Choosing Your Advisor

Choosing a financial advisor is a significant decision. It’s a decision that shouldn’t be made hastily or haphazardly. We’ve already recommended that your advisor be fee-only, independent, a fiduciary, and a Christian advisor. But are there any other questions you should ask yourself before you work with a financial advisor? Christian Financial Advisors Network (CFAN) poses a few questions below.

Questions to ask yourself

Do I have the complexity that requires an advisor?

Often times individuals don’t have enough complexity in their personal finances to warrant hiring a financial advisor at that stage in their life. For example, if you’re just starting to build you financial foundation you may simply need to focus on budgeting and tracking expenses, getting out of debt, and building short-term reserves. There are a plethora of free or low-cost resources that will help you build a firm foundation, including Redefining Family Wealth (run by CFAN member Deb Meyer).

Do they share the same beliefs and values as me?

Having shared beliefs and values is imperative because of how personal the relationship will be. By having the same values and beliefs, a Christian financial advisor can often provide guidance and an unbiased perspective in relation to those beliefs. Remember, it’s our beliefs that drive our behavior, whether financially motivated or not.

Do I feel there’s a good fit? Do I feel optimistic working with them?

You can have shared beliefs and values and still feel like the fit isn’t quite right. Enjoying your interactions with a financial advisor is important because they will be frequent and often significant. A prosperous relationship, and partnership, is two-fold and is built upon commitment, trust, vulnerability, and transparency.

Do they have the expertise that serves my needs?

There are many “generalist” advisors out there that will serve everyone with a surface level approach. However, YOU deserve a Christian financial advisor who is experienced in resolving your specific problems, regardless of physical location.

Do they have a well defined financial planning process?

A great financial advisor should have a proven financial planning process to execute with clients. They should also be able to provide detailed descriptions about what the process entails, so you should definitely ask about it when interviewing financial advisors. Financial planning works best with a well defined structure to review, analyze, and implement recommendations.

Can I afford them? Do they provide significant value above their cost?

Rather than evaluating an advisor solely on cost, you should be evaluating them on the VALUE that they can provide you. As Warren Buffet says,

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

Cost means nothing without the context of value. We are called as Christians to be great stewards of the resources entrusted to us. A Christian financial advisor has the wisdom and expertise to help you steward those resources well.