There has been some press lately centred on whether financial advisors provide true advice or are just sales people. The truth is that some advisors are just sales people and don’t really provide true advice. I recently received a phone call at home from a bank financial advisor offering me a credit card. There was no advice offered in the conversation. It was just a sales call.
Getting true financial advice, however, has been shown to dramatically increase the investment earnings and financial well being of the people, families, and small business that receive it. See Benefits of Working with a Financial Advisor & 6-Drivers
So how does one find true financial advice from an advisor committed to a client’s well being? To begin, asking a few simple questions and a bit of research can go a long way to finding an advisor who truly works for you. Here are a few questions to get started:
- Who does the advisor work for? Are they independent or do they work for a large institution?
- Do they offer products & services from a variety of providers or just the one that they work for?
- How are they paid and do they have sales quotas? Are they upfront about it?
To help you find your advisor and determine what services are important to you, I have two booklets available to help make this important decision: Consumer’s Guide for Financial and Investment Advice and Find your Fit: Finding the best financial advisor for you. Both are complementary with no strings attached -just let me know where to send them.
I also hope you have a few minutes to watch the video The 6 Drivers of a Successful Advice Relationship. You can find it below. Thanks to Bridgehouse Asset Management for preparing these resources! I hope these tools can help with a very important decision. After all, I think true advisors help their clients make smart decisions about their lives and not just sell products.
Sincerely,
Chris