When to Hire a Financial Professional? And How To Choose One.

For most people, there’s usually a point where their financial life becomes complicated enough that they realize it’s time to hire a professional. This could be at any stage of life; it’s more about the individual situation and how an advisor can help.

Here are a few common situations:

• You’ve got your first big job – but you are still carrying a lot of education debt.
• You have equity compensation and need to understand the benefits, the process, and how to minimize the tax impact.
• You want to enjoy your life now – but want to create the option to retire early, or for one spouse to stop working.
• You own your own business.
• You have a blended family.
• You have young kids to save for, aging parents that need help, and you want a secure retirement.
• You’re ready to retire and need to create income from your savings.

The above situations are very different. Therefore, the advice an investment professional would provide in each would be specific to the problems and the needs of the individuals involved. While each of these scenarios involve money, the solutions go beyond simply managing investments or advising on how much to put away in savings.

In each of these, an investment professional can work effectively across an entire financial plan to incorporate necessary elements.

But the most critical piece is in listening to you, helping you understand what you want to accomplish, and helping you create a plan to get there.

Assessing Your Needs

When it’s time to hire a financial professional, the first step is understanding what you need. Are you someone that likes to manage your investments but needs additional services to pull all the pieces of your life together?

Or do you want someone to take charge of all aspects of your financial life? Is there a specific issue you want help with? Do you want someone to be a partner for years to come, or do you need someone to teach you how to move forward on your own?

If you have a partner, think about what you want to accomplish as a couple. Do you have the same priorities? Do you think about money the same way, or do individual spending or saving habits cause stress in your relationship?

Taking the time to think about your needs can put you on track to find someone who matches you. For example, if you’re starting out, you don’t want to hire someone specializing in retirement.

You want to have a clear understanding of your needs, challenges, goals, and personal style so you can find an advisor that can relate to you. Because they need the skills and experience to solve your problems and create a plan matching your goals.

Can You Work with Them?

This is subjective – but don’t neglect it. For the relationship to be successful, you’ll need to disclose personal information about your finances, income, debts, issues with money, history, etc.

It can be very uncomfortable to tell someone about situations where finances were precarious. Or about you making big mistakes that need cleaning up. You also need someone who relates to you and your style, and if you have a partner, you both need to be comfortable with the advisor, and the advisor should always consider both partners’ desires.

Many investment professionals will offer an initial consultation by call, meeting, or Zoom. That is because they need to get to know you and allow you to discover and assess them. They’ll tell you that the relationship needs to be a good fit – and they mean it.

They want to help you succeed, so be sure you ask questions and allow yourself to understand what they do and if you are comfortable with it. Do you like them? Do you trust them? To get answers, do some research, spend time on their website, and check out their social media.

The Bottom Line About When to Hire a Financial Professional

Working with an investment professional can be one of the most productive professional relationships you’ll have. Accordingly, you can structure the relationship any way you want to reflect your style, needs, and comfort level.

You may want an investment professional who will be a partner for many years to come. Or one who will be your “first call” no matter what happens. Or you may like to DIY your money and need some help creating a plan you can implement. There’s an investment professional for everyone.

Let Hennion & Walsh Offer a Second Opinion

Curious to learn more? Our unmatched client experience will give you peace of mind. Just as you may seek a second opinion about your health, we believe successful investors can gain value and peace of mind by getting a second opinion on their financial health. So, whether you’re worried about today’s uncertain economic environment or looking for increased peace of mind, we can help. Get a complimentary second opinion on all your investment accounts not held at Hennion & Walsh today!

Hennion & Walsh Experience

We have investment professionals, planners, and portfolio managers that can collectively analyze your situation through the lens of their respective disciplines. Each member brings valuable insights to apply to your situation. Whether you are looking for income strategy guidance or growth strategy guidance, a second opinion of all your investment accounts not currently held at Hennion & Walsh could be beneficial to your financial health.

Disclosures:
All investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The information above is from sources that we believe to be reliable but we do not guarantee their accuracy or completeness.