Difficulty Finding A Financial Planner
January 22, 2009 – 7:55 pmI don’t currently have a financial planner, and I’m not in the market for one either at the moment. None the less I would image that it’s difficult to find a financial planner that you click with and trust. We’re all different, and have different needs from a planner. If I were looking for someone to help me manage my personal finances here’s what I would look for.
A Christian
As a Christian myself, I would want personal finance adviser to also be a Christian. I would image that most financial advisers are primarily interested it helping their clients increase their net worth. Although I too have this goal, I would want an adviser that is also capable of understanding what constitutes “enough”, and who could give advice that is congruent or perhaps even directly from biblical teaching.
A financial adviser should help me compensate for my short-comings, and I have several. 
One is the willingness and desire to give more, and I would want an adviser that could help me in this area as well as others.
Frugal
I’d like to find an adviser that lives a reasonable frugal life. I understand that this may be difficult, especially since the idea of wealth probably helps draw in business. After all, who want to take financial advice from someone poor, or health advice from an overweight smoker? I’d like my adviser to keep a minimal office and live a reasonable lifestyle so that I could also trust his/her advice when it comes to lifestyle choices and trade-offs.
Somewhat Young
With age (usually) comes experiences, and I would like to have an adviser that has had experience in all types of situations and markets. Nonetheless I’d prefer to have an adviser that is about my age (30-40), so that I wouldn’t have to switch advisers numerous times throughout my life.
As an alternative I’d also be happy with a more senior adviser if he or she worked for a firm that had a history of training it’s advisers consistently and had consistent methodologies and frameworks for making decisions. This would allow me to switch to another adviser within a firm that still held consistent values and processes without having to do a new adviser search from scratch.
Fee-Only
I believe most people are honest, but I’m delighted if there’s proof. Fee-only financial planners have no conflict of interest when giving their clients advice because they make no additional income based on that advice. Want to buy index funds instead of “load” mutual funds? No problem. I believe my adviser will be more objective when his or her pay is aligned with my objectives. Having an advisor that is paid based on portfolio value, or on a fixed amount based on hours seems more objective to me than an adviser who makes money based on the commissions from selling products.
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2 Responses to “Difficulty Finding A Financial Planner”
I wouldn’t focus too much on youth. Experience is priceless. Ask the passengers who made it out of the Hudson.
By Mr. GoTo on Jan 24, 2009
I’d also recommend that you try to find a planner who is at about your same life stage so that they have a good understanding of where you are and where you want to be. For instance, I have two young children and my whole practice is geared towards new and expectant parents. I am highly tuned into the challenges that come with a growing family and can closely relate to my clients. On the other hand, I wouldn’t take on a client who is nearing retirement, since I don’t have as much insight to their goals and worries.
By San Franacisco Certified Financial Planner on Feb 9, 2009