How to choose a financial planner

Are you looking for a financial planner to help you with your investment strategy? Not all financial planners are the same so how do you know which one is the best for you? Follow these tips to find a financial planner that's worth keeping!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Phone Book
• Friends
• Questionaire

1. Ask friends and associates for recommendations- When you ask for the recommendation, find out these few questions: How long have they worked with their planner, what kind of services do they provide for them and do they charge any fees for their services. Since everyone is different, try to get a few different candidates to interview. If you don't know anyone to ask, try looking in the phone book under investments or financial planning.
2. Set up intial appointments with the candidates you have narrowed down- I suggest looking at at least 3 different people. When you have your initial consultation, I suggest finding out the following information:
   
   How long have they been in practice?
   How do they get paid?
   Do they charge an annual fee or get paid from the investment companies directly? If they charge an annual fee for their investment advice, what is their long term track record?
   Do they have an investment minimum to use their services?
   What is their speciality in the market?
   Do they have any other specialties?
   What do they think of the current investment conditions right now?
   How often will they meet with you to go over your portfolio?
3. General advice- Many investment professionals are not financial planners. As a rule of thumb, if you work with someone in a wire house, they work mainly with stocks, bonds and mutual funds and offer little outside investment strategizing. While many planners who are independent (they own their own firm) are able to encompass other areas of planning such as taxation, estate planning, business and retirement planning. They are also able to offer products not offered in the wire houses. Since money is such a personal thing, you want to make sure you work with someone who has your investment philosophy at heart and can help you throughout many stages of your financial life. Trust your gut and don't be afraid to look elsewhere if your planner is not meeting your needs. There are many great financial professionals out there eager to help you and your money.