2. What are your qualifications?
The government does not regulate financial planners as financial planners; instead, it regulates planners as stock brokers, insurance agents or investment advisers, depending on the services they provide. Find out if the candidate is recognized as a Certified Financial Planner professional or CFP practitioner, a Certified Public Accountant/Personal Financial Specialist (CPA/PFS), or a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC).
3. What services do you offer?
Most planners have been trained to take a broad look at your financial situation, while accountants, investment advisers, stockbrokers or insurance agents may focus on a particular area of your financial life. Always ask a financial adviser what qualifies him or her to offer financial planning services.
4. What is your approach to financial planning?
Learn about the type of clients and financial situations financial planner typically likes to work with. Different planners can have different preferences. For example, some planners like to develop one plan by bringing together all of your financial goals. Others give an advice on specific areas, as needed. Check out if the planner’s viewpoint on investing is not too cautious or overly aggressive for you. Find out if the planner will carry out the financial recommendations developed for you or refer you to others who will do so.
5. Will you be the only person working with me?
Sometimes it happens that financial planner may work with you not only himself but have others assistants in the office. It is very natural if you want to learn more about everyone who will be working with you. Get a list of names of professionals the planner works with outside his own practice (such as attorneys, insurance agents or tax specialists) and check on their backgrounds to develop or carry out financial planning recommendations.
6. How will I pay for your services?
As part of your financial planning agreement, the financial planner should clearly tell you in writing how he or she will be paid for the services to be provided.
There is currently no uniform method by which financial planners are paid. A planner can be paid by a salary paid by the company for which the planner works; by fees based on an hourly rate, a flat rate, or on a percentage of your assets and/or income; by commissions paid by a third party from the products sold to you to carry out the financial planning recommendations; or by a combination of fees and commissions whereby fees are charged for the amount of work done to develop financial planning recommendations and commissions are received from any products sold. Be sure to ask the planner how he or she is paid.
It's important that after the interview you felt all your questions were fully and honestly answered. After all, this could be the professional you will be looking for to help planning your financial future.
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