I meet with people everyday who are unhappy with their financial advisor. They feel like they are paying exorbitant fees for very little service. And, I meet others who are extraordinarily happy and feel as if they are getting fantastic service for the money they are spending.

What’s the difference?

Typically, it’s that the extraordinarily happy people knew what they were looking for in an advisor and got just that.

Most people really have no clue what they are looking for in a financial advisor. This might be you if you have a vague idea you need one, but aren’t sure why.

In that case, here are a few things you must think about before you even start looking for a financial advisor.

• Are you looking for advice on how to invest your money?
  If so, how much do you have to invest?
• Are you seeking guidance on how to save more money?
• Are you looking for financial counseling around a specific event, such as the purchase of a home, retirement or something else? If so, what is the event?
• Are you looking for help to get organized financially?
• Are you seeking a one time thing or someone you can turn to throughout your lifetime?

When it comes to projects, do you like to:

A. Do it yourself with a professional checking your work.

B. Turn it over to a professional who can keep you posted periodically, but doesn’t need much guidance from you.

C. Work collaboratively with a professional who can be accessible to you on a regular basis for consultation and discussion.

Once you answer these questions, you can begin to seek the right kind of advisor to work with.

If you’d like to email me the answers to your questions, I’ll match you up with one of our Professional Planning Partners, all of whom have been pre-screened by me and are just what you’ve been looking for, even if you didn’t know exactly what that is.

If you’ve asked for a referral to an advisor in the past and haven’t connected with someone yet, feel free to ask again with an email answering the questions I’ve indicated and I can connect you with someone who will work even better for you.

If you are a professional who would serve our clients with care and attention, please email mnaoffice@gmail.com and request information about our Professional Planning Partner program.

© 2007 Alexis Martin Neely

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this everything in quotes with it: “Written by Alexis Neely, mom, writer, speaker and Personal Family Lawyer. Alexis makes it super easy for your family to talk about and plan for sticky subjects like money, death and taxes. Get Alexis’ humorous, enlightening, and often quite revealing “Family Wealth Secrets” site at: www.FamilyWealthMatters.com”