I have heard and experienced many friends and family turning to each other for financial advice - and a lot of the time the advice I hear is wrong. This is why I recommend to find a great financial advisor either through your local bank or investment firm. Questions to ask a financial advisor to determine if they are the right fight for you are as follows:
How long have you been working in finance for, what is your specialty and are you certified to do this work? This will determine how many years experience your advisor has, whether they are certified in your country to give financial advice and what their area of specialty is (meaning what area of personal finance they enjoy teaching and educating about the most and whether or not this aligns with what you're looking for in a financial advisor).
Do you get word-of-mouth referrals from family and friends to work with you? This can be an awkward question to ask because many advisor may not have been asked this before but it can pay to find out if your advisor gets repeat business because of their sound advice. It pays to ask this question because it shows that family and friends trust and rely on the advice of this financial advisor and could be an indication that it is an excellent opportunity to be able to work with them also.
What do you enjoy about your job? This can be another awkward question but for the self-aware and reflective advisor, it will be easy to answer. For myself, what I enjoy about the job is helping my clients of various ages, backgrounds and experiences achieve their financial ambitions big and small. This is easily the most rewarding part of my job and I love being a part of my clients' goals and dreams - making purpose come to life.
These are a few questions that you can ask your new financial advisor to learn more about them and see if they are the right fit to be working with you. The vast majority of people go into a bank or investment firm and start working with any person that gets assigned to them or any person that is available at the time. Do you really want to trust and invest your money with someone you've met haphazardly or intentionally? It is good to ask the questions, learn as much as you can and determine for yourself whether someone is the right fit to be working with you and your family's finances. Good luck and let me know if you have further questions you've asked your financial advisors or feedback on whether these questions helped you to find your fit in a financial advisor. Signed, Filipina Budget Girl.
