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When you open your phone book, decide whether you need a financial advisor. If you should be unemployed or don't have any assets you might want to first focus on the basic principles of personal money management like paying bills and budgeting. If you believe you can take advantage of hiring a financial services professional, there are many things you will need to consider.

To begin with, it is important to know the differences between financial services professionals: insurance agents, fee only planners, financial advisors and brokers. Insurance agents will have a way to offer you insurance, annuities and maybe some proprietary mutual funds. Brokers are only a link between you and the market: they are able to buy and sell certain instruments for you personally and earn commission, but they might care less about your financial picture as a whole. There are certainly a couple of kinds of fee only planners as well: those that charge a fee based on the assets under management and those who Broker Agent Advisor  charge a fee for creating comprehensive financial plans because of their clients. A phrase of caution: many insurance agents, brokers and even debt relief specialists call themselves financial advisors. Only individuals holding a set 66 license are true financial advisors.

Secondly, you'll need to verify advisor's credentials before allowing him or her to accomplish any benefit you. Begin by asking your prospective financial professional the length of time he or she has been in business, what licenses he or she holds in your state, whether or not he or she's any advanced certifications such as CFP, ChFC or others. Your advisor should have series 7 and 66 licenses plus a Life/Accident/Health license. College education is not necessarily indicative of the amount of expertise a financial advisor possesses although a college degree is preferable.

Another important part of choosing an economic advisor is analyzing his or her industry affiliations. In simple terms, who he or she benefit? Even independent financial professionals need to be associated with a specific broker-dealer to manage to trade securities and with one or more insurance companies to manage to sell insurance products. Make sure to have a quick look at these companies' financial condition and reputation.

In addition you need to see his or her office during the initial visit. Have you been confident with how a staff treats you and with how your prospective advisor treats the staff? Does he or she respect confidentiality or is there other clients' files piled up on the ground?

Feel liberated to ask questions: you are there to interview the financial professional. Ask if he or she features a mission and vision statement, what his / her ideal client is, how often you're likely to see one another in a given year etc. This method can help you figure out if you're an excellent fit.

Last but not least, await the follow-up. Professional financial advisors will send you house or apartment with a little bit of material about them, their company, the services that they offer and some kind of pricing information. They will usually send you a thank you note and call you inside a week to see if you are ready to start working together with them