Maximize your financial wellness with a trusted financial advisor

When we first start a new fitness regime, many of us turn to a personal trainer to help us achieve our fitness goals. Likewise, when it comes to managing our money to achieve what we want in life, one of the best steps we can take is to develop a relationship with a financial advisor we can trust.

Researching your financial advisor

The first step in finding the right financial advisor for you is to make sure you pick an advisor who is fluent in the areas that match your needs, as professionals who call themselves financial advisors can specialize in a range of fields. Do you need a wealth advisor? An insurance advisor? A mutual fund specialist? Maybe you need an advisor who is versed in multiple aspects of financial planning. Before sitting down with an advisor, make sure that he or she is experienced in the areas of most concern to you. If you’re unsure, ask.

Once you’ve found an advisor who specializes in the appropriate areas—or at least has the ability to refer you to the specialists you need to cover off areas where they’re less proficient—the next step is to ensure that the advisor you’ve selected is both qualified and getting paid in an appropriate manner. At minimum, you need to ask about your potential advisor’s experience level, official designations and compensation structure. The Financial Planning Standards Council has a great list of questions to ask a potential financial advisor.

Finally, during the first meeting with your new advisor, one major red flag to watch out for is if the advisor seems intent on selling you a product before doing a thorough needs assessment. Doing this is like giving you directions without first finding out where it is you’d like to go. Bottom line, if your financial advisor doesn’t seem interested in getting your entire financial picture, including your future goals and what you want to achieve through financial planning, then it’s time to find a new financial advisor.

Making the most of your financial advisor, from day one on

All good financial planning requires accurate and up-to-date information on your personal finances. Because of this, it’s important to bring along any financial statements relevant to your situation to the first meeting with your advisor. If you want to go over your pension plan, bring your pension statements. For trustee issues, bring your trust documents. In all cases, bring your recent tax and income statements, including your most recent notice of assessment. The more relevant information you can bring to the table, the better your advisor will be able to address the issues that most concern you.

Another thing to bring to your first meeting is less tangible but no less important: an open mind. Good advisors will assess your current financial situation and consider all of the possibilities for improving it, and this can mean proposing solutions that you’d never before considered. Making the most of your financial advisor means tapping into all of the resources that they have to offer and engaging the wealth of information that they possess, even if all you initially expected was advice on picking mutual funds.

Keep in regular, scheduled contact

Once you’ve established a plan and put it in motion, it’s important for you and your advisor to keep in regular, scheduled contact. The frequency of the contact is something you can lay out in your first meeting, and doing so will establish a basis of mutual respect between you and your advisor. Calling your advisor every time your stocks take a dip isn’t appropriate, and neither, on the other extreme, is leaving all financial decisions completely in the advisor’s hands and never involving yourself at all. Setting out regular, scheduled meetings or conversations will keep you informed and feeling secure about what’s going on with your finances. It will also give you a chance to pass on any changes in your circumstances that could affect your long-term planning, such as a new goal or expense.

As a person with a low income and no savings, is a financial advisor for me?

No matter what your income, it’s always worthwhile to seek out an experienced financial advisor. Maybe you're a senior who's entitled to a low-income rental subsidy, making your retirement more secure that you’d ever thought possible. Maybe you’re owed Guaranteed Income Supplements that you never knew about and now you’re in for a windfall, not to mention an improved standard of living going forward. Whatever your situation, talking with the right financial advisor can empower you to make the most of your circumstances.