Top tips to help you get the most from your financial adviser

You have made the decision to engage with a financial adviser and ideally, you only want to make the choice of which financial adviser just the once. It is therefore important to make sure you get the most from your chosen financial adviser.

Here are my top tips to help you get the most from your financial adviser:

1) Firstly, it’s important to be open about your finances and be willing to listen to the advice the adviser can provide. Ensuring that your adviser has a detailed picture of your finances is very important.

I use the example of seeing your doctor. It’s vital that your doctor has a detailed picture of your full medical history and symptoms, so they recommend the right course of treatment. This is the same when working with a financial planner.

Your adviser will recommend what is best for you and this will have an impact on other areas of your finances that you may not have considered. This could impact the way that different investments, assets and tax wrappers are treated for income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax for example.

2) It’s important to listen when you are advised not to do something. Your adviser will not only tell you “what to do and why” they will also be responsible for telling you “what not to do”.

One example could be when markets are particularly volatile, and you are concerned that you maybe “losing” money. If you have worked on a long term strategy to achieve your goals, having someone to give perspective and reassurance when markets are moving quickly, can be vital.

3) Be aware that you may have blind spots in your planning. A financial adviser will not only help check your understanding of things that you “already know” but will more importantly shine a light on areas that “you don’t know, that you don’t know”.

This is an important concept to grasp, because if you do not know something, you will not ask questions in that area or more importantly, you will not know which questions to ask.

This can be useful for providing outside perspective and more practically, ensuring that you make the most of the opportunities that you have available to you.

4) It’s important to engage with and hold each other accountable for the advice provided. Your adviser should ensure that the recommendations that they make and you agree to, are implemented. In the same way, they should also ensure that the actions they have given you are actioned by revisiting them in future meetings. An example maybe reviewing your Will or discussing your joint priorities as a couple before the next meeting.

5) Rely on your adviser for introductions to other professionals that you may need to work with in the future. This could be solicitors or accountants for example. If you like and trust your adviser, they will be able to introduce you to like minded professionals that share their same ethos and who should make you feel comfortable quickly.

Conclusion

Engaging with a financial adviser can significantly increase the likelihood of you reaching your long term goals. Taking the steps above will help to ensure that you build a long and profitable relationship with a trusted adviser.

If you would like to explore how we at Wingate build long term, successful relationships with our clients, feel free to get in touch.