Q. Is there a difference between a financial planner and a financial adviser?
A. Anyone can call himself or herself a financial adviser, but what's important is if that person has your best interest in mind.
A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) is one who has completed rigorous training and keeps up with ongoing education efforts. Not anyone can call himself or herself a CFP. Also, there is a competing designation called ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), which is similar to CFP (see the previous blog post about the differences between a CFP and a ChFC).
Not to confuse you, there is one more important designation, RIA (Registered Investment Advisers), who typically works at brokerage houses and charges you a fee based on the assets under management for you, although you might find it debatable whether the performance can justify the fee or not.
The Bottom Line
Whether you have a good financial adviser or not, you can tell from the way he or she interacts with you - did that person ask you a lot of questions, to understand your entire financial picture: such as your risk tolerance, your long term goals and short term needs, etc.
A. Anyone can call himself or herself a financial adviser, but what's important is if that person has your best interest in mind.
A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) is one who has completed rigorous training and keeps up with ongoing education efforts. Not anyone can call himself or herself a CFP. Also, there is a competing designation called ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), which is similar to CFP (see the previous blog post about the differences between a CFP and a ChFC).
Not to confuse you, there is one more important designation, RIA (Registered Investment Advisers), who typically works at brokerage houses and charges you a fee based on the assets under management for you, although you might find it debatable whether the performance can justify the fee or not.
The Bottom Line
Whether you have a good financial adviser or not, you can tell from the way he or she interacts with you - did that person ask you a lot of questions, to understand your entire financial picture: such as your risk tolerance, your long term goals and short term needs, etc.
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