Working with a financial advisor who is working in your best interest can be a difficult find. Financial advisors are paid to guide clients as they work to achieve a successful retirement through planning and saving of their investments. Not all financial advisors are created equal. Independent fiduciary financial advisor Dustin Stanley of Strategic Wealth Designer joined WDRB in the Morning to lay out the criteria so that individuals can pick the best financial advisor for their retirement planning needs. He’s says the key is understanding there are two types of financial advisors and one works a lot more in the client’s favor than the other.

              “There’s the majority of advisors which are under the suitability standard and then there’s the second type which is the fiduciary standard and very few financial advisors operate as a fiduciary,” Stanley says. “The types of advice you get from those two couldn’t be more different. Under the suitability standard, the sales-broker will go into all the advisors at the office on Monday morning and tell them this week sell these mutual funds or these annuities and that’s the product they are going to be pushing that week. So, they already know what tool they are going to recommend to basically anyone who walks into their office.”

              These tactics and methods are not taught to the consumer and must be researched on their own as they are looking for financial advice. Stanley says it is imperative that you work with a fiduciary financial advisor to know that they have your best interest legally and morally.

              “With the fiduciary standard it’s the complete opposite of that (the suitability sales quota method), the financial advisor is going to listen to the goals and objectives of the client and then build a retirement plan customized to their needs.  Everybody thinks their financial advisor has their best interest in mind, and they do give great lip service when they talk, but from a regulatory standard that is what you need to understand. Ask are they a CFP or working for an RIA, that is a good indicator that they are truly a fiduciary financial advisor, “ Stanley says.

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