Erickson Advisors - Linda Erickson - HeadshotLinda P. Erickson

Linda P. Erickson, CFP®, is the president of Erickson Advisors and a registered principal offering securities through Cetera Advisor Networks, LLC, 336-274-9403 lindae@ericksonadvisors.net.

When you come to the decision that you need to hire a Financial Planner, where do you start? The obvious answer is to ask your more successful friends, perhaps those that have retired or are nearing retirement, who they work with – and why. The “why” may determine the questions you should ask of the Planners you will interview.

There are many Financial Planning Practitioners in your area, but only a few will be just right for you. Your interview process will require that you ask a few probing questions to see if the answers sync with your expectations. A more beneficial examination of the Planner being interviewed, in my opinion, is to assess the questions your prospective Planner asks you.

The most successful client/planner relationships are based on trust, of course, and on the interest, willingness and ability of the Planner to truly understand you and your family. If the objective of working with a Financial Planner is to realize your life goals – not only financial but also family, charitable legacy, community service – the list goes on, then he/she needs to begin that first conversation with questions that reveal an attempt to uncover those goals in all of their complexity. Only then will the Planner be able to craft a plan that meets your greatest needs.

Here are my top 10 favorite questions to ask prospective clients:

  1. What’s important to you about your money?
  2. Tell me about your family. What’s important to your spouse and children?
  3. What are your primary concerns about your money today?
  4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
  5. How do you plan to take care of your spouse and your children if/when something happens to you?
  6. What do you want your retirement to look like? Where would you like to send a postcard from and what would you write on it?
  7. How do you want to be remembered? What kind of legacy do you want to leave after you take care of your family?
  8. How did you get where you are today?
  9. Is it important to you to have your investments anchored in Intentional or Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investments?
  10. What is really important to you that we didn’t discuss today?

If your interview with a new Financial Planner centers only on how much you have in liquid assets, what your “risk tolerance” is, and at what age you want to retire/downsize/move to where your kids live, I suggest that you broaden your search to find someone who can both manage your money and coach you into retirement and the legacy that you secretly envision for yourself and your family.