Trust is THE critical piece to working with a financial advisor. Trust is broken down into three components. You covered the first – Honesty. Here are the other two:

Benevolence – a person who puts more emphasis on the client’s goals and expectations than they do on their own. How do you find this? Work with a fiduciary advisor – someone who has a Code of Ethics which states in writing that they will do what is in your best interests above all else. Usually, that person is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional.

Competence – This is where the lists of questions that you mention come into play – experience and education are the most important factors.

Gut instinct works pretty well for the honesty and benevolence parts … just understand that while a great many people in financial services are NOT fiduciary advisors, that doesn’t mean you can’t find someone who IS. We’re out there.

That is a fantastic point about buying a new house in this climate.You really have to think about the numbers as a whole.It seems that, often we are more risk averse and too focused on what we are “losing” rather than our net gain. It is rarely good to make purchases emotionally.

Within my practice as a financial planner, I have had the pleasure of working with some great college-funding specialists. A key statistic shows that most kids who drop out of college do so NOT because they can’t afford it … but because they are in the wrong school for the wrong reasons.

A college education is a huge investment. Buying based on prestige or name is like buying a Bentley when you need a house to live in. They both cost about the same but accomplish considerably different things.

I have always admired your calm and steady approach to financial planning and have enjoyed your books. As a fixed income provider for the fee only advisor community, I can attest to the safe haven you have been for your clients. It is clear that your approach of fiduciary far outweighs any impulse shopping in the market due to quick high returns that now in hind site have turned out to be a dissappointing and in some cases devastating to clients who go it alone. As I am still dedicated to building portfolios of individual bonds and CD’s as a way to have retirement wealth protection, it is still difficult to change navigations tactic in these unstable waters. Selecting the right bonds at the right prices with the applicable maturities is a challenge and advisors are learning more and more about getting the right combinations. An advisors, due diligence can find bonds that fit client parameters and tweak portfolios to see returns equal to or greater than those the stock market will provide in the next few years ahead.

I am just giving my view again as I have been shouting from this podium for a while now and I see some traction. Thanks for your encouragement of my work in bonds for advisors and being a voice when it comes to safe and rational portfolios.

Laura Digan

Is this a great country, or what?!

found you while doing research. congratulations on your efforts in educating people on finances.

if you get a moment, check out our work, i think you might like it as well. we’re at: http://www.itsahabit.com

keep inspiring us!

sammy

thank you

Great site and thanks for the advice. Kerry