Eight Questions to Ask Your Financial Advisor

You may like your financial advisor, but is he really looking out for you? All advisors are not created equal, and you have a right to know what makes them different! You also have a right to ask yours if he compares!

(1) Do you use a holistic approach to financial planning by determining my values and goals?

(2) Do you work on a fee-only basis, a commission basis, or both, and why?

(3) Do you have company-established insurance requirements, or do you recommend insurance only when it is needed by your clients?

(4) Do you attempt to 'beat' the market through timing and selection, or do you believe that attempts to do so are not worth the additional level of fees and risk? Are you aware that a vast majority of my returns will be based on asset allocation, rather than timing and selection?

(5) Are you a Registered Investment Advisor, and therefore a fiduciary? In other words, must you legally and ethically put my interests above your own?

(6) Do you meet with your clients at least three times a year to refine their portfolio and find out how events in their lives may have changed their financial goals?

(7) Do you return phone calls the same day you receive them, and are you available to answer questions as they arise?

(8) When you wake up each morning, do you ask yourself how you can best be of help to your clients that day?

Adjust these questions as you see fit, and depending upon what your own objectives and needs are from an advisor. The best advice is to never be afraid to ask!

© 2004 Matthew S. Clement, All rights reserved

Matthew S. Clement is a financial planner and investment advisor representative with Financial Network Investment Corporation, member SIPC. He provides holistic wealth management and retirement planning to individuals and businesses. He can be reached in New York at (845) 942-8578, or by email: ClementM@FinancialNetwork.com.

In The News:


Fidelity hires new head of personal investing
Boston Globe, United States - 11 hours ago
Fidelity Investments has hired ING Groep NV's Kathleen Murphy as president of its personal investing unit. Murphy, 45, will start at Fidelity on Jan. ...
Highest-Level Executive In State To Leave ING Hartford Courant
ING to split annuities and retirement units InvestmentNews
all 4 news articles

Forget the Investing Gene
Motley Fool - 31 minutes ago
Just as some parents will inevitably use this test as the sole reason to keep their kids from certain sports, we sometimes keep ourselves from investing for ...

Boston Globe

Dump the CEOs Before Investing in US Industry
OpEdNews, PA - 30 minutes ago
... investment banking, airlines, automakers, credit-card companies, or raw material producers will result in predictable repetition of the dismal patterns ...
Video: UAW Offers Help To Big Three CBS
Valuing Lemons: GM and Ford Wall Street Journal Blogs
Some autoworkers can get paid without leaving home Chicago Tribune
all 1,877 news articles

UPDATE 1-Baosteel to speed overseas investment, eyes Spain
Reuters - 7 hours ago
By Alison Leung HONG KONG, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Baosteel Group, China's largest steelmaker, plans to speed up overseas investment to take advantage of lower ...
Baosteel May Delay $4 Billion Vale Slab Venture By Nine Months Bloomberg
all 6 news articles

Global Investing Roundups
Money Morning - 7 hours ago
AT&T Inc. (T) said it would scale back 12000 jobs, about 4% of its workforce, between now and the end of 2009 to fight "economic pressures, ...

Telegraph.co.uk

CIC Head Wary of Investing in Western Banks
Wall Street Journal - Dec 2, 2008
Lou Jiwei, who head's China Investment Corp., said the uncertainty surrounding Western banks and the policy decisions that may determine their fate makes it ...
CIC weary of Western banks Thomson Merger News (registration)
China's sovereign wealth fund to avoid western financial firms: report AFP
CIC Now Very Wary of Investment in Foreign Financial Firms ChinaStakes.com
Reuters - In-Forumall 274 news articles

GoldMorgan Stanley, Investing For Deflation, And ETFs Gain By Default
IndexUniverse.com, NY - 1 hour ago
... bonds slip further into negative territory, this article summarising some recent Merrill Lynch research, on investing for deflation, caught my eye. ...

slow and steady investing
CNNMoney.com - 16 hours ago
Investor Daily: During the flat market of 1966-1982, investors who kept investing every month earned better returns. By Adam Lashinsky, senior writer SAN ...

Investing in Pure-Play Companies
Motley Fool - 27 minutes ago
By Selena Maranjian I've written before about the advantages of concentrated or "focused" investing. Focusing your investing attention and dollars just ...

Ball State Investing $17.7M In Emerging Media Reseach Initiative
Broadcast Newsroom, CA - 16 hours ago
By John Eggerton Ball State is in investing $17.7 million in a new Emerging Media reseach initiative. The goal of the initiative, funded with money from the ...
investing - Google News

Investing and Asset Allocation

Sometimes you spend sleepless nights worrying about which stocks to... Read More

Gold and Silver Maple Leafs Get New Packaging

Gold Maple Leafs and Silver Maple Leafs are receiving packaging... Read More

When Its Too Late to Save for Retirement

You are 55 years old (or somewhere around there) and... Read More

Trading Is Not Rocket Science!

Despite what some people may lead you to believe; day... Read More

Making Every Penny Count

More and more workers are leaving their jobs and taking... Read More

Buying Florida Investment Properties and Where Its Hot

Relaxing in Style: Florida Investment PropertiesIn Florida, relaxing in the... Read More

Investing Online Has Its Rewards: Find Out How To Take Advantage Of Them

Computerized investing. Online investing. Have you taken the next step... Read More

Investing and Understanding What You Buy

"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action!" Johann... Read More

Six Principles of Successful Investing

1. Begin investing immediatelyProcrastination is the number one enemy of... Read More

Investing for Retirement - Not an All or Nothing Play

In 1519, Hernando Cortes, beached on the shores of unexplored... Read More

Reading Between The Lines In Annual Proxy Statements

Upper Saddle River, N.J. - May 11, 2005 - Now... Read More

Learn How to Lose and Risk Management

One of the leading traders on Chicago Mercantile Exchange, because... Read More

Four Key Components To Building A Trading System

Need some insight on what you should really be striving... Read More

Rules of Simple IRA Your Business Needs to Know

A Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees plan, better known... Read More

How to Terror-Proof Your Money

"To drift is to be in hell, to be in... Read More

Begging Your Trust in Africa

The syntax is tortured, the grammar mutilated, but the message... Read More

Dont Catch a Falling Knife

One of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced investors... Read More

In a Time of Need

As I take my leisurely walk with my dog through... Read More

Missleading Fund Names Wreak Havoc On Investor Returns!

Mutual fund managers use fake fund names to part you... Read More

Volatile Oil

The Light Crude Continuous Contract fell from $67.70 a barrel... Read More

Stocks: Reduce Risk Yet Maximize Profits

It is important to note that every smart investor wants... Read More

Press Release Scams and Successes: Reading Between the Lines

Press releases are a means through which companies can keep... Read More

An Introduction to Offshore Investing

Once upon a time, offshore investment strategies were spoken of... Read More

Can Your Annuity Do This?

Many people buy annuities according to their agent's recommendations. However,... Read More

Just what is Arbitrage Investment?

In the simplest of terms, Arbitrage means to exploit price... Read More