When it comes to hiring your own financial planner or advisor, it is likened to hiring a chief financial officer or a CFO either for yourself or for your family. If you want to approach it professionally with discipline in finding the person that can work as your partner for many years, finding the right and trusted financial advisor takes a lot of effort.
Finding the right financial advisor or planner for you needs time, effort and considerations which will be all worth it when you already have the peace of mind when you made the right choice. To help you out, here are some of the most important steps that you have to follow when you plan to hire a person expert in financial planning services for your financial needs.
- Understand the different types of financial advisors– There are different financial advisors and planners that offer you different financial planning services, however, not investment management services. Others are specializing on managing your investments, but only provides you a little financial planning services. There are also some who are experts in retirement income planning for people who are nearing their retirement while the rest focuses on accumulating wealth for people who will be retiring in the next ten years. To find the appropriate financial advisor or planner for your needs, you should ask what services an advisor offers. Usually, there are three services financial advisors offer, the financial planning, investment advisory, and retirement income planning.
- Look for financial advisors who have a good reputation-When it comes to this, make sure that the credentials of the financial advisor are very satisfactory on your side which is enough for you to say that he or she is trustworthy enough to manage your finance. However, there are credentials that are not the same knowing that there are some organizations that makes it easy for advisors to obtain these credentials in exchange for a fee. In order to determine a legitimate credential, make sure that the financial advisor has a College for Professional training or CFP and a Personal Financial Specialist certificates along with Chartered Financial Analyst certificate.
- Determine how financial advisors are paid– There are different ways for financial advisors get their compensation for the service they provide you, however, the most objective and fair financial advisors out there are fee-only. In order to hire a reliable and trustworthy financial advisor, you have to know the ways or the potential process for them to get paid like if they are getting paid for an asset-based fee, hourly fee, or commissions.
- Use the internet for screening purposes– The online searches are a good way to narrow down your list of financial advisors who have the right billing structure and the reputable credentials which meets your needs. The internet through your browser’s search engine allows you to list different criteria about the type of advisor that you are currently seeking. However, you have to keep in mind that there are advisors out there who work with firms while some works remotely with their clients like giving them services like Financial Planning Home Loans & Investments.