Questions to Ask a Prospective Financial Planner

Another thought might be to ask where the planner stood in his graduating class. We have a candidate who for President who was below the 99th percentile in college; he will not get my support.

For Sam's case, I would have severed that relationship already. An advisor that asks the client's advice?!? I mean, the advisor should consult often with his/her clients and provide advice and education but shouldn't have to rely on the opinion of the client regarding particular investments. Perhaps the gentleman with Wachovia is simply trying to keep Sam appraised but is coming across like he is asking for Sam's advice. I am a firm believer in the idea that no professional that is providing a service is doing anything for you that you couldn't do for yourself, given enough desire and time spent educating yourself. However, I think you need to do alot more than Vern suggests to raise your own game up to the level of a competent financial planner. I have plenty of clients that came to me after years of DIY investment management who didn't understand the basic concepts of diversification and asset allocation. Yes, I am a financial planner.

Rob, we are in agreement. I have too much fun managing my own money. Once in a while I buy a specultive stock when I think the upside potential is good. Some people go to casinos to have 'fun' knowing full well that the house is the only winner. Financial advisors are likely to be influnced by the people they hang out with who make their money from commissions and management fees.

Vern I think you are onto something - when someone sees how much they are paying yearly for the advisor they have to ask themselves if they are better off (from a financially wholistic perspective) using that advisor than if they drove the bus themselves and saved the $6250 (or much more in many cases). However, *many* people are basically clueless about finances so having a fee-only advisor can at least protect them from their own ignorance - it depends.

Currently, I think the most enticing reason that I can see for going with an advisor, versus doing it on my own, is that an advisor *may* be able to get me into funds that are otherwise closed to the general public so I could 'juice' my returns (if past performance was a good indicator of future performance!). Everything else I feel I have gotten a handle on through years of self-study and action (my own risk capacity, overall asset allocation, periodic rebalancing, debt elimination, risk analysis, real-estate investing (o...(Read more of this comment)r decidedly not), college savings, emergency fund, delayed gratification, compound interest, rule of 72, estate planning & taxes, wills, life & disability ins, durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy, LTC ins, etc etc etc).
For someone that has read everything out there on all these subjects and is into continuing education with tax law changes and personal financial changes over time, I don't see much extra that an advisor can provide that is worth the $6250, (or $25,000, or whatever) other than access to some closed funds, access which would all depends on the advisor and his broker relationships.

For someone whose sole desire to handle their own finances and retirement planning ends with a comment like 'the government has that taken care of for me, right?' then regular use of an advisor may hopefully save them from themselves. However, only the cream of the crop of advisors are the ones that would have advised selling Wachovia the last time it hit an all-time high - or would have kept you away from such risk in the first place - and you can almost guarantee they will NOT want to take you on as a new client, either due to asset minimums and/or client load capacity limits.

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Hi Sam, If you can calculate that you are paying him $6250, I say do it yourself unless he advised selling Wachovia stock last year. I am selling mine now. I wonder how he does following your advice. I am also into my seventies and either way think that I have enough money for the rest of my life. If I make mistakes I can only blame myself.