The Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Financial Planner

Choosing a financial planner is a decision about whom to trust with your next stage of life, not just which portfolio had a good year. Whether you are approaching retirement or reconsidering a brokerage relationship, these five mistakes can help you frame a more useful conversation.

Mistake 1: Relying Solely on Referrals

Referrals can be a helpful starting point, but someone else's good fit may not be yours. Verify the professional's registration, experience, credentials and disciplinary history rather than relying on a recommendation or online rating alone.

The Investor.gov guide to selecting an investment professional explains how to check backgrounds and ask about qualifications, services and compensation.

Mistake 2: Choosing Based on Recent Returns

Neither a strong recent year nor an older performance record tells you, by itself, whether an advisor is right for you. Ask what risks were taken, how the investments were selected and what the total costs were; past performance does not guarantee future results.

Focus on the process you would be hiring: how the advisor connects your spending needs, time horizon, risk tolerance and taxes with investment decisions. Ask how that process would apply during a market decline, not whether the advisor promises to avoid one.

Mistake 3: Letting Familiarity Replace a Fresh Evaluation

Personal trust matters, but familiarity should not be the only reason to choose or stay with an advisor. As retirement approaches or your circumstances change, ask whether the services, costs and investment approach still fit your needs. A fresh evaluation can confirm that the relationship remains a good fit or help you identify what you would like to improve.

Mistake 4: Overlooking the Experience You Actually Need

Look beyond a broad claim of retirement expertise. Ask who will do your planning and manage your investments, how retirement spending will be connected with portfolio decisions, and how the advisor will evaluate taxes and the investments you already own.

Credentials and relevant experience should support that conversation, not replace it. Ask the advisor to explain how their approach would apply to your circumstances in terms you understand.

Mistake 5: Neglecting to Ask Comprehensive Questions

During the initial consultation with a financial planner, asking thorough and specific questions is vital. This helps you gauge their approach, fees, investment strategies, and communication frequency. Some essential questions to ask include:

• Will you act as a fiduciary throughout our advisory relationship, and how do you manage conflicts of interest?
• How are you paid, and do you receive commissions or other product-based compensation?
• What will I pay in total, including advisory fees, investment expenses and any other applicable charges?
• How would you evaluate my existing investments before recommending sales, transfers or a different portfolio?
• Who will manage my portfolio and provide my planning, and how will we communicate?
• How do you evaluate investment costs, diversification, taxes and withdrawals, including during market downturns?
• What planning work is included, and what would require a separate professional or additional charge?

If your accounts are at a large brokerage firm, our guide to leaving a wirehouse for a fee-only fiduciary adds questions about total cost, cash, and products that may not transfer.

At Integrity Financial Planning, you work directly with Todd Smurl, CFA, on personal financial planning and customized investment management. We are independent, fee-only and fiduciary, paid by clients rather than product commissions. Review our planning approach, Personal Index Portfolios and published fees before deciding whether to meet.

For clients with assets under management under $500,000, the Advisor reserves the right to charge an hourly fee for financial planning.

Choosing your first advisor or reconsidering your current one? Schedule an introductory meeting with Todd to discuss what you want from the relationship, what you would like to improve, and whether IFP is a good fit.