Investing Tips Information

This investor guide is unique.  It’s about trust.  If you trust the wrong plumber you still have leaky pipes.  If you trust the wrong financial planner your financial security is at stake.  Those of you who don’t know how to invest need help, at least until you learn to invest on your own.

So, here’s your investor guide to finding a good financial planner, someone trustworthy.  Call it a game of elimination.  You interview a few candidates, ask questions, and eliminate those who give the wrong answers.  Some questions to ask are basic, and some are clever questions designed to get to the heart of the subject, integrity.  We will not bore you with the obvious.

On your first visit with a financial planner, the name of the game is called “getting to know you”, and it works both ways.  The planner asks you questions to get a fix on your goals, risk tolerance and financial position.  Also he will probe to determine how profitable you would be as a client.

Here are three basic questions you should ask, using Joe as an example of a somewhat typical financial representative using the title of financial planner.  Then our investor guide moves on to the not-so-obvious clever questions to ask.

How do you get paid?  How do you work with your clients?  What kind of clients do you usually work with?

Ask Joe how he gets paid, because that determines what it will cost you to do business with him.  This is a straightforward and honest question that deserves a straightforward answer.  Pay arrangements vary for folks in the financial services industry, and the costs to you could include charges and fees for ongoing services and/or commissions.

How Joe works with clients is important to know.  Does he offer comprehensive services and financial products, staying in touch with clients; or does he offer advice only?  Would he keep in contact with you, or just wait for you to call him when you need service or have questions?

If your financial needs are not similar to those of his other clients, Joe may not be your best candidate.  Some financial planners specialize in certain areas, or work with rich folks whose finances are involved and complicated.

Our Joe works with anyone who has money to invest.  The question is, is he out to maximize his earnings, or does he put his client’s welfare first?  Here’s your investor guide to clever “trick” questions to test Joe’s integrity.

Do you offer life insurance?  What do you think of term insurance?  If Joe says yes he does, but he does not recommend term insurance, pay attention.  First, he likely works on commission.  Second, term insurance pays relatively low commissions.  Third, he likely sells permanent forms of life insurance (whole life, universal life) that pay him real good commissions.

Can I invest in money market mutual funds through you?  Virtually all commission-based financial planners offer (sell) mutual funds.  Stock funds pay them decent commissions, bond funds pay less, and money market funds pay zero.  If you need to keep some of your money invested so it is safe and liquid, money market funds fit the bill.

What do you think of no-load funds?  Joe likely offers funds with sales charges called loads.  That’s how he earns commissions.  No-load funds do not have sales charges because they by-pass middlemen like Joe and sell directly to the public.  If Joe says something like,”you get what you pay for”, implying that they are inferior in quality, eliminate him (mentally).  It’s not true.

Do you offer management services and timing services?  Be careful here.  Service fees for ongoing management services should be justified and can be costly.  Timing services can also be costly, and few can justify their cost.