How To Interview Your Retirement Planner

An interview is the final step that will make the choice of your retirement planning consultant clear to you. Ideally you should allow for a couple of days before your interview to prepare a set of questions for your retirement planning advisor. Make sure it includes all the following points: What kind of educational qualifications does he have? What kind of professional qualifications does he have? For instance, is he a certified member of a reputed body, like a Certified Financial Planner? How many years of experience does he have as a retirement planning advisor? You might want to shortlist candidates who have at least 5 years of experience. Are they independent retirement planning advisors, or are they affiliated with any particular firm? An independent retirement planning advisor is always best, but if a candidate has an affiliation with a certain company, that's no reason to discount him, provided the company is a reputed one and their products are sound.

Your retirement planning advisor should have worked with clients who are of the same background as you are. He should be familiar with the sort of business you're in or the profession you belong to. For instance, if you are in the IT business or are self employed in this field, it helps if your retirement planning advisor has knowledge of the special risk factors of this field. It helps him make decisions that minimize whatever risks they are. Similarly, if your retirement planning consultant has very little experience, he might never have experienced an economic recession, which means that his decisions are more aggressive and more prone to risk. All these factors can impact your investments, so choose carefully. Ask him about past clients, and ask him for references of these.

Now, move on to the retirement planning investment strategy. Ask him what his preferred options for investing your retirement funds are. This is a very important part of the session, because it gives you an idea of his financial personality. If he seems like a high risk kind of strategist and you believe in taking as few risks as possible, you might be in for nasty experiences along the way as both you conflict. It's better to go with a retirement plan administrator who is on the same wavelength as you. Lastly, ask him what the fee system for his service is. Does he prefer an annual fee that's fixed? Or will he depend on commission for financial products that he recommends like mutual fund management? Some advisors actually prefer a combination of both of these. Whatever fee structure you settle for, your retirement planning should be able to give you all details in writing. Don't be afraid to ask details about the fee structure. Be frank and ask him what the total cost to you will be.