Farah Collins - How To Choose A Financial Advisor: 5 Tips For Finding The Right One

If you’re not an expert in money matters, choosing a financial advisor to manage your money life can be a tough decision. It’s almost impossible to know every financial arena well, because they can be so specialized. Estate planning is completely different from picking the right investments, for example. Managing a portfolio is different from crafting a monthly budget.

Farah Collins - How To Choose A Financial Advisor: 5 Tips For Finding The Right One

According to
Farah Collins, Here are six tips to help you choose a trustworthy financial advisor you can rely on.

1. Find a real fiduciary

The legal guidelines around who is considered a fiduciary are muddy, at best. Currently, many advisors have to act in your “best interest,” but what that entails can be almost unenforceable, except in the most egregious cases. You’ll need to find a real fiduciary.

2. Check those credentials

Consumers looking for financial advisors should also check their professional credentials, seeking out well-recognized standards such as chartered financial analyst (CFA) or certified financial planner (CFP). These designations require their holders to act as a fiduciary.

3. Understand how the advisor gets paid

“How is the public truly going to know what they are going to get when they hire a financial advisor or planner,” asks Scott Bishop, CFP, and executive director of wealth solutions at Avidian Wealth Solutions.

4. Look for fee-only advisors

One way around the conflict of interest in the financial industry is perhaps the most obvious: you need to find an advisor who works for you and is paid only by you and other clients like you. Of course, that means money comes out of your own pocket, but you’re likely to come out ahead.

5. Search for clarity

Any advisor should be able to explain everything clearly and to your complete satisfaction. If an advisor makes you feel incompetent or unintelligent for asking questions, simply walk away. You can’t build a long-term relationship with such an individual.

Bottom line

Finding an advisor is not as simple as going with the person a fund company or insurance broker assigns you. You need to actively search out someone who’s going to work in your best interest, and that takes some time.

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