What’s Your Fiduciary Status?
Choosing a financial consultant you can trust starts with one key question: are they legally required to prioritize your interests over their own?
Why This Question Matters
Not all financial advisors are held to the same ethical and legal standards. A fiduciary is obligated to act in your best interest not just offer suitable options.
Questions to Ask
Are you a fiduciary 100% of the time? Some advisors act as fiduciaries in certain situations but not others.
Can you explain your fiduciary responsibilities? Get clarity on when and how they operate under fiduciary duty.
What does being a fiduciary mean to you professionally? This gives insight into their philosophy and ethics.
Fiduciary vs Non Fiduciary
Understanding the difference helps you navigate advisor motivations:
Fiduciary: Required by law to act in your best interest even if it pays them less.
Non Fiduciary (or Suitability Standard): Can recommend products that simply meet your needs, even if they earn more commissions.
Beware of gray areas where an advisor may switch roles depending on what service they are providing.
Want to Learn More?
For a deeper breakdown of this critical distinction, explore the full guide: What to Look for in a Fiduciary vs Non Fiduciary Advisor.
How Do You Get Paid?
This is the question that tells you where the real incentives live. Financial consultants make money in a few different ways: flat fees (think a set annual or monthly charge), hourly rates, commissions from products they sell, or some combination of the three. Each setup has its upsides and its red flags.
Flat or hourly fees tend to reduce potential bias. The advisor gets paid for time and expertise, not for steering you toward a load heavy fund or insurance policy. Commission based structures, on the other hand, might steer recommendations in favor of what pays them more not necessarily what works best for you.
Dig deeper: Are there platform fees? Ongoing account maintenance charges? Fee tiers that scale with your assets under management? Don’t just ask for a fee breakdown ask for it in writing. Nothing should be vague or left to “we’ll talk about it later.”
Understanding how your advisor gets paid isn’t just about dollars it’s about trust. If compensation influences decisions, don’t you want to know exactly how?
What Experience and Credentials Do You Have?
Titles like CFP (Certified Financial Planner), CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst), and CPA (Certified Public Accountant) might sound like alphabet soup but they’re not just for show. Each one reflects a different area of training and expertise. CFPs focus on comprehensive financial planning. CFAs get deep into investment analysis and portfolio management. CPAs know their way around taxes and financial statements. None of them guarantees a great advisor, but they do tell you that person has put in serious work.
Credentials alone aren’t enough. Ask how long they’ve been practicing and in what specific areas. Someone with 15 years helping families with estate planning brings a different lens than someone who’s worked mostly with tech founders. Don’t be afraid to ask, “How many clients like me have you worked with?” Whether you’re planning retirement, paying down debt, or building wealth from scratch, you want someone who knows your terrain not just the theory, but the reality.
What’s Your Investment Philosophy?
You don’t need your financial consultant to think like a hedge fund manager. But you do need to know how they’re making decisions with your money. Ask upfront: do they lean aggressive, play it safe, or adapt based on your circumstances? A cookie cutter investment plan that doesn’t reflect your risk comfort or your timeline is a red flag.
A serious consultant should walk you through how they’ll sync your strategy with who you are your goals, age, income, family situation, and even your gut level response to a turbulent market. Do they have a process for evaluating your risk tolerance? Do they adjust their strategy as things shift?
The conversation should also include how they diversify your portfolio and manage rebalancing. It’s not just about buying a bunch of random stocks and hoping for the best. There should be structure: mixing assets in a way that fits your goals, tweaking it when the market swings, and reevaluating over time. You want someone who pays attention, not someone who sets it and forgets it.
How Will Our Relationship Work Over Time?
This isn’t a one and done kind of deal. A good financial consultant will offer regular check ins quarterly or semi annually at minimum. Think of these reviews as financial maintenance: reviewing investments, reassessing goals, and adjusting course when life throws you a curveball.
Your financial plan shouldn’t gather dust. Major life shifts career changes, a new baby, a sudden windfall, or a health issue should trigger updates. Ask your advisor how adaptable their planning process is. Do they respond quickly when changes happen, or do you wait until the next scheduled meeting?
And communication style matters. Some people want face to face meetings. Others just want a quick Zoom call or a detailed follow up email. Your advisor should be flexible but also responsive. If your gut says they’re not available when it counts, walk.
The goal: a working relationship that adjusts with you not one locked into a rigid calendar or outdated plan.
Are You Aligned with My Goals?
A solid financial consultant doesn’t just plug your numbers into software and call it a plan they ask, listen, and adapt. Whether your sights are set on retiring early, saving for your kid’s education, or finally buying that cabin in the woods, your priorities should form the backbone of the advice you get. If they aren’t asking detailed questions about your life plans, that’s a red flag.
Your values matter too. Interested in ESG investing? Want your dollars to fund climate tech or avoid certain industries? A good advisor will either incorporate that into your portfolio or clearly explain why they won’t. Blanket advice isn’t enough anymore.
Then there’s the roadmap. Make sure they’re using tools that can actually map your milestones. That means projections you can understand, assumptions you can adjust, and a clear picture of how the plan adapts when life throws a curveball. Because it will. And when it does, your advisor should have built a plan that bends without breaking.
What Happens If I Want to Leave?
Breaking up with a financial advisor shouldn’t feel like ending a gym contract from 2008. Ask upfront: what does the exit process actually look like? Are there termination fees? How long does it take? Will you still have access to your financial plan and records after parting ways?
Ideally, they should offer professional offboarding clear steps, no guilt tripping, and complete data handoff. Some firms even walk you through the switch, providing guidance on transferring assets or closing accounts.
But don’t assume. Some advisors make it hard to move on, either by dragging their feet or hiding behind fine print. Make sure you know whether your future self can walk out without hassle or if you’re signing up for a high friction breakup.
Get clarity before you commit. Flexibility and transparency are non negotiables here.
Don’t settle for polite conversations and vague nods. Your financial consultant should understand your priorities clearly whether it’s retirement at 55 or saving for your kid’s future. They need to speak your language, not bury you in jargon. Watch how they explain their compensation. Are they upfront about fees, or dancing around the full picture? Transparency here is non negotiable.
This isn’t about being best buddies. It’s about trust. Built over honest conversations and steady follow through. The best consultants welcome your questions and give real answers, not rehearsed ones. So ask. Often. You’re not just hiring someone to manage money. You’re trusting them with your future. Make sure they’ve earned it.