CHOOSING A FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL

WHAT IS A FINANCIAL PLANNER?

Most financial planners are investment advisers, but not all investment advisers are financial planners.

Some financial planners assess every aspect of your financial life—including saving, investments, insurance, taxes, retirement, and estate planning—and help you develop a detailed strategy or financial plan for meeting all your financial goals.

Designations include CFP/ChFC, or a CPA/PFS

WHAT IS AN INVESTMENT ADVISOR?

An investment adviser is an individual or a firm that is in the business of giving advice about securities to clients.

For instance, individuals or firms that receive compensation for giving advice on investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or exchange traded funds are investment advisers.

Some investment advisers manage portfolios of securities.

WHAT IS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR?

The title "financial adviser" is not regulated.

No government body dictates who can call themselves one.

So, anyone can print up business cards and call himself or herself a financial adviser.

It's up to you to weed out bad advisers from good. To do that, you'll need to know the insider secrets of the financial planning industry.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN ADVISOR?

The first thing to know is that you shouldn't abdicate responsibility and turn over your financial life to someone else, no matter how good the adviser is.

Hiring a financial adviser is not like hiring a lawn service to cut your grass.

In that case, you're hiring the lawn service to perform a specific task so you don't have to.

A financial adviser should be different.

It's like asking a landscaper for advice on how best to cut your grass. He might pull-start the mower for you and walk alongside.

But ultimately, you'll guide the mower and navigate around the yard. And you'll have to live with the result.

10 KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK

QUESTION #1

How much experience do you have?

How long have you been working as a financial planner?

What kind of work have you done for clients like me?

QUESTION #2

What are your qualifications?

Are you a certified financial planner professional or CFP® practitioner, a certified public accountant-personal financial specialist (CPA-PFS) or a chartered financial consultant (ChFC)?

Be sure to look for a planner who has experience in insurance, tax planning, investments, estate planning and/or retirement planning.

QUESTION #3

What services do you offer?

Do you sell stocks, mutual funds and other financial products?

Do you sell life insurance?

Financial planners are generally barred from selling insurance or securities without the proper licenses and cannot give clients investment advice unless they are registered with state or federal authorities.

QUESTION #4

What is your approach to financial planning?

Will you make recommendations and then bring in other professionals to execute them or will you help me buy the stocks, bonds and life insurance policies I need?

Make sure the planner's investment approach matches your own financial goals and objectives and is not too cautious or overly aggressive.

QUESTION #5

Will you be the only person working with me?

Do you have other people in the office that will assist you?

If your planner works with attorneys, accountants or life insurance agents to implement his plans, be sure to get a list of names and check their backgrounds.

QUESTION #6

How will I pay for your services?

Some planners charge an hourly fee or monthly retainer.

Other planners charge a fee equivalent to a percentage of the client's assets they have under management.

Others charge you nothing but earn a commission from sales of life insurance, mutual funds and other products.

QUESTION #7

How much do you typically charge?

Can you give me an estimate of how much my costs will be?

These costs should include the planner's hourly rates, asset management fees and any commissions he is likely to receive from the products that he sells you. Fee based or commission based or flat hourly

rate?

QUESTION #8

Could anyone besides me benefit from your recommendations?

If your planner receives commissions from product sales or referral fees from other companies or professionals who send him business, make sure that he fully discloses these potential conflicts of interest.

QUESTION #9

Have you ever been disciplined for any unlawful or unethical actions in your professional career?

What government agencies and/or professional regulatory bodies (the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, the CFP Board, etc.) are you governed by?

Contact these organizations to conduct a thorough background check.

QUESTION #10

Can I have it in writing?

Ask the planner to provide you with a written agreement detailing the services to be provided. Keep it in your files for future reference.

ADDITIONAL POINTS TO CONSIDER

1. TRUST YOUR GUT

2. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT-DO NOT INVEST IN IT !!!!!

3. IF THEY TELL YOU TO CASH IN A WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE POLICY, “BUY TERM AND INVEST THE REST” TURN YOUR PRETTY HEAD AND WALK AWAY

OTHER RESOURCES

MAINE DIVISION OF SECURITIES

877-624-8551

FINRA

(301) 590-6500

FINRA BROKER CHECK www.finra.org

MONEY WORKS FOR WOMEN

SOME CREDENTIALS TO LOOK FOR : 128 FINRA RECOGNIZED DESIGNATIONS

Series 7

Series 63

Also be aware that Financial Analyst, Financial Adviser (Advisor), Financial Consultant, Financial Planner, Investment Consultant or Wealth Manager are generic terms or job titles, and may be used by investment professionals who may not hold any specific designation.

MONEY WORKS FOR WOMEN

WHAT IS A FINANCIAL ADVISOR?

WHAT IS AN INVESTMENT ADVISOR?

WHAT IS A FINANCIAL PLANNER?

HINT- Regulators have a lot to say about this