. What qualifies them? Regular customer. Are they like you? service. Do you provide comprehensive financial planning, tax preparation, investment management and more what you need? Investment philosophy and strategy. Does it align with your goals and make you feel comfortable? Are they trustees? Accessibility. Is it easy to get to them? How often do you meet? performance. What does a portfolio of real-world examples look like? What is the dollar value of the assets they manage? Fee. Do they charge per hour, per service, or based on your portfolio size? Disciplinary history. Have they got into professional trouble to distribute suspicious advice or act unethical? Are they geared up someone to take over in case you live their careers longer?
Thanks to your research, you will have answers to many of these questions before you talk to each future advisor. Ask regardless and check for consistency with your findings.
Pro Tip: Trust your gut. If it starts waving a red flag, move to the next name in the list.
7. Compare the top picks side by side
The final step to finding the right financial advisor is to compare the top two or three options side by side. Consider comparing key details such as table service, fees, performance, investment strategies and more to facilitate your task.
Which advisors have the edge? If they all look the same on paper, which experts made you feel most comfortable and confident when interviewing them?
Now that we have selected the winner, it’s time to book our first appointment. Remember: you don’t have to be with the same financial advisor forever. If you are unhappy with the relationship, you can switch to another professional.
8. Consider building a team
You don’t necessarily have to hire one person to handle all your financial needs (though you can certainly do it). You may have met some qualified experts during your research, each with their expertise.
In that case, we recommend building a team that supports many aspects of your financial life, including taxes, real estate planning, insurance, and overall planning.
