Financial Advisors Near Me: How Do I Choose Them? PillarWM

A financial advisor can play an essential role in managing your wealth. It is critical to hire a financial advisor for individuals who have $5 million to $500 million worth of liquid assets. Suppose you’re looking to get information about who is a financial advisor and how to find the best financial advisor near me. In that case, we recommend you start by perusing our exclusive guide for investors who have more than $10 million in investable assets. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of the critical elements of financial advisory and the benefits you can get from hiring a financial advisor.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we provide financial advisory services to individuals who have a net worth of between $5 million to $500 million. With a combined experience of over six decades, we can offer personalized financial advisory services to manage your finances better and bring you one step closer to living the life of your dreams. Click here to have a discussion with one of our financial advisors today!

If you want to learn more about financial advisors before you speak to our team, make sure you read this blog and get the information you want. Continue reading as we offer detailed answers to commonly asked questions such as who is a financial advisor, how do I choose financial advisors, how much money do I need to hire financial advisors, and more.

10 Best Financial Advisors

Broker	Fees	Account minimum	Promotion
Facet Wealth	$2,000 and up per year (free initial consultation)	$0	Get 2 free months off your first year of financial planning.*
Vanguard Personal Advisor Services	0.30% management fee	$50,000	None no promotion available at this time
Zoe Financial	Varies by Advisor (free initial consultation)	$100,000	3-Month Satisfaction Guarantee
Harness Wealth	Up to 1% per year	$250,000	$250 off one year of financial or tax planning
Personal Capital	0.49%-0.89% management fee	$100,000	Get 6 months of free wealth management for new clients. Must fund above $250,000 within 30 days of account opening. Terms Apply.
Ellevest Private Wealth Management	0.90%	$1,000,000	None no promotion available at this time
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium™	$30 monthly	$25,000	None no promotion available at this time
Betterment Premium	0.40% management fee	$100,000	Up to 1 year of free management for new clients. Terms apply.
Wealthramp	Varies by advisor	$0	None no promotion available at this time
Merrill Edge Guided Investing with advisor	0.85% management fee	$20,000	None no promotion available at this time

How To Find Financial Advisors Near You

1. Online advisor matching service

Online matching services, such as Zoe Financial and Harness Wealth, will connect you with an advisor, who pays the service a fee to be matched with new clients; they are vetted by the service.

At Zoe, the financial advisors are certified planners or accountants, with fees ranging from 0.50% to 1.5% of the value of your investment assets.

Harness Wealth matches you with equity-focused financial and tax advisors, whose fees start at 1% or lower for the first $1 million in investable assets. A financial plan costs $1,000–$5,000. A similar fee is charged for tax planning and filing or an estate plan.

2. CFP Board website

The CFP Board is charged with the accreditation of certified financial planners (CFPs). On the Board website, for a given planner, you’ll see a detailed description of the CFP’s qualifications, training, work experience, and code of ethics. You can use the website to find a CFP in your area (click on FIND A CFP PROFESSIONAL at the bottom of the home page).

3. Robo-advisors

Many of the well-known investment firms, such as Vanguard, Schwab, and Fidelity, offer lower-priced investment services through a robo-advisor.  A robo-advisor uses your details to make financial recommendations through computer algorithms.

Betterment and Wealthfront are some other highly ranked robo-advisors.

Typically, robo-advisor fees are significantly lower than those of human advisors. However, they cannot provide tailored or personalized services, such as those of a traditional advisor.

4. Garrett Planning Network

The Garrett Planning Network is a network of fee-only fiduciary financial planners. Sheryl Garrett, the founder and CEO, has made it her mission to ensure that anyone can access the financial advice they need.

Garrett’s members pay an ongoing monthly or annual fee for their membership in the network.

These advisors charge an hourly fee for financial planning and investment advice on an as-needed basis. They must be accessible to all individuals, regardless of their financial circumstances, and there are no minimum requirements for wealth, income, or assets.

Garrett’s members have either a CFP credential or are licensed CPAs with the personal financial specialist (PFS) credential. All members are fiduciaries.

5. Association of African American Financial Advisors (AAAF)

The AAAF has its offices in Washington, DC. Membership is open to any CFP®, ChFC, CFA, or PFS, holder of FINRA Series 65 or Series 66. A member must be engaged as a financial advisor who is currently actively advising clients. The organization supports African American financial professionals, thereby improving the financial well-being of the African American community.

6. The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)

NAPFA members are fee-only financial professionals. Membership as a NAPFA-registered financial advisor requires an advanced education in financial planning and three years of planning experience. Applicants must submit a sample comprehensive financial plan to a peer review. The advisors participate in the “Find an Advisor” referral platform.

7. Recommendations

Ask around in your own network of friends, or at work, or among your family members, where someone who may have similar needs for financial advice has already engaged an advisor that they work with successfully.

Who Are Financial Advisors?

Financial advisors are qualified professionals who offer advice to their clients on how to manage their finances. Several kinds of professionals can fall in this category, including wealth managers, investment advisors, money managers, certified public accountants, and certified financial planners.

Financial advisors usually do not need a certification to provide advice related to wealth or financial management. However, they do have some training related to the kind of financial advisory services they provide. For example, if a financial advisor specializes in investment management, they need to have been trained in retirement income planning, stock trading, etc.

Financial advisors also play a significant part in helping their clients overcome their financial problems. Before moving further, we would suggest you read The Art of Protecting Ultra-High Net Worth Portfolios and Estates – Strategies for Families Worth $25 Million to $500 Million. This is an absolutely free book written by our team that will help you understand the importance of hiring a financial advisor.

How Much Money Do I Need to Hire Financial Advisors?

Hiring a financial advisor does come at a cost. So, if you’re thinking of hiring one, the first thing you need to do is know your net worth.

When you have the answer to the question “how much money do I need to hire financial advisers?” you can weigh out the costs and benefits of hiring one. This way, you can determine if hiring a financial advisor will prove useful to you.

Note that a financial advisor can perform several various tasks. So, for instance, if you need financial advice to minimize your tax burden, you probably don’t have to factor in your net worth. Nevertheless, if you need to hire a financial advisor who specializes in wealth management, then an evaluation of costs and benefits is necessary.

Usually, most financial advisers work with clients who have a net worth of at least $1 million. So, if you have assets worth $1 million or more, we highly advise you to hire a financial advisor.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we offer exclusive financial advisory services to individuals who have liquid assets worth between $5 million and $500 million. Our financial advisers’ team is adequately skilled in assisting high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients attain their financial goals. Here is a list of the financial advisory services we offer:

– Asset allocation analysis

– Estate planning

– Insurance planning

– Investment management

– Portfolio planning

– Retirement income planning

– Risk analysis and management

– Tax minimization

To get more information about our services, click here to schedule a free-of-cost consultation session. 

How Do I Choose Financial Advisor Near Me?

1. Years of Experience
2. The Skill to Lower Risks
3. Ability to Lower Costs
4. Fiduciary Duty

After you’ve calculated your net worth and determined that you do need the services of a financial advisor, you can proceed to answer the following question, “how do I choose financial advisers?”

Given that there are plenty of different types of financial advisers, such as those mentioned earlier in this article, you need to ensure that you pick one that is most suitable for your needs. We mostly suggest high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals to opt for wealth managers as they provide a comprehensive group of services.

Nevertheless, here is a complete list of factors you need to consider before you choose and finalize a financial advisor. You can also read The Ultimate Guide for Choosing the Best Financial Advisor and learn how you can pick the best financial advisor to help you attain your financial goals.

1.Years of Experience

If someone asks, “who is the best financial advisor?” you will hardly ever get an answer that includes a financial advisor who doesn’t have comprehensive experience working with affluent individuals. This is because the nature of financial markets is such that you need to have adequate experience to fully comprehend why certain strategies are effective and certain aren’t.

Experience also gives financial advisers insights into what wealthy clients need. There’s really no book or guide that discusses the difference between the financial requirements of someone who is just starting their career and someone who is about to retire.

Handling and securing the wealth of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals with up to $500 million liquid assets is no piece of cake. It calls for special attention, and as a wealthy individual, you can’t take the risk of handing over your wealth to someone who doesn’t have the relevant experience.

At Pillar Wealth Management, our financial advisers have over sixty years of combined experience assisting wealthy clients with $5 million to $500 million in liquid assets. Thus, you can trust us to preserve, manage, and grow your wealth.

2.The Skill to Lower Risks

When you consider investing your wealth, you probably only think of getting a high return. But do you know that mitigating avoidable and unnecessary risks is the core of creating a sustainable investment strategy? A financial advisor who is well-versed in asset allocation techniques to minimize your investment risk is a financial advisor you should aim to hire.��Don’t forget to read our guide, Improving Portfolio Performance, and learn how your investment performance is tied to risk.

The best financial advisers have sufficient experience, expertise, and knowledge to know that diversification doesn’t always lead to lower risks. It’s entirely possible for you to have a diversified investment portfolio yet still carry a significant risk of losses due to sudden market movements.

For instance, you could invest your wealth in 20 different airlines’ stocks to create a seemingly “diversified” portfolio. However, in case the travel or tourism industry experiences a collective decline (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), you will be at risk of sustaining significant losses. 

A lot of financial experts might tell you that asset management is more essential than merely diversifying them. Allocating your assets in bonds, cash, and equities can help you fare well during economic slumps and enjoy profitable returns in periods of economic boom.

Note that even the most perfect asset allocation won’t prevent you from incurring losses during unfavorable economic conditions and business. However, it will notably lower the impact of adverse economic conditions on your investment portfolio.

With our financial advisers, you can be confident that you will always have an ideal asset allocation that allows you to get the highest portfolio performance while minimizing the risk of loss.

3.Ability to Lower Costs

Like avoidable risks, unnecessary costs play a significant role in the financial losses incurred by affluent investors.

An experienced financial advisor for high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors knows that securing individuals’ wealth and lowering their costs is usually just as important as earning a profitable return. Critical shifts such as these help in you attaining the highest portfolio performance. Read our simple guide here to get more information about the paradigm shifts you need to make to maximize portfolio performance.

Certain financial advisers don’t have sufficient experience or knowledge to realize that there’s a significant difference between costs and fees such as in the estate planning area, etc. Even though nearly every financial advisor charges a fee for the services they offer, only the best ones know about the hidden costs you can potentially incur and guide you about how you can reduce them while you contact them.

When speaking to a financial advisor, make sure to ask them about any hidden costs you might have to incur and how they can help you reduce them. This is a crucial question, and you should steer clear of financial advisers who aren’t able to give you a clear answer.

Here is a list of some costs that you can potentially incur:

– Bond sale spread

– Commissions paid to money managers

– Cost of active vs. passive management

– Internal expenses

– Tax-loss cultivation

– Taxes from capital gains

4.Fiduciary Duty

Another important thing you need to reviews before you find a financial advisor is a fiduciary duty.

A fiduciary duty is an obligation for a financial advisor to always work in their client’s best interests. For example, the financial advisers at our firm – Pillar Wealth Management – are Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) certified by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

As part of this certification, our financial advisers are obligated to always take steps and create plans that are in your best interests. Our fiduciary financial advisers also make sure that there aren’t any conflicts of interest when developing your interests. This is indicated by the fact that we don’t earn any product-based compensations or commissions on investments and other financial products.

With a fiduciary financial advisor by your side, you can stay assured that a financial advisor will always prioritize your financial needs and objectives. Click here to schedule a free consultation with our fiduciary financial advisors.

Should I Meet with Financial Advisors?  

Now that you’ve shortlisted certain financial advisers based on the criteria outlined above, you might be wondering, should I meet with financial advisers? After all, you can get all the data you need from their website. Nevertheless, it is still imperative for you to personally meet with a financial adviser.

Meeting with a financial adviser will help you gain more insights into their personality and help you decide if you can trust them with your wealth and work with them in the future.

However, before you step in for a meeting, make sure that you properly prepare for it. Some things that you need to document before the meeting include:

• Your current financial situation, including your assets, liabilities, and debt

• Your existing and expected income and expenses

• Your financial aspirations and goals.

Along with this, you should also have a list of questions that you should ask your financial advisor or certified financial planner. The answers you get will then help you finalize the selection decision. Some questions that you can ask a potential financial advisor include:

• What are your qualifications?

• What is your fee structure?

• How many years of experience do you have?

In our ultimate guide for investors with $10 million, we have made a list of essential questions that you should ask a prospective financial advisor.

Last Few Words

A financial consultant is a specialist who supports their clients in strategizing and design a plan for their long-term and short-term financial goals. There are different kinds of financial experts. Some grant advice or guidance concerning tax and insurance, while another’s advisor contributes a significant deal of their effort in investigating and examining investment possibilities and matching with clients to consider complex tactics in “financial adviser” topics.

Choosing the best financial advisors isn’t a task that you can simply complete overnight. In fact, you shouldn’t complete it overnight. It’s a significant decision that can make or break your dream to live a financially secure life. Thus, it’s crucial that you spend time exploring all your options and pick one that best meets your needs.

In short, a financial advisor is a true savior for the UHNW like you. First, a financial advisor will help you in managing all of your assets. Then, a financial advisor is also helping you in developing your assets. If you want to find the best financial advisor, you can reach Pillar WM.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we have financial advisers who have plenty of experience in successfully helping wealthy individuals live the life of their dreams in investment management services and several financial planning service areas. So if you own liquid assets valued between $5 million and $500 million, head over to our website to schedule a free meeting and learn how we can help you access and accomplish your financial planning and financial goals priority.

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