the Price of a Financial Planner

The service used was a financial planning service which included a full range of services including, estate planning, investing, retirement planning etc. The service was provided in an intial 3 hour appointment and a follow up 1 hour appointment. During the first appointment a needs evaluation was performed to examine what areas needed to be focussed on and issues that needed to be addressed. Then a thorough discussion took place reviewing current assets and plans for the future.

I found this service to be excellent. Because this financial planner is independent and paid by an hourly rate rather that through an investment company, I did not feel pressured by the planner to choose specific products. A planner who works through an investment company gets part of their salary from the commision made on selling clients their own companies investment products. Since this was an independent financial planner, she recommended products that were truely best for me rather than a pre-prescribed plan that makes the most money for someone else.

For any type of financial planning meeting go fully prepared with all of your infomation. A little homework ahead of time will make this experience much more effective and useful. Also do some thinking ahead of time what your long term planning goals are.