A financial advisor or financial planner in Charlotte is an individual who provides guidance and advice on financial matters for individuals. People who work as financial advisors can fall into many different categories and provide many services to their clients. If you need help handling your money, figuring out how to invest or planning for retirement, a financial planner could provide you with help.
Creating a Financial Plan
One of the most important services that a financial advisor provides is helping you come up with a comprehensive financial plan. For this process, the advisor will sit down with you and review your current financial situation. The advisor will ask a series of questions designed to find out exactly what you want to accomplish in life with your money. The financial planner Charlotte NC will help you create a budget and a savings and investment plan. In many cases, people have no idea how to get started saving for retirement or how much they need to set aside to reach their goals. A financial planner will use the information that he obtains to make recommendations about how much you should be setting aside.
Giving Investment Advice
Many financial advisors also provide assistance in the area of investing. Besides simply telling a client how much to set aside on a regular basis for retirement, he will tell clients how to invest their money. This may come in the form of coming up with an ideal asset allocation or it come in more specific terms. For example, some financial advisors will give clients an idea of what percentage of their portfolios should be in stocks, what percent in bonds and what percent in other asset classes. Other advisors will specifically tell their clients to buy stock in XYZ corporation. Before choosing a financial planner, it is important to find out what type of advice they provide. One type of advice may be more appropriate than the other, depending on your situation.
Specialization
Not all financial planners work in the same area or provide the same services. Some choose to focus on retail clients and work with individuals. Others specialize in working with institutional clients. While the basic skills that they use are the same, they have to understand different financial topics in order to specialize in a particular area.
Qualifications
In order to become a financial advisor, an individual must have certain qualifications. In most cases, they have at least a bachelor’s degree in finance or a related field. They also must pass an exam known as the Series 7. This exam is administered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or FINRA. Without passing this exam, they cannot provide financial advice legally. In order to take this exam, the advisor has to be sponsored by an institution that is already a member of FINRA.
Taking Advice
If you are looking for help with your financial situation, working with a financial planner can provide some major benefits. However, you should not blindly take the advice of any planner without verifying the information for yourself. Find out the track record of the financial advisor to make sure that he knows what he’s talking about and that you can trust him. By using a tool offered by FINRA called “Broker Check” you can find out a lot of valuable information about any financial advisor. This information could be exactly what you need to make an educated decision.