6 Guidelines For Choosing The Right Financial Advisor

by Russ Thornton
(Atlanta, GA)

One of the questions the readers of my Wealthcare For Women emails often ask me is: “How do I find the best financial advisor to help me achieve my goals?”

Of course, I’d love to be able to help everyone in person but there’s only so much time in the day! So I’ve put together a few guidelines I recommend you keep in mind when assessing potential financial planning and wealth management advisors.

1. Check the records – make sure the financial advisor is properly licensed and has a clean compliance record. When in doubt, ask questions.

2. Find out whether the advisor receives commission payments for the various financial products they recommend. ‘Fee-based’ advisors will charge fees and collect commissions. ‘Fee-only’ advisers (like me) do not accept commissions and so our only loyalty is to our clients.

Look for a financial advisor who…

3. … speaks in plain English. There’s no excuse for hiding behind industry jargon and complicated statistics. A good advisor should be able to talk to you, and explain their recommendations, in a way you can easily understand.

4. … is interested in providing ongoing support. The best wealth management is not a product that is sold and delivered once, and then only updated every few years (if you’re lucky). Proper wealth management and advising should be an ongoing, proactive relationship where your advisor is a partner always looking out for your interests.

5. … wants to get to know you, your life circumstances and your wealth management goals. A good advisor should not rely solely on data collected through a questionnaire or messages passed via their assistant. They should spend time talking to you so they understand your unique acceptable to ideal spectrum.

6. … gives you the confidence to make your own financial decisions and supports your priorities and values. A good advisor should never ‘push’ you to take risks or make compromises you are not comfortable with.

About the Author
Russ Thornton is a financial advisor for women. Learn more about Russ and his work with women at his website, Wealthcare for Women. You can also follow him on Twitter or Google+.

Comments for 6 Guidelines For Choosing The Right Financial Advisor

Good Work
by: Anonymous

I like the saying that “Old is Gold”. You have a great website with valuable tips for people planning for their retirement.

through your article
by: Anonymous

Hey very nice blog!!

Hi there, I enjoy reading through your article posts, I wanted to write a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. All the best for all your blogging efforts.

Thank you
by: Russ Thornton

Appreciate you sharing my article with the RetirePedia audience.

Thanks, Margit!

Fantastic Guidelines
by: Margit

Thank you for sharing these six guidelines for choosing the right financial advisor with RetirePedia’s readers, Russ.

I have to say that these are the best guidelines I’ve come across so far, because they highlight a holistic approach rather than some technical details.

Your advisor should be a person whom you trust and who takes the time to understand your unique life circumstances and goals, and not someone who tries to push you into accepting his ideas of ideal wealth management.