What to Avoid in a Financial Advisor

A simple way to think about this would be to consider the opposite of each of the points in the previous chapter:

• Avoid someone who has a sense of urgency around the need to only discuss your purchase of a specific product.
• Avoid someone who shows a lack of patience or respect.
• Could you see the person teaching a high school class on the topic of discussion?  If not, it might be wise to move on.
• Walk away if you get the sense that someone seems incompetent.
• More experience is generally better than less.
• Avoid situations where a product pitch or sale takes precedence over financial planning or where there simply is no financial plan involved.
• Lack of tax knowledge is not a great indicator.
• The quality—or lack thereof—of an employer says a lot.
• An advisor with a single product focus may lack objectivity.

High quality financial advisors are typically very careful about selecting the companies they wish to represent.