When planning for your retirement, your financial advisor should be more than a faceless individual moving funds around and making uniform decisions for a wide roster of clients.
Your financial circumstances are as unique as you, so selecting a professional who can formulate a retirement plan that lines up with your goals and your needs is something to be considered.
The Kiplinger Advisor Collective recommends the following when shopping around for who to trust with your financial health leading into the retirement years:
Listening and Communication
Do the advisors you’ve met seem to have a one-size-fits all approach they seem weary straying from? Or do they take the time to listen and inquire about your unique circumstances and goals as a retiree before presenting products and investment strategies that align?
Trust your gut and always do your due diligence.
The Fiduciary Standard
When choosing to work with a financial professional, it is important to ask whether or not they are a fiduciary advisor. Fiduciary advisors held to the fiduciary standard “must put the best interest of the person they are representing ahead of their own,” writes Eric Brotman in Forbes.
Being a fiduciary advisor involves “only recommending strategies, products, or tools that are most likely to benefit [the] client, regardless of how it affects [the advisor].”
Of course, all investments come with risk, and no financial professional has a crystal ball that shows what the future holds, but the fiduciary standard presents a legal obligation to ensure “decisions being made do not have ulterior motives attached.”
Their Reputation in the Community
When selecting a professional to assist with managing your retirement, take into consideration their reputation throughout your own personal network and the community with which they work. Does their firm actively engage with the community they reside? Do you have acquaintances, colleagues, or friends who have had positive experiences with this advisor or their firm? Is there a plethora of positive or negative feedback online? Is the advisor or firm willing to connect you with existing, long-standing clients, for further assurance?
Do They Offer No-Strings, No Sales-Pitch Financial Consultations?
Finding a financial advisor that you feel able to connect with on a human level, that asks thoughtful questions, makes thoughtful recommendations, and doesn’t leave you feeling like you were just sold on something you’re unsure of by using pressure-tactics can feel like a daunting chore.
One way to narrow down your hunt is to consider the following: Are they willing to meet without any sort of commitment or having to endure a sales pitch? Are they willing to sit down with you, face to face, and offer genuine financial analysis and advice without turning the meeting into a pressure-cooker with looming transfer of assets and endless signature pages?
Moore’s Wealth Management is home to five licensed advisors that are held to the fiduciary standard, each of which welcomes the chance to meet with you, hear your concerns, offer advice, and do so without any commitment of moving forward with our firm.
To schedule a complimentary financial review with Moore’s Wealth Management, click here or call our office at 770-535-5000, where a staff-member is awaiting your call Monday through Friday, 9AM to 5PM.
SOURCES:
https://www.kiplinger.com/kiplinger-advisor-collective/choosing-a-financial-adviser-what-to-consider
This material is provided as a courtesy and for educational purposes only. Please consult your investment professional, legal or tax advisor for specific information pertaining to your situation.
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