Category: Finance

Financial advisors are people that provide you with guidance on creating a budget, investing in your retirement, or asset allocation. Financial advisors are often independent professionals who work for themselves or for an organization like a bank.

Financial advisors can also be part of an institution where they lead programs like retirement planning and provide financial advice to members of the institution. Sometimes people will actually just refer to “financial advisor” as having “a professional relationship” with someone else. This article discusses the difference between these terms along with other general information about financial advisors and what makes them unique within the industry.

Why do you need financial advisors

1. Professional guidance

This is the most important thing that a financial advisor can provide, professional guidance. In today’s connected world lots of people know exactly what they need to do to plan for retirement, or save money, or invest in their children’s education. They might have even tried doing it on their own and had a hard time managing all of the bits and pieces. Financial advisors can take those ideas and turn them into reality by helping you prioritize your goals and put together a budget that will give you the results you are looking for.

2. Education

Financial advisors can help educate you about different aspects of personal finance. They are a great place to go to learn about different aspects of personal finance. For example, if you want to know what the best investment for a young child is, or how you can use options for tax deferral there is likely someone somewhere that knows the answer. But if you don’t know where to look it can be difficult to find out the information that you need. Financial advisors can help point you in the right direction and then direct you as needed.

3. Accountability and follow up

Unfortunately people who are trying to save money, invest, or grow their retirement funds will often fall short of their goals because they aren’t committed to following through with their plan. Often times saving money is never enough, and people will sometimes just stop saving altogether when they can no longer afford to.

Financial advisors are often very much involved in this process of making sure that their clients are on track with their goals. They can use newsletters to keep you updated on how you are doing, or they will call you regularly to check in and see how things are going. If there is ever a question about the progress you need professional advice.

4. Support for the whole family

If you have financial assets that exist outside of your budget it can be difficult to manage when it comes down to buying a house or for college expenses for children. Financial advisors will often have special knowledge about these types of investment and can help you create a plan that works best.

5. Integration with other services and institutions

Financial advisors often work alongside other financial professionals such as bankers, accountants, insurance agents, or even sales representatives. There is some amount of overlap between their roles but they also share information on relationships such as referrals to other professionals. This can be a good thing if you are looking for the best service in the industry. However it is important to remember that there is some level of interdependence between all of these different professionals where everyone’s reputation and earnings depends upon being able to work together effectively in order to get the most out of any given situation.

Local independent financial advisor is a highly skilled professional who is normally able either to offer unbiased financial advice, or take on a consulting role. They are independent of a company and/or are can be called on to work as part of a financial team.

Briefly, what does the role entail? The local independent financial advisor generally focuses on helping interested entrepreneurs and consumers take advantage of the many tax advantages available to them, including the home office deduction. There is also an emphasis placed on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship finance; and personal finance.

Tips to hire the best local independent financial advisor

1. Make sure that the candidate is a professional.

This may sound obvious but you want to make sure that the candidate is a professional and has the right credentials. Useful ones to check are whether they have achieved any industry awards or accreditations.

2. Check their affiliations

There are many different groups who can help you find the right local independent financial advisor for your needs, including trade associations and societies whose members must abide by strict codes of conduct. If they are, for example, a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), this will tell you that they have completed the necessary training course and meet very high standards of conduct in this field.

3. Use a referral service to find the right local independent financial advisor

Use a referral service to find the right local independent financial advisor. Many people often don’t realize that there are counseling and finance experts who have dedicated their lives to helping other people and that this is in itself a specialty. The best way to go about doing this is by leveraging the expertise of an organization that specializes in connecting consumers with local independent financial advisors.

4. Request a meeting with the local independent financial advisor

At your meeting, ask the candidate if they can help you find creative ways of financing your business. This means that you have a clear idea of what the local independent financial advisor is going to give you in exchange for their fee. You should also check their work history before hiring them.

5. Reputation counts

Find out from past clients whether they are satisfied with the results that the local independent financial advisor has been able to offer them and whether they recommend his services to others who might be in need of similar assistance. Word-of-mouth recommendations, especially from someone whose opinion you respect, may be far more valuable than an impressive professional qualification or other credential on paper.

6. Get the details of their business experience

Make sure that you ask the candidate in detail about their business experience. Find out what this has involved and how it has fitted into their overall profile as an independent financial advisor. Also, it is wise to ask them directly whether they would be happy to work with you in your area. While they may be willing to give you a certain amount of advice in your specific circumstances, they may not want to be involved if they are going to have to put in a lot of extra effort and time.

Local independent financial advisers are a little different to the big banks and insurance companies we are used to. This article tells you more about how they work, what separates them from other financial advisers, and why you should consider using them for your own investments.

The good news is that there are now a number of independent financial advisers who can give you sound advice on investments, stocks, commercial loans and even the best mortgage deals in your area. And it’s becoming easier than ever before to find one since the introduction of crowd-sourcing initiatives like Yeeply.

Benefits of local independent financial advisers

1. No conflict of interest

Many financial advisers are tied in with big banks, employers or insurance companies. They are sometimes given incentives – such as a company car – to push their own products, rather than the best products for you. More worryingly, there have been instances where bank staff have taken out loans from their employer at inflated rates and received kickbacks from insurance companies which leads both of these parties to be in a better position to help each other than they are to advise you.

2. Free advice

A local independent financial adviser will give you more objective advice for free. This can make a significant difference to the success of your investments, especially if you’re a first time investor who’s not sure what to do next. A good independent adviser will go that extra mile to develop a relationship with you and gain an understanding of your investment needs, whether they be short-term or long-term.

3. A proven track record

One of the big issues with advisers who work for insurance companies is that they usually have targets and pay incentives that are based on sales figures, which are often driven by products being sold where there is a high probability of commissions, rather than sound financial advice. This can make it difficult for any adviser working for a ‘big four’ insurance company to focus on providing sound investment advice – what’s the point?

On the other hand, an independent financial adviser will have a proven track record in their own line of work, and will not be tempted to sell you products which they personally get a kickback on. The best local independent financial advisers are the ones you can trust to provide unbiased advice.

4. More than just advice

As well as giving good financial advice, many of these advisers also provide other services, such as real estate and business debt facilities. Some are also experts in tax planning, with a track record of successfully avoiding potentially timing issues with tax because they understand the implications of various schemes that can affect your bottom line.

Why you might want to consider using local independent financial advisers

1. More than one adviser to choose from

You may be used to following the advice from your estate agent or mortgage broker, but this is not always the case when it comes to picking an adviser for your investments, loans or insurance. Locally based independent financial advisers offer more choice than the big banks and are more likely than their counterparts at other firms to give you impartial advice on products designed for investors who have similar goals and objectives as you do.

2. Less likely to be conflicted

The bigger the company, the more money it makes from commissions and the more of these commissions it passes on to the person who makes the sale. While you are advised to shop around for your mortgage or car insurance, this is often not really possible when it comes to a complex investment or pension product. In many circumstances, there is one company that is best suited for your requirements – and that happens to be an insurance company or captive bank working alongside a large investment firm. Unfortunately, advisers who work for these companies can be incentivised by higher commissions for selling these products instead of doing what’s best for you.