How to Find a Good Financial Planner or Financial Advisor
The First Meeting with Your Financial Advisor
At your first meeting you are going to ask some specific questions. You are going to need specific answers. Here is the Questionnaire for Finding a Good Financial Planner.
I'm going to give you the teacher's edition of the Financial Advisor Questionnaire. Some of it you need to read and understand it BEFORE you go into your meeting, so read this in advice.
Ask the question and make note of the answer on your Finding a Good Financial Planner Questionnaire so you can refer back to it.
Question 1: How Long Have You Been A Financial Planner or Financial Advisor?
When you ask this question make sure you get an answer to THIS QUESTION! Financial Advisors are trained in how to handle meetings and the questions that come up in those meetings. One of the cardinal rules is not to lie because it is the easiest way to get into trouble. However, that isn't the same as telling the whole truth.
Watch out for the sort-of answer. In this case it will sound like: "Well, I've been in finance for fourteen years." This is not the answer to your question. "In finance" could include time spent as a bank teller, or even as a cashier. Other variations include:
- I've been in the finance (financial services) industry for twenty years.
- I've been involved in ... insert ambiguous phrase here .. for twenty years.
- I've been helping people for twenty years -- This one is the worst. Helping his cousin move technically qualifies.
To avoid this sort of answer you are going to listen to the answer and then ask "So you've been a financial planner for twelve years?". You want to hear "Yes" not another clever sentence. If you get another vague one, then ask point blank: "Ok, what I'm asking you is exactly how long have you been a financial planner."
Question 2: How Long have you worked here at <insert name of their firm>?
Another way to avoid any cleverness is to find out how long they have worked at their current firm. Some advisors move around a lot, others stay in one place their whole career. Either way, you want to know how long they've been at this company.
If the answer is a short period of time ask where they were before and what they did there. Then, ask why they decided to leave. Acceptable answers include things like better opportunity, better products, more customer focus, etc...
Question 3: Do you consider yourself a financial planner or financial advisor?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question. Don't be shocked if they seem a little defensive in answering. There is a lot of misinformation out there on this subject and they are probably tired of bearing the brunt of it. The point of the question is to hear something of their philosophy. Are they going to provide you with an actual plan or just invest your money? Do they think that being a financial advisor means doing more than just being a financial planner and so on. Judge whether or not you get a good vibe from this question of if it feels shifty or evasive. Then move on.
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