Four Qualities To Look For When Hiring A Financial Advisor | What is a Financial Planner?

Juggling the various financial responsibilities that accumulate in your life can be overwhelming at times. Between the variety of options that are available to you, the necessity of how one monetary cog fits into another fiscal opportunity and the ever-changing regulations and legislature that surrounds your finances, it can feel as though you can’t see the forest for the trees.

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But how do you know you’re choosing the right financial advisor for your needs? In this article, we discuss four qualities to look for to ensure that you hire the most appropriate financial advisor.

1. Honesty
When it comes to choosing someone to help handle your finances, it can be somewhat terrifying to provide insights into your funds, investments and needs. While any professional will identify himself or herself as trustworthy and honest, here is something to consider…are they making guarantees? While financial advisors are skilled professionals with a background in this industry, no financial advisor can guarantee results. If you’re being guaranteed returns, chances are this individual isn’t being as honest and forthcoming as you should require of your advisor.

2. Knowledge
Your potential financial advisor should be able to provide evidence to you that they are knowledgeable about the financial areas you need managed. Don’t misread this into thinking your advisor should speak over your head with corporate lingo you don’t understand. Your advisor should be able to explain the topics being discussed in a graspable, educated way. After all, Albert Einstein once said, “You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” If your advisor is knowledgeable of the ins and outs of his or her trade, they should be able to articulate these insights in clear, logical ways.

3. Experience
This is a tough one. Not every financial advisor has been in practice for multiple decades, nor do they need to have been. Any advisor resting on their past laurels is not guaranteed to be a perfect fit for you as the regulations and industries of finance change regularly and last year’s success does not infer an assumed return this year. By the same token, you should strive to find a financial advisor who can identify and discuss how they’ve been able to successfully advise other clients with similar needs in order to provide additional assurance that your circumstances fit well within their wheelhouse. Ask for specific situations (not requiring identities of current or past clients, though) and what research and factors informed the advisor’s actions that helped create success.

4. Availability
Your finances, along with your financial circumstances, are always evolving and changing, just like the numerous markets associated with them. You need a financial advisor who is available to you based on your needs. For many, you may only need to communicate with your financial advisor quarterly or monthly; however, when preparing for a major financial decision such as buying a home, paying for a child’s education or becoming an entrepreneur, you will most likely need to be in more fluid communication with your financial advisor. Speak to your potential advisor about their availability, both for regular business and extenuating circumstances. What good is having a financial advisor if they are never available to give you advice when you need it?

Summary
Hopefully these four characteristics help assist your search to find a financial advisor that is not only capable, but will be able to help aid you in your unique, personal financial goals. Each individual is different and each financial advisor has different strengths and marketability. Your goal should be to not just find the most previously successful advisor out there. It should be to find the financial advisor who can have the most success providing you with the monetary insights you need.

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