When to Pay for Financial Advice and How to Find the Right Adviser

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For the vast majority of my 40-year career offering financial advice, my guidance regarding paying for financial help was simple: Don’t.

Managing money isn’t rocket science. What you don’t already know you can easily learn, and since nobody cares as much about your money as you do, you should be the one controlling it.

There’s also danger in ceding control. Having spent a decade working on commission for major Wall Street firms, let me assure you that the advice you’re paying for sometimes fattens an adviser’s wallet more than yours.

As I approach my own retirement, however, I’ve become less rigid. I now realize not everyone’s the same, nor are their situations. There are decent advisers out there. I also realize that just because you’re theoretically capable of learning something like money management doesn’t mean you’ll take the time and effort to properly do so.

Most important, as retirement nears and your nest egg grows, the moves you make, or don’t make, can have life-changing repercussions.

In short, I now believe that there are people who can benefit from paid financial advice. But that raises two critical questions:

• How do I know when it’s time to hire help?
• How do I find the right person to help me?

That’s what this week’s “Money!” podcast is about. We’re going to talk about the different types of financial advisers, how to determine if you need one, and if so, how to find the right one for you.

As usual, my co-host will be financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer and novice investor Aaron Freeman. And this week we have a special guest: Pam Krueger, founder of Wealthramp.

Sit back, relax and listen to this week’s “Money!” podcast:

• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Listen on Google Podcasts
• Listen on Spotify

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Show notes

Want more information? Check out these resources:

• How to Find Your Perfect Financial Adviser
• 4 Times You Don’t Need a Financial Adviser
• The Top 9 Ways People Near Retirement Use Fiduciary Advisers
• Ask Stacy: Do I Need a Financial Adviser, or Can I Manage My Money Myself?
• 11 Tips to Help You Figure Out if You Need to Pay for Financial Advice
• Stacy’s stock portfolio
• Subscribe to the Money Talks News newsletter
• Take our course The Only Retirement Guide You'll Ever Need
• Take our course Money Made Simple
• Miranda Marquit’s website

About me

I founded Money Talks News in 1991. I’m a CPA, and I have also earned licenses in stocks, commodities, options principal, mutual funds, life insurance, securities supervisor and real estate.