These questions reflect how we have built Pathfinder; use them to evaluate us as well as other firms.
This page provides general education, not a recommendation of any particular firm or professional.
We would investigate three things:
- Can this person be trusted with the access and information the job requires?
- Do they know enough to do the work well—and recognize when they do not?
- Is their practice designed to provide the kind of help you want?
Trust: begin with structure
A recommendation from someone you trust is a useful starting point. Check the advisor’s record and account arrangements yourself.
- Client assets should be held at a qualified custodian that sends statements independently of the advisor.
- Know what authority the advisor will have over accounts and why each permission is needed.
- Ask whether the advisor will act as a fiduciary for you at all times and put that promise in writing.
- Find out every way the advisor and firm can be paid. “Fee-based” may include commissions; “fee-only” does not.
- Read the firm’s Form ADV, including the descriptions of fees, conflicts, outside activities, and disciplinary information.
Look up the advisor and firm through the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database. If the person also has a brokerage history, check FINRA BrokerCheck. Search their names independently as well.
Then notice the ordinary behavior. Do they answer a direct question directly? Do they do what they said they would do? Pressure, evasiveness, guarantees, and vague explanations about compensation are reasons to stop, even when the presentation is impressive.
Competence: ask how they know
Financial-planning competence is difficult for a prospective client to judge. Confidence is visible immediately; judgment may not be tested for years.
Credentials are one part of evaluating a planner’s knowledge. Ask how the planner learned the areas relevant to your situation and how that knowledge stays current. Useful answers may include technical coursework, academic and professional research, conferences, original analysis, and regular work with specialists. Product-company presentations and years in the industry are not enough by themselves.
Look for these habits in the conversation:
They know their boundaries
Ask for examples of work they refer to someone else. Tax law, estate documents, insurance underwriting, government pensions, business transactions, real estate, and cross-border questions can each require a specialist. Nobody is excellent at all of them.
They ask questions that change the problem
A capable planner needs to understand the decision, the people affected by it, and the result that would be hard to recover from. Notice whether the planner follows up on the details that matter to your situation.
They can show their reasoning
You have to live with the recommendation. The planner should be able to explain the assumptions, alternatives, and risks in language you understand. You should be able to understand what they recommend and why.
They are appropriately uncertain
Forecasts, tax assumptions, health, markets, and family circumstances all change. Look for someone who can make a recommendation without pretending to know what cannot be known.
Fit: check how the service works
Even a trustworthy, capable planner can have the wrong service model for you.
- Do you need a second opinion, a one-time analysis, or an ongoing relationship?
- Is the central need investment management, broader planning, implementation help, or some combination?
- Who will attend meetings and who will perform the analysis after the meeting?
- How often will the work be reviewed, and what happens when a new question appears between reviews?
- Does the fee make sense for the work you expect the firm to do?
Many advisory businesses are organized around gathering and managing investments, with planning added around the edges. That can be appropriate when investment management is the job. If you need help with retirement, taxes, family decisions, or implementation, ask for examples of what the planning work includes.
Choose a professional whose knowledge, working habits, incentives, and services fit the help you need.