Six Questions to Ask of a Prospective New Financial Advisor
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Six Questions to Ask When Hiring a Financial Advisor 05.05.2023

Are you looking for a high quality financial advisor? There are literally thousands of people who hold themselves out as financial advisors just in California alone. How can you possibly figure out who is right for you? What questions to ask when hiring a financial advisor.

Don’t be overwhelmed in your search hiring a financial advisor or wealth manager. Just start with six important questions to make sure they are the best fit for you, your life, and your financial situation.

Hiring a financial advisor shouldn’t totally stress you out. But you know the benefits of hiring a financial advisor, and your financial future is serious business. They need to have your best interests front and center. This is the definition of fiduciary.

Six questions to ask when hiring a financial advisor

How do you know you are talking with a high quality financial advisor?

Trust

Do you trust them with not only the personal details of your financial accounts but also with the personal details of your life? A high quality financial advisor engenders trust.

Experience

Do they have a history of successful performance and a network of happy clientele who are willing to step forward and vouch for their professionalism and knowledge? A high quality financial advisor has experience.

Fiduciary Standard of Care

Are they legally bound to serve in your best interests? The definition of fiduciary is that they aren’t beholden to the company that employs them or to a service provider (such as an insurance company) in order to earn an income. A high quality financial advisor acts as a fiduciary.

Finding out whether a financial advisor has these basic three requirements—trust, experience, a responsibility of fiduciary care—are the reasons for asking a potential financial advisor the six questions. Questions 1 and 2 speak to their experience and trustworthiness. Questions 3 and 4 speak to whether they will 100% of the time be acting in your best interests rather than their own—that they meet the definition of fiduciary. Questions 5 and 6 assure that the services they provide match your needs and your philosophies.

Here are the six questions to ask when hiring a financial advisor

1. What is your education and experience?
2. Do you have any compliance or regulatory infractions?
3. Are you required by law to operate within a fiduciary or suitability standard of care? 
4. How exactly are you compensated?
5. Do you provide comprehensive financial plans?
6. What is your financial planning and investment philosophy?

If the advisor you’re interviewing doesn’t answer these six questions in an articulate way, you may want to continue your search.

What does a financial manager do? Helps you better manage and coordinate your financial affairs, obviously. Breaking this down, the point of finding a fiduciary financial advisor with experience, and who you trust will be a good partner for you increases your odds of successfully growing and protecting your net worth and assets over time, especially these days with how unsettled the markets, economy, and politics all continue to be.

If you’re looking for a new financial advisor—even if you’re currently working with one—asking them these six questions to ask when hiring a financial advisor, and doing your due diligence to assure they’re answering truthfully, will help you ensure you’ve got the right financial advisory partner on board.

Are you considering hiring a financial advisor? Do you think that our Sacramento wealth management firm might be a good fit? Please, use this link to set up a no-obligation consultation.

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