The Ease Into Retirement program does not include a financial aspect. This page contains some questions you may wish to ask of financial professionals.
Questions for Financial Professionals
Are they fiduciary or non-fiduciary?
Not all financial professionals operate under the same set of laws or guidelines. Financial professions called fiduciaries have a legal obligation to act in the best interest of their clients. There are also non-fiduciary brokers who do not this have this legal requirement. Non-fiduciary brokers operate under a “suitability” rule which means that their recommendations are expected to be suitable for their client.
What is their means of payment?
Along with legal requirements, compensation structures for financial advisors can differ. Some advisors work on commission, others charge a flat fee, and others might earn money by taking a percentage of client assets. It is a good idea to have a document which shows all fees and compensation amounts allotted for payment of the financial advisor.
What licenses do they hold?
Some of the tools shown on the Selected Online Financial Tools page can provide credentials of a given financial advisor. It is also beneficial to know what license(s) they hold which allow them to sell investment products–and the parameters of those licenses. For example, some professional licenses allow advisors to sell stocks and bonds as a package but not as individually, other licenses permit more broad selling of investment products.
How many clients do they serve?
Knowing the number of clients served by your financial professional helps you to set a reasonable expectation for how much customer service time you can expect them to spend communicating with you.
How does each dollar invested work for you?
You spent effort earning each dollar that you are investing. It is helpful to know how the investment puts these dollars to work.
What does it cost to get out of the investment within in the first year?
Life happens, things change. It is important to know the cost of getting out of the investment before a year has passed.
