Find a Financial Advisor: Tips and Tricks

Are you wondering whether you need a financial advisor? As your net worth grows, hiring a financial advisor can play a critical role in managing your wealth. For investors having $5 million to $500 million in investable assets, it is essential to find a financial advisor specializing in wealth management. If you are looking to understand things like what a financial advisor does and how to find a financial advisor, we suggest you begin with reading our exclusive guide for investors having over $10 million in liquid assets. This can help you understand the essential aspects of wealth management and how you can benefit when you find a financial advisor to have on your team.

STRATEGIES FOR FAMILIES WORTH $5 MILLION TO $500 MILLION

7 Secrets To High Net Worth Investment Management, Estate, Tax and Financial Planning

The insights you’ll discover from our published book will help you integrate a variety of wealth management tools with financial planning, providing guidance for your future security alongside complex financial strategies, so your human and financial capital will both flourish.

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At Pillar Wealth Management, we offer fiduciary advisory services for individuals with a net worth of over $5 million to $500 million. Our team possesses a combined experience of 60 years. It utilizes various tools and techniques to offer custom wealth management that controls your risk and gets you one step closer to leading the life you desire. Click here to talk to one of our wealth managers today!

If you’d rather learn more about financial advisors and wealth management before you talk to our team, this blog will provide you with the answers you need. Read on as we discuss common questions such as “How do I find a financial advisor?” “Do I need a financial advisor?” “How much money do you need to hire a financial advisor?” and “Is it worth having a financial advisor?”

6 Tips for Finding the Right Financial Advisor

Finding a financial advisor is an important task that can impact your financial and emotional well-being for years, if not decades. Therefore, you should carefully research a range of investment firms, banks, and independent advisors before making your choice. Talk to several advisors as you look for one with whom you feel comfortable discussing your finances. And follow these six tips.

1. Find a real fiduciary

A fiduciary advisor is a financial planner or investment advisor whose certification requires them to prioritize the client’s interests above their own.

One indication that your advisor is a fiduciary is that they follow a fee-only compensation model. That means their income is based only on the fees their customers pay. Another clue is that the advisor remains up-to-date with finance-related laws and regulations through ongoing training. This can have a significant impact on your tax return’s bottom line.

As they say, “The proof is in the pudding,” so while there’s no guarantee that your advisor is a “real” fiduciary, you should expect to meet your goals by working with an advisor.

2. Check those credentials

Once you’ve selected an advisor with whom you want to work, verify their credentials by going to the relevant organization’s website, such as cfp.net, which maintains a registry of certified financial planners. You can get information about the advisor from both FINRA and the SEC.

3. Understand how the advisor gets paid

If you plan to work with an advisor who works for an investment firm, it’s important to know how the advisor is paid. The fee model they use may be fee-only, fee-based, commission-based, or a combination.

You’ll want to know whether the advisor is compensated for selling the firm’s products, which may create a conflict of interest.

An independent financial advisor or firm may be more likely to offer you products that align with your best interests as they focus on clearly understanding your unique financial situation and needs.

In any case, find out if the advisor is bound by the fiduciary standard of care.

4. Look for fee-only advisors

If an advisor adheres to the fee-only compensation model, meaning that they are paid only by you and other clients, they will be more motivated to work in your best interests, not their own. And often, as your wealth grows, so does their income.

5. Expect transparency

Your advisor should have a clear understanding of your financial situation and your needs and goals for a better future. The advisor should be a good listener, showing concern and empathy for your financial situation. They should be able to explain clearly how they will work with you, which products they recommend and why, and what you will pay them in fees.

6. Find an advisor who keeps you on track

By working with you on a financial plan, implementing an investment strategy, and preparing you financially for retirement, your advisor should take every opportunity to make you a better investor. You should become better educated about finance by working with an advisor who is able to communicate clearly how you will achieve your goals. Your increased understanding will assist you in navigating the ups and downs of the markets.

What Is a Financial Advisor?

A financial advisor is a qualified professional that provides you with advice on how to manage your money. There are a variety of individuals that can fall into this category. This includes investment advisors, wealth managers, certified financial planners, and certified public accountants.

Most financial advisors do not need to be formally certified to offer advice on money management. They usually have some sort of training related to the type of financial advice they offer. For instance, if you find a financial advisor who specializes in investment management, they should be trained in stock trading and retirement income planning as part of investment management services. Similarly, a tax consultant must be trained in tax preparation in order to provide the right advice.

Financial advisors are not necessarily equipped to handle all types of things related to money management. Instead, they can specialize in one or more areas. Depending on your needs, you can find a financial advisor who is qualified to provide advice in the domain you need help in.

What Does A Financial Advisor Do?

Understanding what a financial advisor does is very important. If you are looking to find a financial advisor for wealth management, then here are some of the things they should be able to you with:

• Conducting an assessment of your current financial situation and understanding your financial goals

• Preparing a plan that allows you to strategically achieve all financial goals and improve your financial situation by addressing areas of concern including managing credit cards

• Providing financial advice on potential issues such as generating too many losses, market volatility, and failing to reach financial goals

• Investing your money in a variety of assets for estate planning and ensuring a healthy asset allocation

• Helping you choose the best financial vehicles for retirement planning such as insurance policies

To learn more about what a financial advisor can do for you, click here to read our exclusive guide on how to find a financial advisor.

Can I Afford a Financial Advisor?

Hiring a financial advisor comes at a cost. If you are wondering, “Do I need a financial advisor?”, the first thing you need to do is review your net worth. Knowing how much money you need to hire a financial advisor can help you carry out a cost-benefit analysis and determine if it will pay off to find a financial advisor to manage your assets. Some financial advisors use a fee structure while other rely on account minimums.

As discussed earlier, financial advisors perform a variety of functions. If you need to find a financial advisor for help managing your taxes, then you don’t necessarily need to factor in your net worth. However, if you need to find a financial advisor specializing in wealth management, then a cost-benefit analysis is essential.

Typically, wealth management firms work with individuals with a minimum net worth of $1 million. If you fall in this category, then we strongly suggest getting a financial advisor for financial planning.

At Pillar Wealth Management, we work exclusively with people having a net worth of $5 million to $500 million. Our financial advisory services are designed to help high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals realize their wealth and retirement planning goals. We specialize in the following areas:

• Investment management

• Risk analysis and management

• Retirement income planning

• Tax minimization

• Estate planning

• Insurance planning

• Asset allocation analysis

• Portfolio planning

To learn about our services, click here to arrange a free consultation session.

How Do I Find a Financial Advisor Who Is Right for Me?

4 key aspects to keep in mind

Understanding what a financial advisor does is important. You must find a financial advisor who is right for you to get the best financial services based on your needs. Your financial advisor can be a human financial advisor or a Robo advisor that works by using an algorithm. However, to find a financial advisor that is able to manage your wealth in a responsible manner can be harder than you realize. To make it easier, here are some of the key aspects to keep in mind as you try to find a financial advisor for wealth management.

1. How Will They Help You Pursue Your Goals?

One of the most critical aspects of working with a financial advisor is understanding how they will help you reach your goals. To begin with, do they ask you at the onset what you are looking to achieve with your investment portfolio? Do they know how much wealth you need to retire? Understanding your investment objectives is the key to holistic wealth management. Without it, you may as well be walking in a blind alley with no rhyme or reason for where you want to go. It is also critical to your financial security.

Besides this, as you progress in your search to find a financial advisor, you need to check what type of system a financial advisor has in place for tracking goals. If they are considered as an investment advisor, do they regularly revisit your goals to make sure your investment portfolio is doing what it’s supposed to do?

Besides, before hiring a financial advisor, you also need to know their qualification, such as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) qualification or registered as a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA).

At Pillar Wealth Management, we take on a vigorous approach to goal tracking. Our team will regularly review your portfolio’s performance and compare it to your goals. Depending on what we observe, we will also tweak your portfolio to improve its effectiveness.

To learn more about portfolio rebalancing and how it impacts your financial health, click here to read our guide on improving portfolio performance.

2. How Can They Help You Control Your Portfolio Risk?

All investments come with a certain amount of risk. How you control that risk and manage to increase your returns is a deciding factor in achieving your financial goals. If you are currently trying to find a financial advisor, we strongly recommend you ask them about their risk management policies.

There are essentially two types of risks – diversifiable and non-diversifiable risks. Non-diversifiable risks are also known as systematic risks. This type of risk affects the entire market and can be difficult to avoid completely. The most you can do is try to reduce the impact of such risks on your investment portfolio. In the case of diversifiable risks, you can avoid this through smart investment strategies. It usually affects only one type of stock or asset, so if you do your due diligence, it can be avoided.

Pillar Wealth Management utilizes a number of strategies that help us control your investment risk. For starters, we make use of an Efficient Frontier that allows us to balance your risks and returns in a manner so that at any given point, your portfolio can deliver optimal returns without taking on an excessive amount of risk.

We also carry out portfolio stress tests. These are critical for managing systematic risk resulting from a recession, natural disasters, and other incidents that create significant downturns in the economy. Our portfolio stress tests make use of data that goes back to 1925. It allows us to view how your current portfolio will perform during unforeseen situations such as a health crisis or war.

If you are an ultra-high net worth investor looking to understand how these risk management strategies work, we recommend ordering a hardcover copy of our book, The Art of Protecting Ultra-High Net Worth Portfolios and Estates – Strategies For Families Worth $25 Million To $500 Million.

3. How Do They Allocate Assets?

To find a financial advisor who is right for you, you need to ask about their approach to asset allocation, which is a vital aspect of wealth management. It relates to how your wealth is distributed across various assets to generate a desired rate of return. A healthy portfolio will be distributed across assets such as stocks, bonds, and cash. Ensuring a strong asset allocation is also directly related to controlling the systematic risks we talked about. Confused? Let us explain.

Typically, any events that pose systematic risk affect every market in a different manner. For instance, if a particular incident causes the stock market to crash, it may not have the same effect on the bond market. The performance of these assets is not directly related to each other, and they usually move in different directions.

Therefore, ensuring a healthy asset allocation can help you control your losses. Even if your stocks decline in value, your bonds and cash-based assets will retain their value.

Given the importance of asset allocation in lowering your risk, you must find a financial advisor that understands the role asset allocation plays in portfolio planning. If you are an investor with a net worth of $10 million and above, then click here to read our guide on finding a financial advisor that can help you prioritize this aspect of investment management.

In many cases, your financial advisor may encourage you to invest more in high-performing stocks to earn high returns and forgo investing in bonds. This can sound very appealing initially, but it can quickly backfire. Given the overall volatility of the stock market, it is important to buffer your portfolio with a healthy amount of bonds and cash-based assets to protect yourself.

This type of shift can help you get closer to achieving financial serenity and make investment management a lot less stressful. To learn more about other essential shifts in perception that can help high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors, click here to read our guide.

4. Do They Offer Fiduciary Services?

To find a financial advisor who is right for you, you need to make sure they offer fiduciary services. This means that the financial advisor must keep your interests first. For instance, if you find a financial advisor at a Wall Street firm or a big bank, then there may be a conflict of interest. The financial advisors working in these companies have their own goals and targets to meet.

As per Forbes, big banks require their employees to meet their daily quota of hits by encouraging clients to sign up for mortgages, take out personal loans, or invest in certain assets for retirement planning. Employees that fail to meet these targets can get fired. As a result, the quality and diversity of investment products offered tend to be average. Most of these investment products are not guaranteed by FDIC, as well, and you can expect to assume a certain amount of liability if you seek all your financial advice from a bank.

As mentioned earlier, Pillar Wealth Management commits to offering fiduciary advisory services that put your goals and objectives at the forefront. We work with a limited number of clients to ensure that each one gets our undivided attention and can achieve their financial goals.

If you want to learn about how our services differ from other wealth management firms, click here to arrange a free chat with us.

Is It Worth Having a Financial Advisor?

It may be difficult to find a financial advisor who aligns well with your financial circumstances, but not impossible. Given the benefits that are attached to working with a qualified financial advisor, we would say it’s worth the effort. As long as you are working with the right person, you won’t find yourself wondering, “Is it worth having a financial advisor?”

If you are trying to find a financial advisor or need more information on what to ask when you find a financial advisor, get in touch with us. Pillar WM works with several partners like tax experts, accountants, and so on. Our partners process data and analyze the client’s needs and help them to achieve their financial goals. We can help you figure out if a financial advisor can be a suitable addition to your team and the long-term benefits of the same. Just access our website on the contact information and You can click here to arrange a free consultation session with us, and one of our wealth managers will be in touch with you!

Pillar Wealth Management, privacy rights, advertiser disclosure.

Frequently Asked Question

How do I find a financial advisor that works for me?

Ask around in your network for a recommendation, or go online. Contact some advisors for an interview to get an idea of how they work. You can also meet face-to-face with advisors in your area.

What is the average cost of using a financial advisor?

You can expect to pay an annual fee of 0.5% to 2% of the value of the assets managed by your advisor; this percentage typically is lower for assets valued over $1 million or when using a robo-advisor.

Is it worth paying for a financial advisor?

A percentage fee of 1% is not too much; it’s about the average, so you can trust that number as long as the advisor is working hard to help you generate considerably more than 1% in wealth each year.

How do you get a good financial advisor?

You may be able to find an excellent advisor by consulting your personal network. Also, do some research online, particularly looking at advisors in your area, so you can meet face-to-face.

How much money should I have before getting a financial advisor?

The most common answer is that you should have $100,000 to invest before getting a financial advisor. You may want an advisor when you receive an inheritance or are able to save 20% of your income.

What is the difference between a financial planner and a financial advisor?

Both financial advisors and planners provide financial services, but advisors are more focused on investments, while planners take a more holistic view of financial planning.

Is a financial advisor better than on your own?

Although you could benefit from the advice of an expert, you can create an investment portfolio on your own if you understand markets and the various investment vehicles available.

Should I talk to a financial advisor before I retire?

With a complex financial situation, you should take advantage of a financial advisor as soon as possible before you retire, which should increase your retirement income

How long should you stay with a financial advisor?

Clients often leave their advisors due to poor communication, usually after between two and five years. But if you have a good relationship, it can last much longer.

How often should you see your financial advisor?

You should meet with your advisor at least every six months and whenever there is an important change in your financial situation, such as getting married or divorced or having a child.

Authors

Hutch Ashoo

Chris Snyder

To be 100% transparent, we published this page to help filter through the mass influx of prospects, who come to us through our website and referrals, to gain only a handful of the right types of new clients who wish to engage us.

We enjoy working with high net worth and ultra-high net worth investors and families who want what we call financial serenity – the feeling that comes when you know your finances and the lifestyle you desire have been secured for life, and that you don’t have to do any of the work to manage and maintain it because you hired a trusted advisor to take care of everything.

You see, our goal is to only accept 17 new clients this year. Clients who have from $5 million to $500 million in liquid investable assets to entrust us with on a 100% fee basis. No commissions and no products for sale.