Make Sure Your Money Advisor Is in Trust
If you care about your money, you must remember the word “fiduciary”. It is very important to hire someone to help with the finances. And given the fiduciary rule, you should make sure that your financial advisor is acting in your best interest.
A Certified Financial Planner® once asked me to make sure I identified her as such for the story. “With the registered trademark and everything else,” she said. I asked why this was so important and she told me that CFPs take a fiduciary oath to act in the best interests of the client. When your CFP is a trustee, you know that it is ready to help, and not just sell you financial products below par.
The point is, noniduciary financial and retirement planners may offer investments or other financial products that get kicked back and that don’t work very well. As we told you earlier, the White House Council of Economic Advisers claims that non-financials are costing retirement investors $ 17 billion a year . However, CFPs are not the only financial services professionals taking the fiduciary oath. Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) are also fiduciaries. If you are not sure, ask.
Bottom line: If you’ve hired someone to keep track of your money, ask them one simple question: Are you a trusted person? If there is no definite answer “yes”, it’s time to move on. While they may offer legitimately good money advice, their main goal is most likely to sell you some kind of investment product, even if it doesn’t fit your wallet.
Also keep in mind that some banks, credit unions, and investment services may also offer you free financial assistance (as is the case with this Redditor ). The conclusion is the same – ask if they are a trusted person.