Here's the uncomfortable truth about the advice industry: the title "financial advisor" tells you almost nothing. It's used by fiduciary planners who are legally bound to act in your interest — and by commissioned salespeople whose paycheck depends on what you buy. Both will be warm. Both will sound competent. The difference shows up in the answers to a handful of questions.
Ask all ten. Take notes. A real fiduciary will enjoy this conversation; a salesman will try to change the subject.
Are you a fiduciary — all of the time?
The words to listen for are "all of the time." Some advisors are fiduciaries when they're planning and salespeople when they're recommending products, switching hats mid-meeting. Ask them to put "I act as a fiduciary on all accounts and all recommendations" in writing.
How exactly do you get paid?
A transparent answer sounds like a number: a stated advisory fee you can see on your statement. A murky answer sounds like "it doesn't cost you anything" — which usually means the product pays them a commission, and the product was chosen accordingly.
What happens in our first ninety days?
Listen for whether the answer is a plan or a product. If the first deliverable is a document — your goals, your tax picture, your income map — you've found a planner. If the first deliverable is an account application, you've found a quota.
Who actually holds my money?
Your assets should sit at an independent custodian, titled in your name, visible to you directly — never in an account only the advisor can see. This is the question that protects you from the worst outcomes, and any honest firm answers it instantly.
What is your tax strategy for me?
Taxes will likely decide as much of your outcome as your investments do. If the answer is "talk to your CPA," you're looking at half a team. The better model puts the advisor and the tax professional at the same table, planning the same year.
Where will my retirement paycheck come from?
Growth is only half the job. Which account funds which year of spending — taxable, traditional, Roth, in what order — is a sequencing decision worth real money over a retirement. An advisor who can't sketch that answer isn't done planning.
What won't you do?
Professionals have a defined lane and referral partners for the rest — estate attorneys, insurance specialists, lenders. An advisor who claims to do everything, for everyone, at every level of wealth, is telling you something.
What will this cost me, all-in?
The full answer has three parts: the advisory fee, the expense ratios inside the investments, and any trading or platform costs. If someone can't — or won't — add those up for you on paper, assume the total is higher than you think.
How will we know if it's working?
The wrong benchmark is "did we beat the market this quarter." The right one is "are we still on track for the plan we wrote down" — funded goals, tax bills avoided, income secured. You can only be accountable to a plan that exists.
What happens when markets fall?
Every advisor sounds smart in a good year. Ask what the process is in a bad one. You want to hear about the plan absorbing the shock — spending reserves, rebalancing rules, tax-loss opportunities — not predictions about avoiding the storm altogether.
A fiduciary will enjoy these questions. A salesman will change the subject.
One more thing: ask these questions of us, too. We're a fee-based fiduciary firm — we've answered every one of them in writing since 2008, and the first conversation is complimentary either way.
Educational only — not investment, tax, or legal advice. Every situation is different; the right answer depends on the numbers, and that's what the strategy session is for. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.