09-25-2024 Primetime - Flipbook - Page 16
16 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, September 25, 2024
FINANCE
Finding a financial advisor
Important to determine
your goals when entrusting
someone with your savings
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
T
here comes a time when you know you need some help in a particular area.
In one friend’s case, it was finance. She was lucky. She had friends who
made solid recommendations that fit her particular situation and, eventually,
she found someone to help her.
Circumstances vary. Depending on
your age or what you’ve saved – or
haven’t – you need options. What follows are a few tips to get you started,
some advice that can help, and a couple people you can trust if you have
questions.
Terminology
Let’s start with a few terms that are
important. First, there’s a term used
to describe a type of financial advisor:
Fiduciary.
The Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government
agency that makes sure banks, lenders
and other financial companies treat you
fairly, defines it this way:
“A fiduciary is someone who manages money or property for someone
else. When you’re named a fiduciary
and accept the role, you must – by
law – manage the person’s money and
property for their benefit, not yours.”
It then goes on to define the four
basic duties of a fiduciary:
1. Act only in their best interest.
Because you are dealing with someone
else’s money and property, your duty
is to make decisions that are best for
them, not you.
2. Manage their money and property carefully. You will have important
financial responsibilities and must carry
them out with care. You might pay bills,
oversee bank accounts and pay for
things they need. You might also make
investments, pay taxes, collect rent or
unpaid debts, and get insurance for
them, if needed.
3. Keep their money and property
separate. Never mix their money or
property with your own or someone
else’s. Confused records can get you
in trouble with government agencies,
like adult protective services, and the
police.
4. Keep good records. You must
keep true and complete records of their
money and property, or you could face
legal consequences.
Daniel Stein, CFA, CFP, vice president and branch manager of Schwab’s
Tysons Corner office in northern Virginia,
points out that there is no examination,
no test, to prove you are a fiduciary.
“When Charles Schwab started this
firm, he insisted that every person who
worked here had to always work in the
best interest of the client. We take that
seriously.”
Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
I recommend you choose a CFP
when you are looking for an advisor;
however, I’ve met and interviewed many
advisors who are competent and caring and don’t have a CFP. In addition
to the education, CFP professionals
must adhere to a strict code of eth-
ics, upholding principles of integrity,
objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism and diligence
when providing service to others. These
standards are monitored closely by the
CFP Board and violation of these principles can result in the revocation of the
designation.
Actually, as a Certified Financial
Planner (CFP), Stein is a fiduciary and
must follow the above-mentioned code
of ethics put in place by the CFP Board.
“When you hire a CFP professional, you
are hiring a trusted advisor who has
made a commitment to putting your
interests first. As part of their certification, a CFP professional commits to
CFP Board to act as a fiduciary – which
means to act in the best interests of the
client at all times when providing financial advice and financial planning.” The
CFP website (www.letsmakeaplan.org)
has a couple videos that clarify what the
designation means.
If you choose an adviser who works
Finding a financial advisor,
continued on page 19
