The financial advisor you choose to handle your family’s hard-earned wealth will have a significant impact on your progress toward your goals, your decision-making, and your confidence in your financial future. There’s considerable variation in the service, expertise, and abilities of the 200,000+ financial advisors across the country. (1) With something as personal as your finances and as important as your family and goals in life, it’s important you work with an advisor you trust. Often, a strong relationship with a good advisor can last a lifetime and even through multiple generations. This is why it’s so important to take your time to find an advisor who can meet your family’s needs. As you consult with or consider advisors, ask them these 10 questions first before making the big decision. 1. What’s Your Industry Experience? Experience is essential when you’re working with a professional of any kind, especially someone handling your finances. Don’t be shy about asking an advisor about their industry experience. It will give you peace of mind to know what market conditions they’ve experienced and how many years they’ve been working in the industry. At Beacon Wealth Management, we offer over two decades of professional experience in the financial industry. 2. What are Your Credentials? At Beacon Wealth Management, we take credentials seriously, and we think you should too. Credentials and education play a big part in your advisor’s competency. There are hundreds of designations in the financial services and some are more applicable to your needs than others. (2) I have worked hard to obtain several specialized credentials, all of which require advanced knowledge and ongoing education. My credentials include Certified Wealth Strategist, Accredited Investment Fiduciary, Certified Estate Planner, Chartered Federal Employee Benefits Consultant, Plan Provider Consultant and Registered Financial Consultant. You can use a site like DesignationCheck.com to learn more about these credentials and others that financial advisors can earn. 3. What Services Do You Offer? Not all financial advisors can provide a comprehensive level of financial services. Some cannot sell insurance or securities, such as mutual funds or stocks, if they don’t have the appropriate licenses. Or, some may only offer insurance or asset management. It’s ideal if you can work with an advisor who can address all of your financial needs and coordinate them into cohesive strategies that work together. Ask a financial advisor what services they provide. At Beacon Wealth Management, our goal is to help entrepreneurs, professional practitioners and retirees overcome the 5 major challenges facing affluent families. To address these concerns, we provide retirement and investment advisory services, tax reduction strategies, risk management planning, and estate and legacy planning. 4. What Do You Specialize In? Many clients are drawn to financial advisors based on their experience and expertise in certain specialties. They know that their unique situation needs someone who can competently and confidently handle all the intricacies. At Beacon Wealth Management, we have focused our energy on understanding the multifaceted set of financial worries people face as they become more successful and get within 15 years of retirement. We have a deep knowledge of the challenges affluent families face as they approach retirement. 5. Who Do You Serve? Some financial advisors specialize in serving a specific demographic or level of investable assets, so you’ll want to find this out before choosing an advisor. For example, if you’re a business owner, you may be better suited to work with an advisor specializing in helping business owners. While we serve a diverse range of clients, we predominantly work with affluent entrepreneurs, professional practitioners, and families who are within 15 years of retirement. 6. What is Your Planning Philosophy? It’s important to work with an advisor who shares a similar planning philosophy to you. Some advisors are less hands-on depending on your management preferences. Talk with an advisor about how he or she guides clients’ financial decisions. At Beacon Wealth Management, our mission is to help you make smart decisions about your money. To do so, we use a disciplined professional process to establish a solutions-based wealth strategy to help you reach your goals. We want to make sure that we always have the most up-to-date understanding of your personal situation. Therefore, our periodic financial checkups will ensure that when your life changes, your wealth strategy evolves with it.