Being smart with $$ - Ask a Prospective Financial Advisor:

Ask your prospective financial advisor:

How much money will you make in cash commission, now, if I select this product?  And how much will you make later, in any sort of ongoing or trailing commissions?

Are you earning more from selling me this product than you might from putting me in a similar product?

Is your company…running any contests that might lead to you getting…a free trip if I buy this product?  

All of these are questions posed in the Feb 10, 2017 NY Times article “The 21 Questions You’re Going to Need to Ask About Investment Fees.”  Other questions involve the myriad of complicated fees embedded in many investment products. 

The issue is whether your advisor is considering your best interests or their own when selecting investments for you.  The math may surprise you on how costly it can be to lose a few percentage points per year on fees and commissions.  Be careful selecting an investment advisor and probe as to whether their interests seem to be aligned with your own.  A new “fiduciary rule” was supposed to go into effect in April that would help protect investors but the new administration is delaying the start date.  So you need to protect yourselves by asking lots of questions!

- Larry Pike, CFA, Client Priority Financial Advisors LLC
- www.clientpriority.com