Learn the basic decisions you need to make when planning for retirement from getting outside help to who to choose for that help.

Main Questions Asked:

• Should you get outside help when making decisions about and planning your retirement?
• Who can you trust and who can you choose for that outside retirement planning help?

Key Lessons Learned:

The Biggest Red Flags That May Signal it Is Time for a New Financial Advisor

• An advisor that talks more than they listen. Your advisor should be focused on you and your dreams and your situation.
• An advisor that promises to beat the market. An advisor who comes across as they are smarter than everyone else or having a special strategy that no one else has.
• If it hasn’t been explained how the advisor gets paid. There is nothing embarrassing about being paid. Good advisors don’t dance around how and what they get paid. Some ways can create a conflict of interest.
• If you feel pressured to buy from a broker. They are more of a salesperson than an advisor. You want someone to help you make decisions in your best interest.
• They can’t give you a cost estimate of a project.
• They make product recommendations to you in the very first meeting. They already know the solution before or when they first meet you. The key word is product. If they are leading with product instead of a plan that is a huge red flag.
• The advisor who only talks to one spouse. The advisor completely ignoring one spouse is a huge problem. They should be talking to and solving the needs of both spouses. Even mediating the differences between the financial attitudes of the two spouse.
• The advisor doesn’t know the answer to any of your questions. If they have to look into everything you ask, that is a red flag. They should be up to date on what is going on and what the couple is going through.
• If the advisor is not a good saver themselves. That is a huge red flag. There are financial advisors out there who are not good with money. They look the part, but if they are living paycheck to paycheck you don’t want them to advise you on your money. 

Links To Resources Mentioned

Money Map Retirement Review

1-800-757-0436

11 Financial Advisor Red Flags That You Should Never Ignore

Thank you for listening!