Free meeting with a certified Financial Planner, what ?'s to ask

[Turtle]

Hi all!

Through my current employer, I have access to a free meeting with a certified Financial Planner.

I want to have a list of more in depth questions ready in order to maximize the benefit, so I thought crowd sourcing here might be helpful.

In order to take full advantage, it would be best to have some additional talking points ready beyond "Yes, I know I save a lot and I've already got quite a bit put away."

So what sort of things would you ask a CFP in this scenario?
 

[FINate]

"Are you a fiduciary?" If not, it isn't really "free" as they will get fees and commissions for steering you to certain products.

[reeshau]

Are they looking for you to "put money with them," that they will manage, or are they looking to advise you as you manage your own affairs?

The best thing you can do, beyond screening them for a sales pitch, is to have your own life goals clearly defined.  Particularly to the extent they differ from the typical retirement age, you will need to be specific to not get advice back that conforms to standard patterns.

[erp]

In similar situations, I've asked things like "how are you compensated", "how do swap-based funds work", "what can you tell me about setting up arms length trusts", and "what's the difference between setting up (some type of system/company) in one vs. another jurisdiction". A lot of the early questions I ask are really just stand ins for "do you know enough to be helpful to me" - if they don't know what an MER is or how to calculate an adjusted cost basis, then there's basically no chance they'll have any useful information.

Best case, you can use a meeting to review your goals and see if there are blindspots or interesting opportunities that you could take advantage of. It's sometimes really nice to have a sanity check to make sure you're covering all your bases. However, to take advantage of that, you'd need to establish whether this person knows anything.

The most likely outcome is that you can spend a half hour explaining passive vs. active management to a mutual fund salesperson, so I'd go in with very low expectations.

[slappy]

"Are you a fiduciary?" If not, it isn't really "free" as they will get fees and commissions for steering you to certain products.

A true certified financial planner is a fiduciary as a result of the designation.

[AJDZee]

Not to burst your bubble OP but yes, these 'come see our financial planner' is more about selling products to you, in my experience.
Kinda like going to a presentation on timeshares to get free Disney passes.

That doesn't mean they won't have some good advice on budgeting or having a balanced portfolio of investments - just know the ultimate goal for these 'free meetings' is to steer your money into their products.

[Loren Ver]

I did one of these through my company years ago.  I found it pretty entertaining.  Our company was fidelity, so not like it was a creepy place. 

DH and I had fun finding the limitations of their calculator with a trained professional :D.  Entertaining for all involved, or at least me.  DH and I still talk about that meeting, for all kinds or reasons.  It's like a deep metaphor or something....

Anyway, once we explained our plan "wow, I want to get out early, but not that early" we were able to have a pretty good talk about possibly using a Roth to help with part of our savings.  So, now I have some Roth money to play with, not a bad thing.

He also thought we could use some more international in our portfolio, which was and still is true.  I'm not a big fan.  Kept it for a bit then sold it.   Go big or go home :).

Good to have some outside eyes on the plan.  This was also years before I found the forum, so its not like I had other people to really chat with about the nuts and bolts.

[Laura33]

"How do you get paid?" 

I assume the initial session is either free (as a marketing opportunity) or paid for by your company.*  But assuming it's more than a one-time checkup, they are going to be looking for ongoing work, which means you're paying either through commissions or through hourly fees (or both).  You need to understand how and how much to weigh the value of the services against.

Also agree with asking specific questions around your planned FIRE date.  Many planners are inside-the-box thinkers who are not well-suited to assessing more unusual situations.  If the planner doesn't immediately pivot to early retirement options, he's not the guy for you.

*If the answer is "free," the meeting will really be a sales pitch about all the great reasons you should give him your money to invest.  But some companies do offer legit financial planning sessions -- my dad had one that was truly helpful to him, and he walked away with a full binder of personalized analyses and recommendations -- so I don't want to rule that option out entirely.

[TomTX]

"Are you a fiduciary?" If not, it isn't really "free" as they will get fees and commissions for steering you to certain products.

A true certified financial planner is a fiduciary as a result of the designation.

In the USA? Absolutely not a requirement. I hold a CFP certification, but am not a fiduciary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZSpET11ZY

[slappy]

"Are you a fiduciary?" If not, it isn't really "free" as they will get fees and commissions for steering you to certain products.

A true certified financial planner is a fiduciary as a result of the designation.

In the USA? Absolutely not a requirement. I hold a CFP certification, but am not a fiduciary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZSpET11ZY

Interesting. I also hold the certification and was under the impression that I am always a fiduciary. Maybe I take my continuing ed a little too seriously! haha

[Turtle]

Meeting was today.  Definitely a Fiduciary.   He said he couldn't in good conscience recommend professional investment services given my existing results and asset allocation.

I also think I made his day because his Monte Carlo came out at 99%

Based on what we discussed, I'll be moving my planned date up by a year and a few months.  3 years to go.

[yachi]

"Are you a fiduciary?" If not, it isn't really "free" as they will get fees and commissions for steering you to certain products.

A true certified financial planner is a fiduciary as a result of the designation.

In the USA? Absolutely not a requirement. I hold a CFP certification, but am not a fiduciary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZSpET11ZY

OK, I watched about half of that - maybe I'll finish it later, but I did search the YouTube transcript for the words "CFP", and "certified".  I can't see him talking about the CFP designation anywhere.  It's cute that he included a link to print our your own "financial advisor certificate", is that what you hold?  If you actually took the CFP exam, passed, have an active license and are handing out financial advice, yes it's a requirement that you be a fiduciary.

At all times when providing Financial Advice to a Client, a CFP® professional must act as a fiduciary, and therefore, act in the best interests of the Client. The following duties must be fulfilled:

a. Duty of Loyalty. A CFP® professional must:
     i.  Place the interests of the Client above the interests of the CFP® professional and the CFP® Professional’s Firm;
     ii.  Avoid Conflicts of Interest, or fully disclose Material Conflicts of Interest to the Client, obtain the Client’s informed consent, and properly manage the conflict; and
     iii.  Act without regard to the financial or other interests of the CFP® professional, the CFP® Professional’s Firm, or any individual or entity other than the Client, which means that a CFP® professional acting under a Conflict of Interest continues to have a duty to act in the best interests of the Client and place the Client’s interests above the CFP® professional’s.

https://www.cfp.net/ethics/code-of-ethics-and-standards-of-conduct

[TomTX]

Sure, companies or industry organizations such as the CFP board (www.cfp.net) can require you act as a fiduciary to get their certification.

Unlike something like a professional engineering license - it's not enshrined in law. Almost anyone can set up a competing organization to certify financial planners.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi8iJCl6Kz9AhVvk2oFHR5rB-MQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sec.gov%2Ffiles%2Fib_making_sense.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0Rp7d9adGMuj16aZ9u002P

[reeshau]

That's why I always specify "CFP," which is copyrighted by the CFP Board.  Someone else referring to them without copyright permission is already violating the law.  And, it is easy enough to confirm or refute.

Yes, anyone can be a "financial advisor."