How To Interview Your Retirement Planner
Once you have narrowed down your list of potential retirement planning advisors to a few, schedule an interview session with each of them to gauge their degree of preparedness for the position of your retirement planning consultant. Preferably, you should interview at least three candidates before you arrive at a decision. Take care to prepare questions that you would like answered. Begin by asking about his qualifications as a retirement planning advisor. Does he have credentials from recognized organizations in his field, like a Certified Financial Planner certification? Does he belong to professional organizations in his field? How active is he in them? How much experience does he have as a retirement planning advisor? Ideally, he should have a minimum of five years of experience. How does he manage to stay ahead of current trends and developments in his field?
An experienced retirement planning advisor also has to have adequate experience in all special needs. For instance, if you're in your forties and your retirement planning advisor is more attuned to the needs of younger clientele, you might find that he is more prone to taking risks, and more aggressive than you want him to be with your money. A proper client profile is essential. Ask him about the sort of account size he deals with, and the ages and backgrounds of his current clients. Also factor in that your retirement planner might not have as much experience with an economic recession. This makes him more confident and more aggressive, which might make you uncomfortable. Therefore, knowledge of his past clients is extremely important. Ask him for a list of clients who are in the same background or profession as you are.
Get an idea of what kind of retirement plan he will design for you. This gives you an opportunity to sample his financial decisions and strategies. Does he strike you as being too conservative for your tastes, or too risky for your liking? Ask him what kind of retirement planning he has recommended for others in the same profession as you, and as much income as you. Decide if this plan works for you. Ask him how he prefers to be compensated. Most advisors will prefer a fixed annual fee. Many however, prefer commissions on products they recommend or services they provide. You can expect to pay anywhere from 1 to 5 percent for these services. Still others choose a combination of both these options. Whatever option he mentions, remember to get it all in writing, and leave no issues uncovered. Be clear that you know how much his services will cost you in plain dollars.