Taxation & Estate Planning

How to Choose an Investment Advisor - The Wealthy and Wise Episode 1 (Video)

By Deirdre Wheatley-Liss

The Wealthy and Wise Community is finally here!  Its aim: Educate the middle-class millionaire so they are empowered to take action to meet their goals about building and building their wealth.

There are people who make a career out of investing and growing your money for a reason - it is a full time job, and as with all jobs, experience can make for better decisions. This is not to say that you can't successfully invest on your own - many people do. One problem that I see is people being intimidated by the idea of a financial advisor.  They think that they don't have enough money, or that that they won't understand what the advisor is saying.  I don't think either of these are true, as long as you have the right advisor for you.

So how do you find the right advisor for you?  We talk about it in the video above, but some starting points include:

• Ask for recommendations from people that you know and trust - it could be family, friends, attorneys, accountants.  Get several and research the people of the web.
• Interview several advisors - like attorneys, they come in all shapes and sizes and there are many different approaches to investing.  Beyond thinking that person is knowledgeable, you should like them on a personal level and feel comfortable taking with them.
• Make sure you understand how the advisor gets paid. Investing is a business, and people are and should be compensated.  There are different ways to get paid.  Remember, it is your money however, so you need to understand exactly how an advisor is compensated for any work you do.
• How often will you and the advisor be communicating?  Good advisors meet their clients no less than quarterly (whether by phone or in person) and some monthly.  How often do you want to be reviewing and discussing finances? And how?
• Finally, have an honest discussion with yourself.  Will working with a financial advisor add value to you?  Value can be many reasons - you think you will be more successful, you don't like doing it, you don't have time, you want to learn more.  If it will, consider retaining one.

Full post as published by New Jersey Estate & Elder Planning Blog on April 01, 2011 (boomark / email).