Getting Financial Advice from a Financial Advisor You Can Trust
Are you confused by the number of different people who call themselves a financial advisor? In order for you to make an informed choice among the number of different people who proclaim to be a financial planner, you should know what to expect when seeking professional financial advice and who you can trust to put your interests ahead of theirs.
Meeting with someone is the best way to find the right person and the right level of service for you.
Here is what it is like to work with a CFP practitioner at our firm.
When you first call us, we will be interested in learning more about you and your situation. We will probably schedule a consultation so you can meet with a CFP practitioner. A Certified Financial Planner practitioner is a financial advisor who has received the CFP designation.
The CFP designation is granted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. to those persons who have met its rigorous educational standards, passed the CFP Board Comprehensive Examination, satisfied a work experience requirement, and agreed to abide by the CFP Board Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.
Anyone can call themselves a financial planner, but only a CFP practitioner has met the specific educational and testing requirements giving them a distinct advantage over other financial advisors due to their comprehensive approach to the financial planning process.
Service Options
In our firm, we offer several service options for people to choose from— financial planning services, wealth management services, investment management services, an open-ended retainer and implementation assistance.
If you would like to come in for a free initial consultation, we would be happy to meet with you to determine whether we can help you. During this consultation, you can expect the financial advisor to ask questions about your goals, your current situation and whether there are specific issues that concern you. Your advisor will be determining whether he is the right advisor for you and you will be able to decide if you are comfortable with him--an important key to the success of the relationship.
After the introductory meeting, your financial advisor will review your personal and financial data in light of your needs and goals and propose to provide his services based on the particular areas discussed.
Your advisor will prepare an engagement letter outlining the services he will provide to you. The engagement letter will include the fee and what services you can expect to receive (along with any excluded services). Your advisor will provide you with copies of all relevant documents at the outset of the financial planning relationship and go over all forms and agreements with you in detail. Once the forms are signed, your financial advisor will systematically review every aspect of your financial situation and make appropriate recommendations based on the particular services to be provided.
Together, you and your advisor will explore fundamental issues such as your investment goals, time horizon, needs for liquidity and tolerance for risk.
An investment plan will be developed based on your specific needs circumstances and goals. This is one time when it is important for you to understand how those who sell investments differ from those who provide reliable investment advice. In her article Can you trust your financial adviser? - MSN Money, Liz Pulliam Weston points out that the word “fiduciary” in the world of money means someone who is committed to putting your interests ahead of his or her own. Since a fiduciary is responsible for managing the assets of another person and stands in a special relationship of trust, confidence, and/or legal responsibility, he or she must recommend the best investment for the client and his or her compensation cannot be dependent upon which investments a client ends up with. According to consumer advocate Barbara Roper, director of investor protection for the Consumer Federation of America, most people do not understand the difference between fiduciary and suitability standards and simply trust that they are getting good advice. Our firm is registered as an Investment Advisor. Because we provide comprehensive and continuous investment advice and because of the trust and confidence our clients put in us, we are considered a fiduciary.
Your financial advisor will help you coordinate your investment plan with other aspects of your financial picture, such as your retirement plan, estate plan, insurance and tax issues.
He will work with you to construct a detailed listing of your assets, liabilities, and investments. This will include information on all accounts owned by you, interest rates and yields, surrender charges, maturity dates, cost basis and more. This information is needed so that your advisor can clearly understand the tax and financial implications of changes that may need to be made to your portfolio.
Investment Management
After evaluating your current investment strategy in relation to your objectives and personal risk tolerance, your advisor will recommend reallocations of monies as needed. He will assist in developing a comprehensive asset allocation and diversification strategy that is tailored to your specific objectives, implement the strategy with appropriate Investment Managers and monitor the strategy on an ongoing basis.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is an integral part of the holistic financial
planning process. Your financial advisor will use an in-depth
consultative process to find out what is really important to you. Using
what he learns about your goals, values, interests, relationships and
assets, he will craft a customized plan designed to accomplish
everything that is important to you. This plan serves as a detailed
roadmap demonstrating exactly how you will move from your current
situation to achieve all of your goals over time.
A personal insurance program, as with any sound investment or retirement program needs to be examined in light of your overall financial situation. Your CFP professional will want to see all of your existing insurance policies and employee benefit handbooks. He will carefully analyze your insurance needs and current coverage and will make appropriate recommendations for your situation. Your advisor will take the time to make sure that you understand your existing policies and any recommendations for changes.
Estate Planning
You may already have a will or trust to ensure that your current and future assets will be distributed to your beneficiaries with ease and minimal cost. Or, maybe you do not. Either way, your advisor will meet with you to discuss your current estate plan. If you already have documents in place, your advisor will review them to make sure they are current and he will also make sure that you understand what you have. If your will or trust is outdated, or if you do not have one, your advisor will work with you to put the appropriate plan in place consistent with your goals.
It may take several months to complete these initial steps but it is important to understand that your advisor cannot devise the best strategy for you without this in-depth review of your financial situation. Your advisor will explain the changes that may be needed to bring your finances into balance. Depending on the complexity of your situation, it may be possible to implement all recommended changes immediately, or they may be done in stages. Regardless, your advisor will help you identify the most important things you need to do in the next year to reach your goals.
At this point, your initial financial review is usually complete, but your relationship with your advisor is just beginning. A CFP practitioner from W.E. Griffith & Associates, LLC is your trusted financial advisor and partner in your personal success. He will schedule periodic meetings two to four times a year to review your progress towards your goals and to discuss the performance of your portfolio in the context of your overall financial situation.
Communities We Serve
Here is a partial list of some of the Pittsburgh Area communities that we serve:
Baldwin, Bentleyville, Bethel Park, Bridgeville, Canonsburg, Carnegie, Cecil, Claysville, Eighty Four, Finleyville, Green Hills, Heidelberg, Hendersonville, Houston, Jefferson Hills, Lawrence, Library, Marianna, McDonald, McMurray, Meadow Lands, Mt. Lebanon, North Strabane, Oakdale, Peters, Pittsburgh, Pleasant Hills, Scott Township, South Park, South Strabane, Thompsonville, Upper St. Clair, Venetia, Venice, Washington, West Alexander, Whitehall.
We invite you to explore our website to learn more about what differentiates us from other advisory firms and how you and your family can benefit from our specialized knowledge and expertise in retirement planning, investment management and estate planning.
Please feel free to call us if you have questions, for financial advice about 401k rollover IRA options or if you would like to schedule a financial consultation.
Our office is located near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Washington Road (Rt. 19) in South Strabane Township. We would look forward to meeting you!
W.E. Griffith & Associates, LLC
1150 Washington Road, Suite 200
Washington, PA 15301
Phone 724-228-3440 Fax 724-228-3442
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