When you hire a financial planner, you are getting yourself an advisor who can help you figure out how to best manage your wealth and reach your financial goals.
Like it is with most professions, there will not be a single type of financial planner that you can go for, which is why you can take a look at the considerations below if you are planning to hire one.
Cost
Your financial planners may charge an hourly rate, a flat fee or at a certain percentage of your manageable wealth annually.
Depending on the total assets that you want your financial planner to manage for you, you may want to consider certain charging methods and how much each financial planning company is charging you for their services.
Level of Services
Are you looking for someone to help you choose and manage the best investments, or are you looking for someone to help you with a complicated financial situation?
Depending on your needs, you might be able to settle just for robo-advisors or hire a human advisor for more holistic advice and planning.
Recommendations
How did you get connected with the financial advisor that you are currently considering? You may want to request referrals from your attorney, other professionals, or your local certified financial planner company.
Generally speaking, good financial planners will not need to offer their services to you through cold-calls or emails. Their clients will seek them out first.
Certifications & Qualifications
If you are particular about the quality of services that you are getting for a complicated financial plan, you will want to look for a licensed and certified financial planner.
These planners have taken classes and courses that will help them in various aspects of financial planning.
Past Experiences
Qualifications aside, it would be a good idea to hire a financial planner who already has about three years of planning experience.
If you already know about the services that you need from your financial planner, look for one that already has sufficient experience in that specific type of financial planning.
Existing Client Base
Some financial planners only work with clients with a certain amount of assets, or a minimum net worth before they offer their services to you.
As such, you will need to consider your available assets and which financial advisors will best suit your needs.
Existing Partners
Some financial planners work with you alone, while others have a team that works with them, such as attorneys, tax specialists and insurance agents.
If there are other parties involved, be sure to find out who is handling your financial accounts and who is handling each different aspect.
Feel free to request their names and run a background check on them too.
External Gains
When your financial planner is pushing for you to go with a specific company’s insurance packages or mutual funds, are they also gaining their share of profit from your investments?
Professional certified financial planners have an ethical obligation to put your needs before their profits, so be sure to look into any conflicts of interest as well.
Disciplinary History
Every financial planner has an organization regulating them and keeping track of their disciplinary history.
If a financial planner has violated any ethical or disciplinary considerations, they are subject to disciplinary actions, and it will be kept in their records.
If you want to be cautious with who you’re working with, you can run a background check with the organization to ensure that you are hiring an ethical financial planner.
