You’ve worked hard for many years to accumulate your wealth, ensure a comfortable retirement, and leave a lasting legacy for your loved ones. Choosing the right financial advisor to help protect and grow that wealth can be an overwhelming but important task. You need an advisor who understands your future goals and current needs but also has the experience and expertise to provide personalized guidance and support.
By working with financial advisors that have experience in working with seniors, you can benefit from a sound financial plan, risk management strategy, and tax-efficient investment tactics customized to your unique situation — and all with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your accumulated financial wealth is in good hands.
What Does a Financial Advisor Do?
Financial advisors provide financial planning and professional wealth management services to individuals and families. They help clients aim to meet their financial goals by creating comprehensive financial plans that take various aspects of a client’s financial health into consideration, such as current and potential future investments, as well as offering retirement, income planning , and risk mitigation services.
The advisor collaborates with the client to understand their current finances, future goals, and overall tolerance for risks. With that information as a gauge, advisors then make investment recommendations in alignment with the client’s financial plan. A financial advisor’s ultimate aim is to help clients make informed decisions and reach their financial goals.
Why Do I Need a Financial Advisor?
When you reach retirement age, it’s important to have a financial advisor to help you manage your wealth and aim to ensure comfortable retirement years. Some of the benefits of working with a financial advisor include:
- Guidance and Experience: Financial advisors can help you navigate complex financial concepts by offering advice personalized to your unique situation and lifestyle, which helps you make informed financial decisions.
- Asset Management and Investment Assistance: A financial advisor can help you create a balanced investment portfolio that aligns with your financial goals and risk tolerance. They can also assist in monitoring your investments and making adjustments as needed.
- Retirement Planning: Retirement planning is a critical aspect of wealth management. A financial advisor can help you determine how much money you need to save, the best ways to save for retirement, and the best strategies for generating income during retirement.
- Risk Management: A financial advisor can help you identify and manage risks that may impact your financial future. They can recommend insurance products, such as life insurance and long-term care insurance, to help protect your wealth.
What To Consider When Hiring a Financial Advisor
Hiring a financial advisor is a critical decision, as this professional will play a key role in helping you plan for and reach your financial goals. When searching for a financial advisor, it’s important to consider several factors on your way to finding the advisor who’s the best fit for you:
- 1. Look at the level of experience and services offered. Look for an advisor who has the experience to provide the right balance of services you need — a professional who has a strong history of helping senior clients reach their goals and the credentials to back up their expertise.
- 2. Consider their fee structure. Some advisors charge a flat fee for services, while others might charge a percentage of the total assets they’re managing for you.
- 3. Evaluate their interactions. Consider how they communicate. How do they approach working with clients? Does their communication style make you comfortable and put you at ease? It’s also important that the advisor feels comfortable communicating and collaborating with you, too.
You should go into interviews with potential advisors knowing exactly what you need, or at least having a really good general idea. Once you’ve got a shortlist put together, it’s time to review the advisors’ credentials and histories. At the end of the day, it’s your money and you should never feel uncomfortable in your financial planning partnership.
Let’s take a closer look.
Define What Financial Services You Need
While a financial or wealth advisor can help you choose the right services for your financial future, it’s a good strategy to have an idea of the services you need before arriving, which you can get a rough idea of with a little bit of research.
Knowing what financial planning services you need from an advisor is crucial. It ensures you receive the right financial tips, advice, and support for the financial goals you have at this juncture in life. It also lets you evaluate if the advisor you’ve chosen is the right fit for you and if they have the financial planning for elderly expertise and resources necessary to provide you with the right services. For example, if you’re focused on budgeting and paying down your debt, you want an advisor who specializes in debt management and financial planning for the elderly.
On the other hand, if you’re focused on wealth creation and preservation, you may want a wealth manager or financial advisor for seniors who specializes in portfolio and investment management.
Having a clear understanding of the services you need also helps you communicate your expectations more effectively. Clear communication in which you and your advisor understand what’s being requested can help you avoid any misunderstandings or conflicts down the line and ensure that you receive the best possible advice. Also, by knowing what services you need, you can also better understand the average fees most financial advisors charge for these services and make the best choice according to your unique situation.
Check Your Advisor’s Credentials
Checking a financial advisor’s credentials is another necessary step when it comes to choosing the advisor who’ll be managing your finances, especially for seniors who have accumulated savings throughout their lives. Financial advisors who operate as fiduciaries have a legal obligation to put your best interests first, above their own.
Ask your shortlist of financial advisors for seniors if they have any of these fiduciary credentials:
These designations indicate that an advisor has met specific educational requirements, has investment experience, and has proven they adhere to ethical standards.
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask a potential advisor about any disciplinary actions or customer complaints they’ve received. Complaints can indicate less-than-desirable trustworthiness or an overall lack of professionalism.
Find a Wealth Manager Who Specializes in Financial Advising for Seniors
Finding a financial advisor who specializes in serving seniors can be especially beneficial if you have specific financial needs or concerns. A financial planning for elderly specialist who understands your unique financial goals, challenges, and limitations is better equipped to help you achieve your objectives and avoid exploitation.
Specialized financial advisors for seniors are typically trained to understand the complex financial planning issues concerning retirement, such as Social Security, Medicare, and long-term care.
Churchill Management Group has financial advisors dedicated to elderly financial services, so you can feel confident that you’re receiving advice that’s focused on your needs, concerns, and circumstances.
Book a meeting with a member of our team today.
Financial Planning Services
Churchill provides financial planning services to Clients that specifically engage Churchill for that service. The planning can include defining goals, designing a plan, assisting with implementing the plan, and evaluating and adjusting the plan over time, at the request of the client. The financial planning includes advice regarding securities investing, and may include discussions of a client’s tax, insurance, employee benefits, estate planning and other issues. Churchill, however, does not provide legal, insurance, employee benefit, estate planning, tax or accounting advice, and the client must rely on legal, insurance and accounting professionals for that advice and documentation.