Choosing a financial adviser has been likened by experts to finding a good doctor or a mechanic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You must get to know the person, feel comfortable in your interactions and come to trust them implicitly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tim Dennin, a securities fraud attorney based in Northport, said a lot is at stake when hiring someone to invest your money.\u00a0 Credit: Newsday\/J. Conrad Williams Jr.<\/p>\n
Tim Dennin, a securities fraud attorney based in Northport, said a lot is at stake when hiring someone to invest your money. Their decisions will determine whether you can purchase a home, send a\u00a0child to college, care for\u00a0elderly parents or retire\u00a0comfortably yourself.<\/p>\n
“When you meet with an adviser use good common sense.\u00a0If your antenna goes up, walk away,” he said.<\/p>\n
Newsday asked Dennin and two finance professors about how Long Islanders\u00a0can\u00a0find a suitable\u00a0financial adviser.<\/p>\n
Where to start your search<\/p>\n
Investment firms and banks advertise their services widely and bank branches often have an adviser on staff. But a better avenue may be\u00a0asking family and friends for recommendations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Andrew C. Spieler is\u00a0a finance professor at Hofstra University’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business. Credit: Hofstra University<\/p>\n
“Chances are you have someone in your network that uses a financial adviser that they like,” said Andrew C. Spieler, a finance professor at Hofstra University’s Frank G. Zarb School of Business and author of books on investing.<\/p>\n
He and others said once you have three to five recommendations put the advisers’ names into Google or another internet search engine and see what comes up.<\/p>\n
Three websites you can use to background an adviser<\/p>\n
Robert R. Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business in Omaha, Nebraska, said there are at least three sites that offer\u00a0valuable information about an adviser’s work history, credentials and customer complaints.<\/p>\n
brokercheck.finra.org<\/a> from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. offers employment history, licensing information and customer complaints.letsmakeaplan.org<\/a> from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. can be used to verify whether someone is certified financial planner.directory.cfainstitute.org<\/a> from the CFA Institute provides information about certified financial analysts in\u00a0good standing.One big question to ask before you say ‘yes’<\/p>\n During that first conversation, you should ask the adviser if they are a fiduciary, which means they put the client\u2019s interests ahead of their own or that of their employer\u00a0when recommending investments,\u00a0Johnson said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a potential financial adviser is not a fiduciary, look elsewhere\u2026in fact, run away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Spieler added that a reputable financial adviser\u00a0will ask potential clients to complete a survey about their assets and liabilities, financial goals and tolerance for risk. They also may recommend putting money into stocks and bonds, both of which are highly regulated by the federal government.<\/p>\n \n\tJames T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Choosing a financial adviser has been likened by experts to finding a good doctor or a mechanic.\u00a0 You…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,7787,147,530],"class_list":{"0":"post-77848","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-local-crime","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n