| When Should you Take Financial Planning Advice?

When Should you Take Financial Planning Advice?


Who do you listen to?

Just when you start to worry about your money it seems like there’s someone wherever you turn trying to give you financial planning advice. Your parents find out your struggling with debt and soon your whole family is watching your every penny. It gets out at work and you become bombarded with the best stock picks. Who do you listen to?

What are their credentials?

Right from the start you are automatically going to put more credit into the information you get from a financial professional than anyone else. If your best friend is trying to tell you how to spend your money while they charge everything to a credit card, it’s in your best interest not to listen. Maybe your teacher friend has some good investments or your carpenter brother sounds convincing. Honestly, money advice is not always great when it comes from family or friends who know little about money.

Think about what kind of financial planning advice they are giving you. If they are giving you some tips on how to save money at the grocery store, snatch up those ideas. If someone is trying to tell you what mutual funds to invest in, you can listen, but always get a second opinion from a finance professional, preferably a financial advisor with experience.

What is their motive?

Your stock broker will urge you to buy, buy, buy. Their only motive is to make their commission off your investment. They are trying to make money and you are their avenue. Be careful who you listen to and make sure they area completely on your side. You want someone who wants to see you reach financial success.

Be careful because friends and family often want to help but often don’t provide the best advice. Make sure they have the right motive as well as the right expertise.

What is their track record?

You’re not going to take stock advice from someone who consistently gets a very low return because you’ll probably get the same. Do your research on any financial adviser you can involved with and make sure that all your advice comes from ethical, knowledgeable, and successful people. You want to take advice from people you want to emulate most.

What are you searching for?

Sometimes advice is the last thing you need. For many just starting out, research and education is the first step. Find people that have been in your situation and have built up a stable financial life up from there. Financial planning isn’t always complicated. Work through it yourself and devise your own plan. When you come across a road block, then ask for advice.

What about books?

Honestly, there are some great books out their on personal finance, and then there are some not so good ones. You might even notice many different offers having conflicting advice. They’re all professionals, right? Who should you listen to?

A lot of the advice that is debatable comes down to what you prefer and what will work best for you. Read some books, and choose the style of the author you prefer.

Here are some titles you can begin to skim through for advice.

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