The word “fiduciary” is being tossed around a lot lately, largely because of the Department of Labor’s oncoming regulations. To help you understand the importance of these developments, we share what fiduciary advisors don’t look like, so you can choose an advisor that always puts your interests first.
First we talk about what fiduciary means and why that’s important to you when evaluating your financial advisor. Then we go through a list of five examples of non-fiduciary advice so you’ll know it when you see it. We cover the importance of transparency, duty of care, and the difference between the suitability and fiduciary standards of advice.
To wrap up, we cover how implementation and follow-up are often lacking with suitability-only advisors. We want you to have an advisor that acts in your best interests and prioritizes your success over their monetary gain, and a fiduciary is the way to go.
Facts and Links Mentioned In the Show
- The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated by Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack
- In Whose Best Interest? What Americans know and what they want when it comes to retirement investment advice – a report from Financial Engines
- Episode 20 – Surprising Facts About Investing in Your 401K
- The 4 Different Types of Fiduciary Financial Advisors from Michael Kitces
- National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- How the Department of Labor’s coming regulations could affect your retirement assets.
- Why most people think that all financial advisors are acting in their best interest, even though some are not.
- Five examples of financial advice that’s not fiduciary and how to avoid those situations.
- Some “surrender-charge” horror stories and their three characteristics to watch for.
- Why suitability advisors often push proprietary products on their clients.
- How fiduciary advisors continually monitor clients’ investments to ensure they’re fit for an ever-changing market.
Connect With Chad and Mike
- https://www.financialsymmetry.com/podcast-archive/
- Connect on Twitter @csmithraleigh@TeamFSINC
- Follow Financial Symmetry on Facebook