Services For Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning Services
Financial advice is literally everywhere Everybody has an
opinion to give it seems, friends, family, neighbors and even
strangers A lot more people therefore are going to financial
planners They consult these advisers in the belief that these
people know better
Here are some things you would want to know about your financial
planner
1 Is the person qualified?
Anybody can say that he or she is an expert financial planner
No particular degree or experience is required There is no
department of government that oversees planners Of the quarter
of a million financial planners, only an approximate of 40,000
are CFP (Certified Financial Planner) The CFP is the most
acknowledged designation for financial planning
Even with this certification, there are no guarantees It takes
experience and continuous education plus a high degree of ethics
and integrity to be a professional planner
One excellent option is to check his CFP status as well as his
PFS (Personal Financial Specialists) and ChFC (Chartered
Financial Consultants) status
2 Is he looking after your interest or his?
Professional financial planners take their duties on your
retirement plans seriously Your needs are ahead of his or hers
Unfortunately, most of the so called financial planners are just
trying to sell you investments They are not obligated to
provide the best retirement plan but are only prevented from
selling you an unsuited plan
The best option is to ask the financial planner to furnish you a
printout of code of ethics that he needs to comply It is a
difficult read, but knowing the standards which your planner
abides is a must
3 How is your planner getting paid?
Several financial advisers still get most of their income
through commissions Many gracefully slide through the
‘commission’ tag by giving themselves the title ‘fee-based’
financial planners They also simply duck the compensation
subject
Commission is not really bad, but it does create a complexity of
interest with the retirement planner Your retirement planner
should voluntarily tell you how he gets paid, or at least give a
direct answer when asked
4 A slice of the pie or the whole thing?
An excellent financial planner takes into account the whole
financial situation of a client, including their plans for
estate and budgets That is the only true way of looking at a
comprehensive retirement plan
Most of these financial planners simply focus on a single
projection of a client’s financial situation In most cases,
they focus only on the area in which they have received any
training
When your adviser focuses on a single or only a few aspects of
your retirement plan, get one that will take into account your
entire situation
5 This is what I’m selling This is what you must buy
Financial planners that do not have the necessary education in
comprehensive retirement planning often rely on what their
companies require them to invest in For example, a stockbroker
may possibly hard sell certain mutual funds or individual
stocks This is also true even when the best utilization of the
money is on paying the mortgage or raising the emergency fund
Your retirement planner must be able to discuss intelligently
about methods other than his recommendations If he is not able
to, or simply insists that his way is the best way, look for
another adviser

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