How does a Baby Boomer find a good financial planner? This is an important question and should not be taken lightly because you may have a relationship with them for 30 years or more. So you need to do your due diligence on anyone you select.

There are plenty of Internet articles on selecting a financial planner but many of them focus on the qualifications and longevity of the financial planner and are written by the financial planning industry themselves.

I believe you have to interview them as if you will be their employer which in fact you will be for those 30 years.

You also need to get away from thinking in terms of a local financial planner. If you find a local one who qualifies then that is great. But I think you need to look nationally for the best one you can find. Try some on this list as a start.

Wealth Manager List

Or look at the Top 100 Wealth Manger List

You need to meet and talk with them first and ask them all the routine questions and some awkward questions like the ones I listed in my

10 Questions Baby Boomers should ask their Financial Advisors Now!

You must not be embarrassed about putting them on the spot. This is your money and your life. Here is an example of my questions.

The planner wanted to charge me $2,800.00 to put a portfolio together for me and then on-going fees of about $7,000.00 a year for putting all my money in Index Funds. I wanted the fees justified for an Index Fund which supposedly did little trading. But I think this was the cruncher. Read the rest of this entry »

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If you are a Baby Boomer AND in or near retirement your Financial Advisor should be advising you on how to protect your Nest Egg in Retirement. If they are not actively working with you to control your Nest Egg you could be in serious trouble.

With the financial markets in turmoil and the stock markets tumbling, if your your Nest Egg is in the Stock Market it is likely to be down 20% or more. Do you understand that if you are drawing a pension from your Nest Egg, then being down 20% or more is critical to the long term survivability of your Nest Egg.

Craig L. Israelsen, Ph.D. is an associate professor at Brigham Young University. In his article The Math of Recovery in Retirement Portfolios he states “The Primary Goal of a Retirement Portfolio is very simple; avoid large losses.” If your financial advisor isn’t telling you this, there is a problem. If you suffer large losses just as you start taking a pension from your Nest Egg you could be in serious trouble. This article shows you just how much trouble. I recommend you read the article in full.

10 Questions you should ask your financial advisor:

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