Finding an advisor can be tough. A potential client told me the other day that he’d met with two other advisors besides me, and we’re all very different. People who go by the same title, advisor, can offer services that really aren’t that similar. Not being able to compare apples to apples makes your decisions that much harder.
Because there aren’t any hard-and-fast guidelines to define advisors’ roles, you will have to make more of an effort to find an advisor that fits your particular needs. A lot of that involves asking the right questions.
You’ll find many a guide out there giving you “tough questions you should ask your financial advisor.” These include asking whether the advisor is a Certified Financial Planner™, how he/she gets paid and whether that person is required to put your interests before his/her own.
Those questions are important. But have you ever considered what your advisor should ask you?
You can learn a lot about an advisor’s philosophy and intentions by considering what he/she wants to know about you. Here are ten questions that I think your advisor should ask and why they’re important.