I’ve got e-mails and calls from many people who are not at all happy about their investments–these people who were just pushed in a particular direction by their financial advisor, only to hear on later that they were not provided the requisite information they required for choosing a good financial advisor.
It is a fact that there are whole lots of people who call themselves as financial advisors, but you may sometimes just end up with some wolf in the sheep’s clothes. So here I’m here sharing with you some things you should be careful before trusting somebody with your hard earned money.
1. Talking to or interviewing only just one prospective advisor:
If you have earlier never felt a need to hire a financial advisor or has never worked along with a stock broker, taking a final decision by just talking to a single person could be counterproductive and could turn out to be harmful for you.
The first person you may meet could turn out to be a perfect idiot-but can sound as a great advisor because you’ve nobody to compare him with. So here the bottom line is: you must make it a point to talk to many advisors so as to able to sniff out the nice ones from the odd ones!
2. Never doing any background check:
Never get carried away by a mere outlook of a person or his name. Like, “He is often quoted in the newspapers'” He must be good. Or, he has written an excellent book and is an expert in the subject. In reality, it could be that the contents are written by someone else and he has just written the preface of the book. So just don’t get trapped in the false security.
3. Exerting your entire focus on the cost:
If you see an advertisement which says “Buy this scheme of investment, you have to pay nothing”. The annuity, mutual fund or the insurance company pays me. I would advise you to simply run towards the hills. Remember that buyer has to always pay and there is no such thing as the free lunch.
4. Getting too impressed by the designations.
In the financial planner’s world, there are several designations. Many of these, quite frankly you can get by just paying few hundred bucks, by taking some online test by investing some hours. These fancy credentials usually don’t qualify them to be able advisors.
You must instead look for a qualified and Certified Financial Planner. You need to search for a person who doesn’t just possess the requisite credentials but is also capable of delivering the results, and also that you must feel comfortable with him. I normally call it a personal chemistry!