Financial Planning (6) - How to find a good adviser?

If you need assistance to find the right type of investment or insurance product, you can use the services of a financial adviser.

It is better to find an adviser who will work for a fee. It is better for you to pay a fee of say $50 per hour for financial advice, rather than to use an adviser who earns a commission from the product that is sold to you.

If the adviser earns a commission, there is a conflict of interest. The adviser will recommend the product that pays him or her the highest commission. This cost is ultimately borne by your as the consumer, but you are not aware about it.

If you pay a fee to the adviser, you can ask for the commission that is paid on the recommended product to be refunded to you. This refund can be much more than than the fee that you have to pay. The adviser may be able to recommend financial or insurance products that are free of commission - so the cost will be lower anyway.

If you have to pay a fee of $50 per hour, you can reduce the total fee by spending some time to learn about your options, so that the financial adviser needs to spend less time to help you make the appropriate decision. The adviser may be able to give you some information from a website or booklet that you can read in advance.

To recap: Choose a financial adviser who is willing to work on a time-based fee, is willing to any commission paid on the products, and to refer you to educational materials that you can read in advance.

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