If you are looking for true financial planning, here's the quickest way to vet a firm/FA.

Part One

I'm biased as I'm a CFP, but by searching for a CFP on https://www.letsmakeaplan.org you narrow the field quickly. I know many non-CFP FAs who are good, but there's an ever deepening divide in product and service between CFPs and non CFPs.

Part Two

Go to their website and find their "Client Login" page. There should be a link that takes you to an eMoney (emaplan.com), MoneyGuidePro (moneyguidepro.com), or RightCapital (rightcapital.com) site. This is the software 99% of professional, legit FAs and planners use. Be prepared to flat or hourly fee for a plan. If the login page takes you to an insurance company - this ain't your guy.

Good luck.

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Posted by UpstairsComputer

Prairieville

Member since Jan 2017

1635 posts

Posted on 4/20/23 at 9:28 am to GallinagoGallinago

quote:
There should be a link that takes you to an eMoney (emaplan.com), MoneyGuidePro (moneyguidepro.com), or RightCapital (rightcapital.com) site.

LOL they must have a Gallinago-approved software. I'm 20 years in, have used all of these software's, and don't find value in them. People who want to spend the time to enter all their data generally don't seek out an advisor (see: all MT threads). The CFP exam taught me how to use a calculator like a gangster.

I'm sure some clients like a bunch of pretty charts and graphs, by mine typically don't -- or they go somewhere else. That's ok too.

I agree with your CFP comments though. Your odds are significantly better of finding a good one that way. The key is someone who can explain difficult concepts in simple terms, not whether they can show you a graph to illustrate the same concept. Simplicity is key. When you know your shite, you don't need 6 different strategies to make it work.

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