For financial advice, even pros look to pros

Stephen P. Ahern provides financial advice to a wide range of clients, including multimillionaires. Yet when it comes to his own investments, Ahern, cofounder of Wealth Management Advisors in Tewksbury, likes a professional to look over his shoulder.

''It helps take the emotion out of it," he says.

As president of the Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts, Ahern has a big advantage searching for talented advisers. If you've got no connections, however, what should you do?

Start with compensation, he says.

Commission-based planners often look appealing because they appear to charge no fees. But do the math. If there's a 3 percent commission on the $100,000 investment your adviser wants you to buy, the cost is $3,000.

That amount, Ahern says, would cover the cost of having an experienced fee-only planner in the Boston area draw up a financial plan that not only tackles investments, but also reviews financial goals, retirement planning, cash flow, college savings, tax issues, insurance, and estate planning. With many planners charging about $200 an hour, that same $3,000 would buy 15 hours of personalized planning.

''I know some outstanding commission-based planners," Ahern says. But if he were starting cold, he'd look for a fee-only planner. That way you make sure the planner has no vested interest in the financial products you purchase for your portfolio, he says.

Next, check out training and experience. Financial planners often come with an alphabet soup of accreditations. The most widely recognized is certified financial planner, or CFP, says Roy Komack, a Natick planner who heads a study group of Massachusetts advisers who belong to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

''There are a few phenomenally good advisers who never got a CFP, but it isn't unreasonable to say that a CFP should be a minimum requirement," says Komack, president of Family Financial Architects. The CFP designation means a planner has, among other things, passed a 10-hour comprehensive exam given by the CFP Board of Standards.

In part, what you have determines what you need from a planner. For example, some financial planners give basic investment advice and leave it up to you to implement the plan. Others will manage your money, commonly at an annual cost of about 1 percent of assets managed. Some, like Komack, work with portfolios of mutual funds, while others prefer to build portfolios with individual stocks.

To figure out if you and a planner are fiscally and temperamentally simpatico, make a date to sit down and talk. You may want to meet several planners before deciding on one.

''You want all the cards on the table before you sign on the dotted line," Ahern says. ''Ask lots of questions."

Many planners will offer a free initial get-together while others charge a basic hourly rate for the introductory session. Still, this is one area where you shouldn't necessarily be hunting for bargains.

''You get what you pay for," cautions Ahern, noting that friends sometimes ask him to pull together a plan gratis. ''I'll do it," he says, ''but they won't get my full attention."

Visit boston.com/business for a live chat with financial planner Roy Komack at 11 a.m. tomorrow.