Not all financial planners put you first - so find out which kind you're using
She didn’t say the word, but trust seems to be one of the big issues in this reader’s e-mail:
Q. My husband and I are in our early 30s. We’ve been saving since our early 20s, mostly in 401(k) plans. We’ve been working with a financial planner and contributing to a Roth IRA. How do you begin to understand the investment opportunities a planner presents? I wouldn’t know where to begin, so we usually invest where our planner recommends. How can the average person go about double-checking that their planner’s recommendations are where the client really wants to be?
A. I recommend you consider joining the not-for-profit American Association of Individual Investors (www.aaii.com). At $29 a year, basic membership is a bargain. Even if you don’t join, the AAII’s free website offers a wealth of free educational materials.
As to your planner, it’s important to know which type you have.
You didn’t say whether yours is a certified financial planner (one who’s earned this CFP designation from the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards), a registered investment adviser or RIA (who must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or state regulators), or some other type.
If you don’t know, find out now.
Different types of planners are held to different standards. I strongly recommend you use a planner (such as a CFP or RIA) who adheres to a “fiduciary standard.’’ That means the planner’s recommendations, by law, must place the client’s interests first.
Brokers, also known as registered representatives, may call themselves financial planners, but they are basically employees of a stock exchange member firm who act as account executives for clients. Brokers, who fall under the jurisdiction of the self-regulatory Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, are held to a less stringent “suitability’’ standard. Their recommendations must be “suitable’’ - for example, be in line with their investment goals and risk tolerance. But the clients’ interests do not come first.
Therefore, a broker is legally free to recommend an investment that pays his firm - and him - a higher commission over a similar lower-cost fund, as long as the investment is suitable to the client. (The broker’s contract with his firm may require him to recommend the higher-cost fund.) A planner who takes a fiduciary oath could not do that.
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, an organization of advisers who are not paid on commission and adhere to the fiduciary standard, recommends that investors ask advisers to sign a “fiduciary oath.’’
For a list of questions all investors should ask, see the group’s Financial Advisor Diagnostic at napfa.org/tips_tools/index.asp.
If you’re OK with your planner not being a fiduciary, at least ask him to explain precisely the reasons for his recommendations, including what’s in it for him.
Humberto Cruz can be reached at AskHumberto@aol.com. 
