Questions to Ask A Prospective Financial Professional
What to look for and what’s not important If you are shopping for a financial professional, you need a good checklist of questions to ask. What you are looking for is someone who handles clients like you – and who is financially wise. As you assess a professional who manages your assets, for instance, do yourself a favor: Don’t rely on his or her investment record. Clients have differing needs. A money manager whose investment performance touched the stars last year may falter this year. More important nowadays may be how skillful a financial professional is at preserving your assets. That may range beyond market forecasts into such realms as insurance. Losing the ability to work and generate income, because of a sudden disability, can be more ruinous to your financial well-being than a slide in the stock market. This list of questions to a prospective professional will help you decide whether the person is a suitable fit for you: What Don’t You Do? Some financial professionals are strictly asset managers. They run your portfolio and do no planning. Others are wealth managers and their mandate is broader: They help plan the risk in your life. Within these categories are specialists in such areas as insurance and estate planning. You may hire a professional to help you draw up an investment plan aimed at pursuing enough assets to see you through retirement. But the financial professional may know zilch about creating a trust to pass along wealth to your grandkids. So, you will need another expert for that. Who Is Your Typical Client? Let’s say you are starting out and have a net worth of $50,000. It may not