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I'm the first to admit that I'm a complete wuss when it comes to investments. As I've mentioned several times previously, I've got an extremely low risk tolerance for the stock market and other investments, and no doubt my retirement planning strategy has suffered because of it. This is why, in my early thirties, I sought the counsel of a financial adviser.
My reasoning was simple: First, I had no experience choosing stocks and bonds to flesh out a retirement portfolio; and second, I needed someone to calm my nerves about the risks of investing.
And it worked, but not without a few trial-and-error mistakes.
Types of Financial Advisers
In my experience, there are two types of financial advisers.
The first is extremely confident. He's articulate, put-together, and a born pitchman. He knows the strategies that work, and he's dead-set on convincing his clients that his methods are the only options. Every piece of advice administered is filtered through his own perspective.
The second type of financial adviser is just as confident and articulate, but he's more concerned with what his clients want than what he knows. He's more than willing to give his clients the benefits of his experience and education, but his primary objective is to help create a portfolio that reflects the client's needs and desires.
My first financial adviser fell into the first camp, and suffice to say it didn't work out. I didn't lose money under his tutelage, but I spent many a sleepless night worrying about the future of my finances.
The next financial adviser I found fell into the second camp, but too squarely it turned out. He was so worried about offending his clients that he didn't inject enough of his experience into this relationship.
A Middle Ground
My current financial adviser, with whom I've done business for nearly seven years, is somewhere in between. He's an older gentleman with three decades of experience under his belt, and he's not above pushing me a little bit when I start to balk on riskier investment opportunities.
He won't let me make changes with which I am not comfortable, but he helps me stretch my wings a little. And that, in my opinion, is an invaluable quality in a financial adviser.
How I Found My Financial Adviser
Referrals from friends, reviews on the Internet, word on the grapevine-these are all methods that might lead to a successful relationship between client and financial adviser. I, however, took a different route.
After narrowing down the options to a list of six candidates, I interviewed each. Pretended I was an employer looking for an employee, and asked as many probing questions as I could. My goal? To find a financial adviser whose personality and style would mesh with my own.
Before all this, I created a list of the qualities I wanted in a financial adviser. He needed to be smart, educated, with at least ten years of work experience behind him, and capable of listening to me when I talked. I interviewed with those qualities in mind, and it worked.
Even though I don't intend to retire on time, if at all, I like the fact that I have someone in my corner to make important retirement planning decisions. If there comes a time when I am forced to retire, I'll feel more comfortable in my savings.
