How to Find a Good Financial Advisor Near Me – PillarWM

Many affluent individuals, particularly those who have at least $5 million worth of liquid assets, find themselves struggling to manage their wealth independently. They generally don’t have the knowledge of the various investment options available or simply don’t have the time for all the hassle. Thus, they eventually choose to hire a financial advisor to manage their wealth and assets. If you’re also a high net worth or an ultra-high net worth individual and are looking for a financial advisor, continue reading this article and learn how to find a good financial advisor. You can also read our complete guide and learn the techniques for choosing the best financial advisor.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we provide exclusive financial advisory services to individuals and families who have $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets. Our services even include financial planning and wealth management. Speak to any one of our team members and learn more about the services we offer.

How to Find a Good Financial Advisor: 7 Tips For Finding The Right One

1. Collect A Few Names
2. Research their Background
3. Schedule an Introductory Meeting

If the benefits of a financial advisor outlined in the previous section have convinced you to hire one, you might be wondering how to find a good financial advisor. Well, here are some steps that will show you how to find a good financial advisor for your needs.

1. Collect A Few Names

If you’re interested in how to find a good financial, you can simply type “best financial advisors near me” on Google and get the names of a few financial advisors. However, the best course of action is to get referrals from your friends, colleagues and family members. So, start your search by asking high net worth or ultra-high net worth individuals in your circle if they know of or have personally used any financial advisor that they can recommend.

2. Research their Background

While learning about how to find a good financial advisor to manage your finances, make sure you conduct exhaustive research. When looking up financial advisor for your needs, you need to particularly focus on their qualifications and the list of services they offer.

Some financial advisors may be listed on databases such as the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the CFP website, and the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB). Hence, you can simply search these databases to learn more about a particular financial advisor’s background and credentials.

An alternative approach to figuring out how to find a good financial advisor is to research your shortlisted financial advisors on LinkedIn and review their profiles. Any articles, blogs, or books they’ve authored can give you a significant insight into the kind of financial advisory services they provide.

3. Schedule an Introductory Meeting

Besides doing your research on how to find a good financial advisor, you should also speak directly to a financial advisor before entrusting them with your wealth. This will allow you to learn more about their personality, financial advisory approach and decide if you can work with them.

In your first meeting, you should have a list of questions related to financial advisory services and check if the financial advisor can give you satisfactory responses. Some of the questions you can ask include:

– What financial advisory services do you offer?

– Have you previously worked with a high net worth or ultra-high net worth clients?

– Do you charge commissions, or do you have a fee-only payment structure?

– How long have you been a part of this industry?

Therefore, having a good grasp of the questions to ask will help you figure out how to find a good financial advisor.

In our guide for investors with $10 million or more, we have listed several other questions that you can ask a financial advisor.

4. Decide What Areas of Your Financial Life You Need Help With    

Before looking for a financial advisor, decide in what areas of your financial life you feel you need help. By being clear about your needs, you’ll be able to ask the right questions when you meet with a potential advisor. Then, you can decide if they are someone you’re comfortable with and can trust, knowing they have the skills to help you achieve your goals.

So, think about your financial goals. If you have some money saved and you’d like to invest it for growth, you may need an advisor to recommend investments that are aligned with your values and your risk tolerance. You may need help managing debt, managing the assets you have, or planning for a comfortable retirement.

5. Learn About the Different Types of Financial Advisors    

Robo-advisors provide low-cost investment advice online. Based on your characteristics, these advisors utilize computer algorithms to create your investment portfolio. They are ideal for beginners or investors with straightforward investment goals.

Online financial advisors act like robo-advisors while offering additional advice from a human advisor when needed. You may be assigned to a team or a dedicated advisor. Online advisors can work with you to build a financial plan and make investment choices.

A traditional financial advisor will meet with you in person. They will advise you on investment management, retirement planning, and any other financial service. They may use outside consultants for specialized services, such as a lawyer or accountant.

Financial advisors may or may not have a fiduciary duty, which is important to know as you look for an advisor to work with. Certain designations imply a fiduciary duty, such as CFP and RIA.

Another important factor is the advisor’s compensation model. Fee-only advisors are compensated only by the fees paid by clients, so they are unlikely to have conflicts of interest. In contrast, an advisor who earns commissions is less likely to recommend the products that are best for your situation. Still, they will recommend products that are suitable. Insurance products are usually sold on a commission basis.

6. Choose Which Financial Advisor Services You Want   

Different advisors may offer different services, so start out by knowing which services you want. If an advisor doesn’t offer those services, find a different advisor.

The services you may need, which most advisors can assist you with, can include retirement planning, debt management, investing, and estate planning. You may also want help with your tax returns or purchasing insurance.

7. Decide How Much You Can Pay Your Financial Advisor

For a robo-advisor, you will typically pay an annual management fee of 0.25 to 0.5 percent of your assets, plus investment fees deducted from your account.

Online advisors charge an AUM fee (ranging from 0.30% to 0.89%) or a yearly fee of at least $1,000 a year, depending on the services you need.

A traditional advisor will charge a percentage of the assets they manage for you (1% on average). Some will require a minimum investment, which can be substantial. They may charge a yearly or monthly fee for financial planning and investment advice. Moreover, they may charge an hourly fee for consultations or a flat fee for a financial plan or an estate plan, varying from $1,000 to $3,000.

What Are Financial Advisor Services?

Knowing how to find a good financial advisor includes understanding what a financial advisor does. A financial advisor offers a range of financial products and services to their clients. They generally work by assessing their clients’ current financial situation – including their assets, expenses, and debts – and identify areas for improvement. Now that you have an idea of what a financial advisor does let’s take a detailed insight into what are financial advisor services.

A good financial advisor will speak to you about your financial goals and develop a strategy to help you accomplish them. This may involve ensuring that you have a sufficient emergency fund, estimating how much money you need for retirement, providing tax-saving advice, etc. Financial advisors will also assist you in investing your wealth, either by recommending certain investments or by offering holistic investment management. Here are some other services that a financial advisor may provide:

1. Investment Management
2. Estate Planning
3. Retirement Income Planning
4. Insurance Planning

At Pillar Wealth Management, we offer fee-only financial advisory services to high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients. Schedule a free meeting with us and get more information about the services we provide!

1. Investment Management

Investment management involves managing investments, along with other financial products. Certain people hold the view that investment management is simply about buying and selling investments. However, the truth is that it’s much more than that! For instance, investment planning may encompass devising a complete strategy or plan to acquire and dispose of investments, but it may even include budgeting, tax planning, banking, etc.

Understanding that investment management is key to financial advisory services will help you know how to find a good financial advisor.

At Pillar Wealth Management, our financial advisors have in-depth information about the various financial markets and how they work. e This allows us to thoroughly analyze our clients’ investment portfolios and create strategies to maximize returns. We’ve also written a comprehensive guide, Improving Portfolio Performance, so that you know more about how to attain the highest investment performance.

2. Estate Planning

Estate planning is the process of identifying who will take over your wealth and inherit your assets after you pass away or get incapacitated. One primary goal of estate planning is to ensure that your beneficiaries inherit your assets and wealth in a way that reduces estate tax, income tax, and gift tax. Many affluent individuals don’t realize the true value of estate planning, which ends up costing their families and loved ones large amounts of stress – and money – when they are at their most vulnerable phase in life. 

Read our recent book, The Art of Protecting Ultra-High Net Worth Portfolios and Estates – Strategies for Families Worth $25 Million to $500 Million, to learn more about estate planning and the problems you can potentially face and about how to find a good financial advisor.

Overall, estate planning is a vital element of your financial plan and should be a factor in your efforts to learn how to find a good financial advisor. Planning for the future won’t just give you more control and privacy, but it’ll allow you to leave a better legacy to your family. Our expert financial advisors will formulate a very comprehensive estate plan that will encompass various financial planning tools such as getting the most suitable life insurance plan, creating a trust, creating a succession plan, etc. This way, your beneficiaries won’t have to spend any extra dollar on taxes.

3. Retirement Income Planning

An enjoyable, comfortable, and relaxing retirement is possible for everyone, but to achieve that, you need to start planning from now! The duration of retirement is not guaranteed, even for high net worth and ultra-high net worth families. And while most people do know they need to think about retirement planning, they’re not sure how to go about it, nor do they know how to find a good financial advisor.

Retirement planning is one of the most important things you can do for your life – especially if you’re above 50 regardless of your net worth because the quality of your future will depend on it. At Pillar Wealth Management, we specialize in creating retirement plans for high net worth and ultra-high net worth families who own liquid assets worth $5 million to $500 million. We strongly suggest you read our guide, 5 Critical Shifts for Maximizing Portfolio Growth Strategies and learn more about how you can live a worry-free retirement.

4. Insurance Planning

Without proper planning, whether it’s investment planning, estate planning, or retirement income planning, you won’t be able to optimally invest your wealth, leave behind a significant legacy, or retire comfortably. But if you don’t have a proper insurance plan, each component of your financial plan faces high risks. So, it’s critical to determine how to find a good financial advisor.

Comprehensive planning will help you identify, plan for, and even mitigate all the risks involved in your financial life. Careful insurance planning helps to reduce the risks that can’t even foresee. While financial planning works to grow your wealth, insurance planning aims to secure and preserve it.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we know the ins and outs of the insurance industry and how they can be applied to your present and future finances. With our thorough insurance analysis, you can be assured that you won’t have to spend your hard-earned money on impracticable insurance policies. Additionally, we can even go through the plans you currently have and check for any holes that can cause distress to you and your family.

With a good grasp of the service provided by financial advisors, you’re on your way to knowing how to find a good financial advisor.

Why Are High Net Worth Financial Advisors Worth It?

1. Tax Optimization
2. Knowledge and Expertise
3. Fiduciary Services

If you’re still unsure about how to find a good financial advisor and hiring one, you may also be thinking, “why are high net worth financial advisors worth it?” then we have a list of additional benefits that a financial advisor can provide you.

1. Tax Optimization

Perhaps the most major drawback to wealth is the taxes that come with it, and a financial advisor can provide significant value in this area. A financial advisor can help you in tax optimization by guiding you about tax-efficient investments such as treasury bills, municipal bonds, etc. They will even look at the timing of purchases and income, retirement plans, the types of investments, and how taxes are filed. So, knowing how to find a good financial advisor is quite important.

Like most financial planning, there is no single tax optimization technique that will work for everyone. Thus, at Pillar Wealth Management, our financial advisors will create customized tax optimization plans for you so that you can successfully accomplish your financial goals. To know more about tax-optimization strategies, click here and speak to our financial advisors.

2. Knowledge and Expertise

Financial advisors are well equipped in managing the portfolios and assets of high net worth and ultra-high net worth families. They possess in-depth knowledge of the different financial products available in the market and closely monitor the market trends to swiftly leverage any lucrative opportunity.

Additionally, financial advisors also have vast data to create the best strategies to help you achieve your financial targets. For example, our financial advisors have historical financial data from 1925, which we use to carry out extensive analysis to form your financial plan’s foundation.

3. Fiduciary Services

As you struggle to learn how to find a good financial advisor, you may find that financial advisors often act as a fiduciary, which implies that they eliminate any possible conflict of interest. At Pillar Wealth Management, we are proud to be a 100% fee-only, fiduciary financial advisory firm and are fully dedicated to helping you reach your financial targets. Plus, we strive to always offer you advice that is in your best interests, not ours.

What Makes a Good Financial Advisor?

1. Experience and Performance Record
2. Customized Solutions

Another popular question that people ask before attempting to figure out how to find a good financial advisor and hiring one is, “what makes a good financial advisor?”

So, in this section, we’ll have a look at the factors that make a good financial advisor who is worth your money.

1. Experience and Performance Record

The experience and performance record of a financial advisor is a big testament to their abilities and skills. Hence, to distinguish a good financial advisor from an average one, you shouldn’t listen to what they say they can do for you. Rather, you should focus on what they’ve already achieved in the past. Some skills, such as asset allocation techniques, are only mastered with time, so you must opt for a financial advisor who is sufficiently experienced in their field.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we have been offering financial advisory services to affluent families for over 30 years, so we know all the intricacies of the field and can help you manage your wealth in the best way.

2. Customized Solutions

Investment houses, private banks, and other financial companies generally provide standardized, cookie-cutter solutions to all their clients. However, a good financial advisor will create plans and strategies that are specifically designed with your interests and goals in mind. The best financial advisors will have lengthy and detailed discussions with you to fully learn about your goals and create customized plans that are in line with your individual situation.

The big Wall Street firms and several other financial and investment institutions are more concerned about their shareholders. But unlike them, we at Pillar Wealth Management focus more on growing your wealth and the legacy you leave behind. We are extremely proud of the personalized financial and investment plans we devise to assist affluent families live the life of their dreams. To learn more about how to pick the best financial advisor, make sure you read our ultimate guide!

These two key elements can help you in discerning how to find a good financial advisor.

A Few Last Words

Understanding how to find a good financial advisor and selecting the right financial advisor will play a significant role in growing and managing your wealth. At Pillar Wealth Management, our financial advisors are highly skilled at understanding your financial aspirations and creating plans to help you turn those aspirations into reality. To learn more about our financial advisory services, sign up for a meeting with us!

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