Hiring a Financial Adviser

You have worked hard for your money and now need the services of an expert to help with the investments, and plan your retirement.  Hiring a Financial Adviser may be the answer. We all need to and want to make lots of money to enable a great retirement. Unfortunately, there are so many fraudsters and poor performers lining up to take your money. It is really difficult to know just who to turn to. The myths and they are myths are – he is on the radio or TV so they must be good; a neighbor or friend uses an adviser so they must be good, they have flashy offices, are well dressed, etc, so they must be successful! These are myths and many people have been burned badly. They needed to take a few easy steps to confirm and verify who they are dealing with. So how do you protect your money and select a qualified adviser?

Hiring a Financial Adviser

Trust, but verify – trust your adviser until you have a reason to doubt them. Verify everything, their background, their designations, and especially their recommendations. Make your own decisions about how to invest your money with their input. Do not blindly follow their advice and always follow the one rule of investing that is so important. Practice diversity and do not put all of your eggs in one basket.

Check every key bit of background – check claims of work background, training, and education. You really do want to know who you are dealing with and whether their resume and claims are true or not.

Verify credentials and designations – ask for a list or copies of the designations. Find out what these designations are and how difficult they are to qualify for them. There are just too many online designations that can be purchased for a small fee with no training what so ever.

Ask questions –  If you are being referred to an adviser because someone likes them, ask lots of questions. What verification did they do; why do they like them; what is the relationship like; what information do they provide and so on? If you get wishy-washy answers, the referral may still be of, but you need to do your own verification yourself!

Go through these steps to find an adviser and always stay current with your investments so that you know what is going on with them at all times.