Choosing the right financial advisor is critical for navigating complex financial decisions and getting guidance to help meet your goals. In this video, Paul Sydlansky, CFP®, shares the questions you should ask when trying to find a financial professional that’s a good fit for you and your unique situation.

Want more help in finding that planner? Check out our free guide.

Topics Discussed:

• Determining what type of help you need
• Understanding Professional Designations
• Evaluating Services Provided
• Understanding Fee Structures

Transcript:

Hi everybody. I’m Paul Sydlansky, CFP®, the founder of Lake Road Advisors, and I want to welcome you to episode three of The Build, our 24-part planning series where we walk you through our financial planning process from start to finish. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about the four things you need to do when considering how to pick the right financial advisor or planner for you.

The first thing you need to consider is what type of help do you need? Do you need help with a budget? Do you need help with investments, or maybe some insurance help? Or maybe with your estate plan? Understanding what type of help you need is the first step and figuring out who the right person is for you. If you think you need help on everything, well, that’s probably a Certified Financial Planner—CFP. If maybe you need help with just investments, well, that’s probably going to be a CFA, or Chartered Financial Analyst.

After you figured out the type of help you need, the next step is finding the appropriate person with the appropriate designation to help you. If you go to finra.org, you’ll be able to see all the lists of different types of certifications from Certified Financial Planners to CFAs to CPAs. Finding the appropriate person for the help you need is the second consideration when finding the right person for you.

Your third consideration: what type of services do they provide? Does that align with what you’re looking for? Are you looking for a long-term relationship or maybe a short consulting engagement? Asking this individual what type of arrangements they have and how they work with their clients is hugely important to making sure it’s a good fit.

The last thing you should consider when trying to figure out who’s right for you is how is this person compensated? Now, there are all different ways that financial advisors and planners can get paid, whether that’s through balances of investments, whether that’s through a flat fee or commission. Understanding of their fee structure aligns with your needs and goals is really the fourth main consideration when deciding who’s right for you.

If you’re looking for some more help in trying to pick the right financial planner advisor for you, I would suggest you check out our Ultimate Guide for Choosing Financial Advice on our website, www.LakeRoadAdvisors.com. You can download it for free and get a full understanding of all the questions you should be asking as you try to find the right advice for you. We look forward to seeing you at Episode 4 where we talk about our overall financial planning process.

Lake Road Advisors (LRA) is a virtual wealth management firm headquartered in Corning, New York, with offices in Ithaca, NY and Portland, OR, founded by Paul Sydlansky, CFP® in 2016 to provide financial planning for busy mid-career professionals with young families. LRA partners with couples long-term to build financial plans that allow them to live the life they want while preparing for the future by making smart money moves to grow their wealth. They can be reached by phone at the Corning, NY office at (607) 438-2914, Ithaca, NY office at (607) 463-8400, or Portland, OR office at (607) 292-2172 or at the firm’s website at https://lakeroadadvisors.com/

The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice and it should not be relied on as such. It should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security. It does not take into account any investor’s particular investment objectives, strategies, tax status or investment horizon. You should consult your attorney or tax advisor.