How many times should you meet with your financial advisor?
Experts recommend that you meet at least once a year with a financial advisor to discuss your investment plan and review your risk tolerance and cash flow objectives.
Generally, having between $50,000 and $500,000 of liquid assets to invest can be a good point to start looking at hiring a financial advisor. Some advisors have minimum asset thresholds. This could be a relatively low figure, like $25,000, but it could $500,000, $1 million or even more.
A financial advisor can help you hone in on your goals and map out a way to achieve them. This can be anything from starting to invest, buying real estate, saving for an emergency or retirement, or something else.
Savvy financial advising clients will have a lot of questions for their advisors, but two of the most common ones are "are you a fiduciary?" and "how do you get paid?"
It might come as a surprise, but your financial professional—whether they're a banker, planner or advisor—wants to know more about you than how much money you can invest. They can best help you achieve your goals when they know more about your job, your family and your passions.
There are definite risks involved in getting too friendly with a financial advisor, or hiring a friend who is a financial advisor. "It's a good idea for everyone to take a more proactive approach with their own investments," says Vic Patel, a professional trader and founder of Forex Training Group.
The 80/20 rule retirement emphasizes the importance of focusing on actions that yield the most significant results. When planning for retirement, concentrate on the 20% of your efforts that will have the greatest impact on your financial future.
Most of my research has shown people saying about 1% is normal. Answer: From a regulatory perspective, it's usually prohibited to ever charge more than 2%, so it's common to see fees range from as low as 0.25% all the way up to 2%, says certified financial planner Taylor Jessee at Impact Financial.
Estimates on the return on investment from having a financial advisor vary. In a 2019 whitepaper, Vanguard assessed an “Advisor's Alpha,” or the value that a financial advisor adds to a client's portfolio, to be about a 3% net return per year, depending on a client's circ*mstances and investments.
- "I offer a guaranteed rate of return."
- "Performance is the only thing that matters."
- "This investment product is risk-free. ...
- "Don't worry about how you're invested. ...
- "I know my pay structure is confusing; just trust me that it's fair."
Is a 1% management fee high?
Many financial advisers charge based on how much money they manage on your behalf, and 1% of your total assets under management is a pretty standard fee.
A disadvantage of a fiduciary is that fiduciary advisors are often more expensive than non-fiduciary advisors as they charge higher market rates.
In your initial meeting, ask questions about the types of services they provide, their investment philosophy, how much they charge, whether they have a fiduciary duty, what investment benchmarks they use, whether they offer robo-advisor services or access to new technologies, what custodian they use, whether you can ...
You should be candid about your level of investing experience, overall financial situation, and financial goals. You should also feel comfortable asking as many questions as you'd like. It's important you choose a Financial Advisor who listens to your concerns, understands your financial needs, and values your input.
Key Takeaways
Make sure the advisor understands what your financial goals are. Ask what the advisor charges and what you will get in return. Be prepared to round up documents, including recent pay stubs, retirement plan account statements, investment accounts, and cash balances.
It is risky to give your bank account login ID or password to a financial advisor or anybody else. Note that your advisor might be able to see your checking account and routing (ABA) numbers when you establish online transfers.
"No one is perfect, people do make mistakes, your planner is not there to judge you but to help you, and that — as with your doctor — it's important to face and move past your self-consciousness about this, or you risk giving your planner incomplete information that makes it impossible to provide a proper ...
But should you hire a financial advisor that's affiliated with your bank? For most people, a bank is their main provider of financial services. But this does not necessarily a bank is the right place for your retirement savings: They may not offer you the advice and services you need.
If you already possess that understanding and feel confident in your financial plan and ability to manage your money throughout life's ups and downs, you may be fine on your own. Still, you might want to engage a financial advisor for a second opinion and to ensure you're on track to reach your goals.
An advisor who believes in having a long-term relationship with you—and not merely a series of commission-generating transactions—can be considered trustworthy. Ask for referrals and then run a background check on the advisors that you narrow down such as from FINRA's free BrokerCheck service.
Should you work with multiple financial advisors?
Here are some of the advantages of working with multiple financial advisors: You can get different viewpoints and perspectives on how to achieve your financial goals. Individual advisors can focus on different aspects of your financial plan, allowing you to get the benefit of specialized advice.
The wealthy also trust and work with financial advisors at a far greater rate. The study found that 70% of millionaires versus 37% of the general population work with a financial advisor.
While the typical annual financial advisor fee is thought to be 1%, according to a 2023 study by Advisory HQ, the average financial advisor fee is 0.59% to 1.18% per year. However, rates typically decrease the more money you invest with them.
Commission: The average commission is based on a percentage of your investment in a fund, which falls between 3–6%. Hourly fee: The average hourly financial planner fee ranges between $120–300.
| Billable Assets | Fee Schedule |
|---|---|
| First $1 million | 0.80% |
| Next $1 million (more than $1M up to $2M) | 0.75% |
| Next $3 million (more than $2M up to $5M) | 0.70% |
| Assets over $5 million | 0.30% |
