Managing money during retirement can become more complicated than many people expect.
Instead of simply earning a paycheck and contributing to retirement accounts, you may now be deciding how much to withdraw from savings, how to invest money you still have, when to claim Social Security, how to manage taxes, how to prepare for healthcare expenses, and whether your savings will last for the rest of your life.
There is certainly no shortage of people offering advice.
Financial planners, investment advisers, brokers, insurance agents, accountants, television personalities, YouTube channels, social media personalities, newsletters, and online financial websites may all provide recommendations.
The challenge is determining which advice deserves your trust.
A professional-looking website or impressive job title doesn’t necessarily mean someone is qualified to provide the type of financial advice you need. Likewise, a legitimate financial professional may still have fees, conflicts of interest, or areas outside their expertise.
Finding trustworthy financial guidance therefore requires more than choosing the first person who calls themselves a “financial adviser.”
Here are practical steps you can use to evaluate financial professionals and find advice that fits your retirement needs.
1. Start by Identifying What Kind of Advice You Need
Before looking for a financial professional, determine what problem you’re actually trying to solve.
Different professionals specialize in different areas.
You might need help with:
- Retirement income planning
- Investment management
- Social Security decisions
- Tax planning
- Medicare decisions
- Estate planning
- Long-term care
- Debt management
- Budgeting
- Insurance
- Required minimum distributions
- Charitable giving
You don’t necessarily need one person to handle everything.
For example, an investment adviser might help manage your portfolio, while a CPA handles tax questions and an estate-planning attorney prepares legal documents.
Understanding your goal makes it easier to find someone with appropriate expertise.
If your primary concern is creating a monthly retirement budget, you probably don’t need to immediately hire someone to manage your entire investment portfolio.
2. Understand Common Financial Credentials
Credentials can provide useful information about a professional’s training, but not every credential means the same thing.
Some commonly recognized credentials include:
- CFP® — Certified Financial Planner
- CPA — Certified Public Accountant
- ChFC — Chartered Financial Consultant
- AFC® — Accredited Financial Counselor
A CFP professional, for example, generally focuses on comprehensive financial planning topics such as retirement, investments, taxes, insurance, and estate-planning considerations.
A CPA specializes primarily in accounting and taxation, although some CPAs also provide financial planning services.
An AFC generally focuses more heavily on areas such as budgeting, debt, financial behavior, and money management.
Credentials should be considered alongside experience, registration status, services, fees, and disciplinary history.
Don’t select someone based on letters after their name alone.
Ask what the credential required and whether the professional’s actual experience matches your needs.
3. Verify an Investment Professional’s Background
Never rely solely on what a financial professional tells you about their background.
Verify it independently.
Two particularly useful resources are the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database and FINRA’s BrokerCheck.
The SEC’s IAPD database allows consumers to research investment adviser firms and representatives, check registration status, and review information concerning professional backgrounds and disciplinary events. It also provides access to an adviser’s Form ADV, which contains important information about the business.
FINRA’s BrokerCheck is another free tool. It provides information about brokers and brokerage firms, including registration, employment history, regulatory actions, licensing information, arbitrations, and certain customer complaints.
These searches take only a few minutes and should be performed before handing someone your retirement savings.
SEC Investment Professional Search
You can also contact your state securities regulator when appropriate.
4. Read the Adviser’s Form ADV
If you’re considering a registered investment adviser, ask for the firm’s Form ADV.
Don’t be intimidated by the name.
Form ADV is a regulatory disclosure document that can reveal useful information about how an advisory firm operates.
According to the SEC, Form ADV Part 2 includes plain-English information concerning an adviser’s business practices, fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary information.
Pay particular attention to:
- Services provided
- Advisory fees
- Other costs
- Compensation arrangements
- Conflicts of interest
- Disciplinary disclosures
- Investment strategies
- Other business activities
You don’t have to understand every technical detail.
If something isn’t clear, ask the adviser to explain it.
A good question is simply:
“Can you explain how this affects me in plain English?”
The response itself can tell you something about the professional you’re considering.
5. Ask Exactly How the Adviser Gets Paid
Compensation is one of the most important subjects to understand.
Financial professionals can be paid in different ways.
Some charge:
- Hourly fees
- Flat planning fees
- Subscription fees
- A percentage of assets managed
- Commissions
- Insurance commissions
- Other product-related compensation
- A combination of several methods
Ask directly:
“How much will I pay you over the course of one year?”
Then ask:
“Does anyone else pay you when I purchase something you recommend?”
Those two questions can reveal more than simply asking what the adviser’s standard fee is.
Consider a retiree with a $500,000 investment portfolio.
If an adviser charges an annual management fee equal to 1% of assets, that’s approximately:
$500,000 × 1% = $5,000 per year.
That doesn’t automatically make the fee good or bad.
The important questions are what you’re receiving for that $5,000 and whether less expensive alternatives could provide the services you need.
Does the fee include comprehensive financial planning, tax coordination, retirement-income planning, portfolio management, and regular meetings?
Or are you primarily paying for investment management?
Understanding the actual dollar cost makes comparison much easier.
6. Understand What “Fee-Only” Means
A fee-only financial adviser receives compensation directly from clients rather than earning commissions for selling financial products.
This arrangement can reduce certain conflicts of interest.
For example, an adviser who doesn’t receive a commission for recommending one investment instead of another removes that particular sales incentive.
However, “fee-only” doesn’t automatically mean inexpensive, highly skilled, or appropriate for your circumstances.
A fee-only adviser charging a percentage of assets still has a compensation structure you should understand.
Compare:
- Services
- Experience
- Credentials
- Investment philosophy
- Total fees
- Other expenses
- Conflicts of interest
The goal isn’t simply to find a particular label.
It’s to understand exactly what you’re paying and what you’re receiving.
7. Ask About Fiduciary Responsibility
You’ll frequently encounter the word fiduciary when researching financial advice.
In general, fiduciary obligations require investment advisers to put clients’ interests ahead of their own within the applicable advisory relationship.
But don’t stop at asking:
“Are you a fiduciary?”
Ask:
“Will you act as a fiduciary whenever you’re providing financial advice to me?”
You can also ask:
“Are there situations in which you don’t operate under that standard?”
Some financial professionals operate in more than one capacity, so understanding the role they are performing for you is important.
Ask for explanations in writing when possible.
8. Ask About Conflicts of Interest
Nearly every financial business model can involve potential conflicts.
The important issue is understanding them.
Ask:
- Do you receive commissions?
- Do you receive referral fees?
- Does your company manufacture products you recommend?
- Are you paid more for recommending certain investments?
- Do you receive incentives for bringing assets into your firm?
- Do you receive compensation from insurance companies?
- Are there products you’re encouraged to sell?
A conflict doesn’t automatically mean someone is dishonest.
But you should know about conflicts before making decisions.
The SEC’s Form ADV disclosure system is particularly useful here because registered investment advisers must disclose significant information about compensation and conflicts.
9. Look for Retirement-Specific Experience
Someone may be an excellent financial professional without specializing in retirement planning.
Retirees face financial questions that younger investors often don’t.
These may involve:
- Social Security
- Medicare
- Required minimum distributions
- Retirement account withdrawals
- Pension income
- Tax-efficient withdrawals
- Healthcare expenses
- Long-term care
- Estate planning
- Income replacement
- Sequence-of-returns risk
Ask prospective advisers how many clients they work with who are already retired.
You might ask:
“How would your approach to someone who’s 70 and retired differ from your approach to someone who’s 40 and still working?”
The answer can provide insight into the adviser’s retirement-planning experience.
10. Don’t Confuse an Investment Adviser With a Medicare Expert
Retirement involves several specialized areas, and one adviser may not be qualified to handle all of them.
A financial planner can help you understand how healthcare costs fit into your retirement budget, but specific Medicare decisions may require someone with appropriate Medicare expertise.
Similarly, an investment adviser shouldn’t automatically be treated as your tax adviser or attorney.
For Medicare questions, retirees can also use the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, commonly known as SHIP, which provides free counseling and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries.
For tax issues, consider a qualified tax professional.
For wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and other legal matters, consider an attorney experienced in the appropriate area of law.
Using specialists can sometimes provide better guidance than expecting one person to know everything.
11. Use Trusted Government and Nonprofit Resources
Not every financial question requires hiring a professional.
Many reliable resources are available free of charge.
Depending on the issue, useful starting points can include:
- Social Security Administration
- Medicare
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Securities and Exchange Commission
- FINRA
- State securities regulators
- State Health Insurance Assistance Programs
- HUD-approved housing counselors
- Reputable nonprofit credit counseling organizations
These sources can be particularly useful when you’re trying to understand the basic rules before speaking with someone who sells financial products or services.
Learning the fundamentals first can make it much easier to recognize questionable advice.
12. Be Skeptical of Financial Advice From Social Media
The internet has made financial education much more accessible.
It has also made financial misinformation easier to spread.
A person can build a large following without having professional qualifications or knowing anything about your circumstances.
Be particularly cautious with content promoting:
- Individual stocks
- Cryptocurrency
- Precious metals
- High-yield investments
- Annuities
- Insurance products
- “Secret” retirement strategies
- Tax loopholes
- Guaranteed income products
Educational content can be useful for learning concepts.
But there’s an important difference between:
“Here’s how Roth conversions generally work.”
and
“You should convert $100,000 of your IRA this year.”
The second recommendation requires considerably more information about your income, taxes, age, retirement accounts, and overall financial circumstances.
Use online information to become better informed, not as an automatic substitute for individualized professional advice.
13. Watch for High-Pressure Sales Tactics
A trustworthy professional should give you enough time to understand a recommendation.
Be cautious if someone says:
- “You have to invest today.”
- “This opportunity won’t be available tomorrow.”
- “Everyone else is buying this.”
- “There’s absolutely no risk.”
- “Don’t discuss this with anyone.”
- “You’ll regret missing this opportunity.”
These statements are designed to produce emotional decisions.
Major financial decisions should withstand scrutiny.
If you’re considering moving $100,000 of retirement savings into a new investment, taking another 24 or 48 hours to investigate the recommendation is reasonable.
Your retirement money may have taken decades to accumulate.
There’s rarely a good reason to move it because someone gave you 30 minutes to decide.
14. Interview More Than One Adviser
You don’t have to hire the first financial professional you meet.
Consider speaking with two or three.
Ask each person the same basic questions:
- What services do you provide?
- How much will I pay?
- How are you compensated?
- What credentials do you hold?
- Are you registered?
- Will you act as a fiduciary when advising me?
- What conflicts of interest do you have?
- How much experience do you have with retirees?
- How often will we meet?
- Who will actually manage my account?
- What happens if I want to leave?
Comparing answers makes differences easier to recognize.
You may also discover that you communicate much more comfortably with one professional than another.
15. Make Sure You Understand the Investment Strategy
A legitimate adviser shouldn’t require you to blindly trust them.
You should have a basic understanding of how your money will be managed.
Ask questions such as:
Why are you recommending this investment?
What are the risks?
What fees does it have?
How easily can I sell it?
What happens if the market falls 20%?
How does this fit into my retirement income plan?
If the strategy is so complicated that you can’t understand the basic idea after a reasonable explanation, don’t be afraid to decline.
Complexity isn’t automatically sophistication.
16. Be Careful With “Free” Financial Advice
Free financial seminars, retirement dinners, webinars, and consultations aren’t necessarily scams.
But understand why they’re being offered.
Sometimes the event is educational.
Other times, the primary goal is generating leads for investment, insurance, annuity, or wealth-management products.
Ask yourself:
What does the person giving this advice eventually want me to buy?
If a free consultation quickly turns into pressure to transfer your retirement account or purchase a particular product, slow down and investigate.
Free advice can become expensive if it leads to an unsuitable financial decision.
17. Bring Someone You Trust to Important Meetings
Major financial decisions don’t have to be made alone.
If you’re comfortable doing so, bring a trusted family member or friend to important meetings.
They can:
- Take notes
- Ask additional questions
- Help remember details
- Review documents
- Provide another perspective
This can be especially helpful when discussing complicated products or major changes to retirement savings.
However, maintain control over your own financial decisions and be cautious about giving another person unnecessary access to accounts or passwords.
Support and control aren’t the same thing.
18. Create a 24-Hour Rule for Major Financial Decisions
A simple personal rule can provide powerful protection.
For example:
“I never make an unexpected financial commitment over $1,000 on the same day it is presented to me.”
The $1,000 threshold is simply an example. You can choose an amount appropriate for your finances.
During that waiting period:
- Research the professional
- Verify registration
- Read the documents
- Review fees
- Search for disciplinary information
- Ask questions
- Discuss the recommendation with someone you trust
A legitimate professional should respect this process.
Pressure to skip it should make you more cautious.
19. Review the Relationship After You Hire Someone
Choosing an adviser isn’t the end of the process.
Continue evaluating the relationship.
At least once a year, ask:
- What did I pay in advisory fees?
- What other investment expenses did I pay?
- Has my financial plan changed?
- Is my investment strategy still appropriate?
- Have my retirement expenses changed?
- Am I comfortable with the level of risk?
- Do I understand what I own?
- Has the adviser communicated clearly?
- Are there conflicts I should know about?
You should also periodically check the professional’s regulatory record.
Financial advice is an ongoing relationship, and you’re allowed to change professionals if the relationship no longer meets your needs.
20. Remember That Good Advice Should Make Things Clearer
One of the best signs of useful financial advice is clarity.
After meeting with a financial professional, you should have a better understanding of:
- Where your money is
- What you’re invested in
- Why you own those investments
- What you’re paying
- What risks you’re taking
- How much you can reasonably spend
- What financial decisions come next
You shouldn’t leave feeling that your finances are too complicated to understand without the adviser.
A good professional should educate you as well as advise you.
Final Thoughts
Finding legitimate financial advice isn’t about locating someone with the fanciest office, the largest social media following, or the most impressive sales presentation.
It’s about verification, transparency, appropriate expertise, and trust.
Start by identifying the type of help you actually need. Research a professional’s credentials and regulatory history. Ask exactly how they’re compensated. Understand whether and when they act as a fiduciary. Read disclosures, investigate conflicts of interest, and make sure the person has experience with financial situations similar to yours.
Most importantly, don’t surrender your ability to ask questions.
If someone recommends moving $200,000 of retirement savings, you have every right to ask what it will cost, what could go wrong, how the adviser will be compensated, and why the recommendation is better than leaving the money where it is.
Take your time.
Interview more than one professional when possible. Verify information through independent sources such as the SEC and FINRA. Bring someone you trust to important meetings if that makes you more comfortable.
The purpose of professional financial advice isn’t to take control away from you.
Good advice should do the opposite: help you understand your choices well enough to make informed decisions about the money you’ve spent a lifetime building.
