If you have a significant amount of money to plan for and invest, it is a good idea to find an experienced financial planner. Choosing the right financial advisor can be difficult, but with these tips you should have no problem.

What is a financial advisor? A financial advisor is a person with specialized knowledge who advises clients on their investments and other money matters. Financial advisors will provide this service in exchange for fees or commissions from the products they sell. This can be done through investment firms, banks, independent practice offices, or brokers, where they work with individuals and businesses who want to buy stocks or bonds.

How can you pick the best financial advisor for your needs?

When choosing a financial advisor, there are several things you should look for. Firstly, ask whether the advisor is a fiduciary. Fiduciaries have a legal obligation to put their clients’ interests first when making recommendations. They must also disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may prevent them from providing unbiased advice.

Secondly, do their clients actually receive financial planning services or are they simply selling products? The latter is all too common and makes advisors less than ideal partners in your quest to improve your finances. Remember to ask yourself if they do more advising or selling.

Third, do they specialize in a specific area of investing like bonds, stocks, or commodities? This will help you narrow down the potential candidates.

Fourth, solid financial advisors have credentials and training. They have at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration or finance and some professional qualifications such as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designations and others. If they do not have these credentials, ask where they studied and how long they worked as a financial advisor before deciding to continue on their own. Also ask how long their own finances have been under their management.

Last, check references. How can they give you solid advice if they do not know your financial situation and goals?

Keep these things in mind when choosing a financial advisor and you will be well on your way to achieving your financial goals. There are many experienced and professional advisors out there that can help you achieve your financial goals. Make sure you choose one that will to provide solid advice that is unbiased and in your best interest.

In choosing a financial advisor, it is important to do an extensive vetting process, as there are so many unscrupulous self proclaimed “financial advisors” out there today.

A financial planner or adviser provides varied services for their clients or customers based on their knowledge of the financial markets, products and services available in the market place. They assist their customers or clients in the areas of savings and investments, estate planning, income tax planning and retirement planning. They also provide advice on investment related issues. A financial planner or adviser must give unbiased recommendations to their clients based on ethics and integrity as with any professions including accounting, law firms and medical practitioners services.

Using a financial planner is a good alternative to self-help resources like books, seminars, webinars, online videos etc which are not always comprehensive enough to be useful for most people given that investing is a very complicated subject. The task of selecting asset allocation funds for example is easy for professionals only who have knowledge and experience about all the investment products available in the marketplace.