Custom Search

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

How To Pick A Financial Planner

By Adriana Noton


In our current economic climate, it is more important than ever to ensure that our finances are in order. If you have been affected by the economic downturn, you will likely need the services of a Financial planner to help you navigate through your accounts and investment portfolio. Here are a few tips for selecting a competent finance expert.

The crucial thing you should do at the start is to look into the expert's background. What you are chiefly looking for here is how compliant the expert has been with market regulations and rules. If an expert has had a substantial number of customer complaints made against them, or any allegations of fraudulent activity attached to them, you would be advised to steer well clear of them.

In your research, you can assess the credentials that the expert has to qualify them to handle your affairs. Their career history up to the present, and the nature of the companies with whom they have worked, must be carefully scrutinized. So must any academic and professional qualifications and memberships that they possess.

Also requiring careful scrutiny is the manner in which these experts make their money. Those experts who are reliant on commission payments may not operate in your best interests. After all, they are paid by firms looking to sell products, and receive payments on how many of those products they sell to customers like you, irrespective of whether you need them or not. By contrast, those who earn their cash through a flat fee paid by their clients will not be susceptible to such a conflict of interest.

Request a total breakdown in writing of the payments that an expert requires, outlining what the charges are for. Clarification of what services you are receiving for the money you are paying is something you are entitled to. An expert who is unwilling to honor this entitlement is someone to be extremely leery of.

Avoid anyone who tells you that they can help you to beat the market or any other macho talk of this kind. This so-called expert has stated categorically that they are prepared to be irresponsible with your money and take risks that could leave you substantially out of pocket. This is the definition of what you do not need a financial planner for.

With the above in mind, you will be far better off hiring a fiduciary to manage your finances for you instead. These people can only instruct you to take action that benefits you in the long run, and must eschew any action that is frivolous. If you can hire a fiduciary, you are well advised to do so.

In summary, the above tips should help you in selecting an ideal financial planner to help keep your accounts and investments in good order. Given the uncertainty of the times in which we live, such assistance is both necessary and provides peace of mind. And you will be sure to find an expert that can provide both if you keep the advice outlined above in mind.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...