If you’ve ever been on the hunt for a financial advisor, you’ve probably seen the “10 Questions to ask a Financial Advisor.” We’ve all pushed content about it and they’re nearly all identical in substance. Questions such as:
“Are you a Fiduciary”
“What are your fees”
“Qualifications and Experience?”
“Are you a CFP® (usually followed by: what does that even mean, again?)”
“How will you manage my money?”
Those are great questions and good conversation starters providing insight into the potential advisor, their thought process, and operational practices. Most always the discussions revolve around the potential investor/advisor relationship. Maybe the assumption is the advisor will be around forever; or at least until you’re gone.
But what happens when life happens? Suppose your financial advisor has a sudden medical event, accident, or any number of unimaginable things that prevents them from working.
What happens then? To your money? Does your advisor have a plan so that your investments are handled with the same attention and thought?
Maybe your advisor is part of a large team. But as our industry trends to smaller, independent and often-times solo-advisor offices; who picks up the pieces when an advisor is unable (or just quits coming) to work?
Earlier this year, I became aware of an advisory practice for sale. This person wanted a quick exit; and was shopping the practice to the highest bidder. Did it matter to the seller whether the buyer/new advisor had a high level of integrity, shared the same values for the clients, their planning goals, or investment management? Probably not.
Should it? Absolutely.
Estate planning is an important part of our planning process here; with the end goal of ensuring your loved ones are taken care of should the unthinkable happen. Here at Caviness Wealth Management, we believe the same applies to our clients, too. That’s why we have contingency plans in place that consider our process, values, love and respect for our clients. Because you should be treated no different than family.
Is your financial team in transition? Have you found that your financial advisor of many years is no longer aroung? Give us a call.
