Key Questions to Ask Your Financial Adviser

The main takeaway is to ask questions about an adviser's credentials, expertise, fee structure, communication style, and alignment with personal financial needs and beliefs.

### How to Choose the Right Financial Advisor
* 💼  Consider the advisor's credentials, such as **Certified Financial Planner (CFP)**, **Chartered Financial Analyst**, **Certified Public Accountant (CPA)**, **CLU**, and **Chartered Financial Consultant**.
* 💸  Evaluate the advisor's fee structure and transparency to ensure they **align with your values and beliefs**.
* 🛠  Determine whether the advisor can meet your **unique financial needs and preferences**, such as investment strategies and money beliefs.
* 👥  Check the number of clients the advisor works with to gauge the **level of service and relationship** you can expect.
* 🗣  Assess the advisor's communication style to find a **good fit for your preferences**.
* 🎯  Look for an expert who specializes in the areas you need help with, as **experience and knowledge are crucial**.
* 💬  Ensure the advisor understands and respects your views on **debt, retirement, and generosity** when providing advice.
* 🚩  Beware of advisors who make you feel pressured or uncomfortable, as a good advisor should focus on **educating and empowering you**.

[Music], so the question that becomes, okay, how do I know what do I look for? We'll run through this pretty quickly. Here's some questions you can ask yourself. Is the adviser I'm looking at, are they credential? Do they actually have some expertise? And here are some credentials that we think are worth looking at. Certified Financial Planner (CFP), we think that's the gold standard for someone who's going to do holistic financial planning. Chartered Financial Analyst is a very prestigious designation for investment professionals. It's one that suggests that someone has an affinity to solve complex problems. Certified Public Accountant is someone who has an expertise in tax and tax knowledge. A CLU is a Chief Life Underwriter, a Chartered Life Underwriter. This is someone who focuses on insurance. You need to understand, are they an insurance person or are they actually an adviser? And then there's the Chartered Financial Consultant, where this has fundamentals in financial planning and contemporary applications, but there's not an exam like the CFP. So generally

speaking, when it comes to those two, we would prefer the CFP. But it's worth noting if someone has the Chartered Financial Consultant designation, we'll also let's talk about what is their fee structure, is their transparency, because that's one of the things that I think you can tell by our passion about this. We believe in what we do. I mean, and that's why I wanted to. I don't mind giving away the stuff and the data so you can become the best version of yourself, but I wholeheartedly sleep very well at night knowing that we're doing the best we can to make sure people live their most fulfilled life. And then the other thing you had to ask is, do they meet your needs and your money beliefs? Does the way that I look at money, the way that I think about solving financial problems align with theirs? If you are someone who only invests in real estate and real estate is 100% going to be what you do all the time, you may not want to go hire a financial adviser that really

believes that stock market investing is the way to grow wealth. Make sure you find someone that aligns with you and can meet the needs that you have, not someone who only has a solution that they recommend regardless of what your unique needs and preferences are. Also, don't forget the financial needs. Are you looking for that mechanic where maybe it's a transactional thing where you just got to fix you in your triage moment need at the time? Is it a doctor where yeah you've got some issues you need somebody to diagnose and treat that right now? Or is this more of you need the personal trainer where somebody's going to be hands-on, make you and challenge you, and hold you accountable to become the better version of yourself? Another thing you should ask is how many clients is this advised or work with. Are they someone who subscribes to the dunar principle that they shouldn't have more than 150 clients in any sort of intimate business setting, or is it someone who has 400, 500, 600 clients? You want to know.

what will the level of service you experience look like when you interact with this advisor? It ties into that relationship stuff, and I'd encourage you to go check out that Dunbar principle because there is research that shows us humans can really only do 150 relationships. So, if you ask your advisor, How many people do you work with? and they work with 400 people, what does that mean? I mean, how well is the relationship, or is it more transactional? Whereas, I love that we pay a lot of respect to that principle. Another thing you can ask is, how does this person communicate? Do I like the way that they talk? Do I like the way that they present information? Are they deep down in the weeds person? Are they a big picture person? Are they both that can navigate in and out? Not every advisor is a perfect fit for every type of client, so you have to define what communication style will be most effective for me if I'm going to end up hiring an adviser. And then I like

talking about are they an expert in what you need. I mean, I lean heavily and I've turned Bo even though I'm the one with the 16 years of tax prep and audit and representing clients before the IRS. I think you're almost like if I would have the power, I would give you a kind of quasi-CPA because you've gotten I've turned you into that same mindset. Figure out what your expert has specializations in. Is it something you need because we often get the question, hey, how long does it take you to figure out on a withdrawal strategy or a mega back door Roth to see if somebody qualifies for that stuff. I'm like, well, it only takes me 15 minutes, but it probably took six years' worth of experience to kind of know all the different elements that are impacting that person to make the right decision. Another question you can ask is, does this person have a line of views? What's their view on debt? What's their view on retirement? What's their view on

generosity. You want to make sure not that your advisor has to be a carbon copy of you, but you want to make sure that your advisor understands the things that you value, understands the things that are important to you, and when it comes to counseling in you and giving you advice, is able to speak into those things in an unbiased and effective way. That's ultimately going to be most valuable for you in your circumstances. Well, I think because this is implied when we it's it's something that's sitting under the surface. Sometimes people who have financial advisors, they feel like they're press, and that might be because somebody's trying to push you into doing something you don't feel comfortable with. I think people when they meet us, they're shocked. Like when I meet a neighbor or somebody socially, they hear financial advisor and they oh no, this guy's going to try to sell me something, then they're pleasantly surprised. I don't try to sell anybody on anything. I know what we have is special and I know the skill set has

been developed over decades. I mean that's why we share free content, and I'm very confident in what we have. I think anybody who comes in here, you're not going to feel sold on anything. It's more of an education because an educated consumer is a better consumer. You're going to be able to make, you're going to come out of the process even a better version of yourself from a knowledge and expertise standpoint. So if you feel uncomfortable in your relationship because you feel like they're always making you do something, you're like what's the, what's the catch, why are they doing this, that is probably a red flag. So if you are someone who's thinking about, man, maybe I do need to hire an adviser, maybe I am one of the people who's reached that time where it makes sense. I want you to go to moneyguy.com resources. We have a free deliverable that you can check out, eight questions to ask your financial adviser, and it'll go through a lot of the stuff we covered.

today so you can actually ask them are you the person I should be working with how would you answer these questions so that you can be that informed consumer that hire someone that can be an asset on your financial Journey

How to Choose a Trusted Financial Advisor (Credentials, Fees, Specialties, and More)

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Selecting the Right Financial Adviser: Key Considerations

Look for credentials like CFP, CFA, CPA, CLU, or ChFC to ensure expertise and specialization.

Consider the adviser's fee structure and transparency to align with your financial goals.

Ensure that the adviser's approach to financial planning aligns with your own money beliefs and needs, especially if you have a specific investment focus, such as real estate.

Key Considerations for Choosing a Financial Advisor

Finding a financial advisor who aligns with your needs and preferences is crucial for wealth growth.

It's important to consider their approach to client relationships, the number of clients they work with, and their communication style.

The advisor's approach, client load, and communication should all align with what will be most effective for you.

Tips for Choosing the Right Financial Advisor

Look for an advisor with expertise in your specific needs, such as tax preparation and withdrawal strategies.

Ensure that the advisor's views on debt, retirement, and generosity align with your own values.

Avoid advisors who pressure you into decisions and seek someone who provides unbiased advice and guidance.

The Importance of Being an Educated Consumer in Financial Advising

Financial education is key to being a savvy consumer when seeking a financial adviser.

Feeling pressured or uncomfortable is a red flag in the advisor-client relationship.

com offers a free resource to help people know what questions to ask potential financial advisers, empowering them to make informed decisions.