Tips to Finding a Good Financial Advisor

For those who have never hired a Financial Advisor it can be a daunting task. These core basic questions will do much to enlighten and empower you in making a wise and prudent decision. At the center of these questions is a desire to discover an advisors technical competency, to check their references and to see if you can establish a dialogue. For if you advisor is technically brilliant but cannot communicate you will have much difficulty as well as conversely if they are a good communicator but lack the skills and experience required you are apt to run into problems. These questions can also be easily adaptable to looking for a Certified Public Accountant or Lawyer.

• What services do you provide?

• How do you provide these services?

• How do you get paid relative to each of these services?

• How long have you been in the business?

• How long have you been with your current firm?

• How many firms have you worked with?

• Why did you change firms?

• Did you get paid to change firms?

• Did you get paid to stay at your current firm?

• What is your educational background?

• What licenses and certifications do you have?

• Have you ever been disciplined by the NASD or other regulatory agencies?

• Can I have a copy of your NASD form?

• Do you prepare comprehensive financial plans?

• How long does it take to complete a comprehensive financial plan?

• What do you charge for this comprehensive financial plan?

• How many clients do you have?

• How much money do you manage?

• What type of clients do you have?

• How often will you contact me and how?

• How will you determine my risk tolerance?

• What type of due-diligence do you conduct to ensure my money is well-protected.

• How is my money going to be protected?
• How often will you meet with me to review my portfolio?

• Will you be handling my account personally?

• Will you be executing my financial plan personally?

• Will you keep me informed with every investment decision you make on my behalf?

• Will you be organizing, coordinating, and keeping all financial documents up-to-date ?

• How many full-time associates do you have assisting in providing the services you described?

• How long have these associates been working with you?

• What is the role of each of your associates?

• Can you outline your service model?

• What are your office hours?

• Do you have names of clients, CPAs, and attorneys you have worked with who I can call?

John Dillard is a Christian Speaker/Author and Certified Public Accountant (All Rights Reserved). To See how he takes Christ along with him to work visit http://www.hiscpa.com/ (An Atlanta CPA firm) and for his latest book Overcoming Life's 9/11's: Job's Journey and to learn about his ministry visit http://www.john-dillard.com/