How to Vet a Financial Advisor (Without Getting Sold)

This is the question we get asked more than any other: "Do you have someone you'd recommend?"

We're not going to hand you a name. We're going to hand you the framework we'd use ourselves. The name matters less than knowing what you're actually looking at when someone hands you a business card with "Wealth Advisor" on it.

Ask this first: how do they get paid?

There are three models, and they are not interchangeable:

• Commission-based. They earn money when you buy a specific product (such as an annuity, a whole life policy, or a fund with a load). Their incentive and your interest are not the same thing, even when they're a genuinely nice person.
• AUM-based (Assets Under Management). They take a percentage of what you invest through them, typically 0.5%–1.5% a year. Better than commission, but the incentive is still "grow the number they take a cut of," not necessarily "give you the best advice for your situation." That includes the advice to pay off debt, buy a house, or do nothing at all.
• Fee-only. They charge a flat fee or hourly rate, period. No commission, no percentage of assets. This is the only model where the person answering your question has no financial stake in what you decide to do with the answer.

If someone can't answer "how do you get paid" in one plain sentence, that's your answer.

The second question: are they a fiduciary?

A fiduciary is legally required to act in your best interest. That sounds obvious, but it is not the default. Many people with "advisor" in their title are only held to a suitability standard: the product has to be "suitable," not optimal, and definitely not required to be the cheapest or simplest option available. Ask directly: "Are you a fiduciary at all times when advising me, in writing?" A yes with hesitation is a no.

What actually being pitched a product looks like

If someone reached out to you first, if the pitch involves urgency ("this rate is only available this week"), or if the product is complicated enough that you can't explain it back in one sentence: stop. None of those are disqualifying on their own. All three together is a pattern, and the pattern is the signal, not any single conversation.

The three questions, distilled

1. How exactly do you get paid: flat fee, hourly, commission, or a percentage of my assets?
2. Are you a fiduciary at all times when advising me, in writing?
3. What would you say if I told you I wanted to do nothing this year?

A good fee-only fiduciary has a straight answer to all three. Anyone selling you something has a reason at least one of those answers gets vague.

We built a two-minute version of this same framework as a quick self-check if you want the short version, and to see where you land before you go looking for a name at all.