About Investment Planners & Financial Advisers

Video Transcript

"This is John Pinelli, financial representative. Going to be talking to you today about the difference between financial advisers and planners and the different people that are out there and the services that they're providing you with. Financial planner and adviser are fairly synonymous terms. The services that they provide are advice on things like investments, securities, maybe preparing for retirement, how to save money. And they may also advise you on some insurance products as well to sort of fit in your overall mix. An important distinction to make is between a fee-based adviser and a commission-based adviser. A fee-based adviser is going to charge you an hourly fee, which can be quite pricey, but generally, you're working with someone with a little bit more experience and you're working with someone that has more of a motive to provide you with objective advice. On the flip side, when you're working with someone who is commission-based, they can offer you some great, free advice, and many times, they are very knowledgeable people and they can provide you with some incredible advice. But on the flip side, you have to keep in mind that these people are going to be directing you, possibly, towards certain products that may turn to be a financial gain for them. So keep in mind that there is a financial gain to be made when advising you towards certain products for these commission-based people. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. It can be good because some of these products that are out there are quite good products and do need to be owned by a lot of people. So that's an important distinction to make between the fee-based and commission-based advisers and planners. Make sure that you work with somebody who fits well with your personality -- somebody who understands you, understands your goals, takes the time to really get to know you and you as an individual -- somebody that...whose personality you mesh well with, but also somebody who may be not afraid to provide you with some tough...some tough advice when you need it. So those are all important things to consider when choosing your financial adviser or planner. This is John Pinelli, talking to you today about financial advisers and planners."