The Personal Finance Hour, Episode 10: Finding Financial Advisors
Monday, 1st June 2009 (by J.D. Roth) How do you find financial advisors? How do you know whom to trust with your money? That’s the topic on 
today’s episode of The Personal Finance Hour, a BlogTalkRadio program all about personal finance. You can catch it live at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern) every Monday.
During today’s discussion, Jim and I will be discussing how to find financial advice you can trust. We’ll talk about lawyers, accountants, and financial planners. We’ll share what we’ve learned, but more than that, we encourage you to call with your comments and questions.
There are three ways to hear the show. You can listen through an audio feed at the show page, or you can dial the call-in number at (347) 327-9144. You can also listen through this widget:
Note that the widget always holds the archive of the most recent episode. So, right now it contains last week’s episode about gardening. Later this afternoon it will contain episode number ten.
Jim and I intend to do this every Monday — soon with guests! — and we hope you’ll join us. We think this will be a fun way to connect with readers and to help everyone learn more about money management.
Update! We’re now on iTunes! You can subscribe to The Personal Finance Hour as a weekly podcast by following this link (which will open iTunes).
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JD, I’m unable to join live audio feeds, but thought I’d share the following experience related to finding a financial advisor.
I decided that in recognition of the possibility of my early demise, I should organize all our financials in a way that my wife could more easily transition to managing her own finances in my absence. (I live for this stuff, but she’s ambivalent about optimization strategies – although frugal).
I went to the NAPFA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) website to find a fee-only advisor. I sent e-mails to four advisors – and didn’t get a response from any of them!
Are there so many customers vying for a fee-only advisors that advisors don’t even respond to new inquiries? I’ll wait a few months and try again, but I was shocked that nobody wanted to talk to a potential new customer. (My initial e-mail simply laid out my desire for advice on estate planning and putting together a file for my wife’s use.)
Does anyone use an advisor that’s not in their local area? Why did they choose a distant relationship over a local one (other than “I moved away from an advisor I liked)?
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It is very important to find a financial planner who is a good fit for you and your situation. Personality fit is often an over-looked factor. You want to make sure that you share the same basic philosophies with your planner. For example, if your planner is going to insist that you cut out your lattes each day, but you find them to be a $3 slice of heaven, you may not agree on larger issues either. I’d also say you should try to find a planner who is at about your same life stage so that they have a good understanding of where you are and where you want to be. For instance, I have two young children and my whole practice is geared towards new and expectant parents. I am highly tuned into the challenges that come with a growing family and can closely relate to my clients. On the other hand, I wouldn’t take on a client who is nearing retirement, since I don’t have as much insight to their goals and worries.
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