Do you hate the thought of working past 55 or 60? Do you hate not being able to live the life you deserve today? Do you hate not knowing what your financial future looks like? It's time to stop doing what you hate, here's your host, Mr. Harold Green.
(00:20): Oh, hello. Hi everybody. This is Harold Green of Brightree financial, and it is time to stop doing what you ate. How's everybody doing today? I'm super excited to be sharing with you. Today's show title, choosing the right advisor for you. I mean, this is a, this is a very big topic in regards to what you should be looking into prior to hiring a financial advisor. So today I'd want to arm you guys with the knowledge that you need and the information that you need. That's crucial to making sure you pick the right financial advisor for your life. So with that being said, just to give you guys a little bit of background before I became a financial advisor, you know, I did sit down and talk to maybe one or two people. And one of the things I found was that they weren't really financial advisors and what it was was someone who had a product or a tool that they thought would be beneficial for me.
(01:26): And in all actuality, I don't think they really cared whether it would be beneficial to me or not because it was a product. They got paid commissions and sold. Their whole thing was to sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. And that's one of my things. When I meet new people, I do my best not to come across sellsy pushy because as fiduciary I want to do, what's in that client's absolute best interest. And so I want to arm you guys with about 10 to 12 things that I know would be extremely beneficial to you in order to choose the right financial advisor. So grab your pen, grab your pad and get yourself in a place where you can really write these things down. You'll also have access to my show notes too. And so you might want to go back and kind of review that as well.
(02:14): So you guys ready to go? All right. One, two, three, let's get it. Number one, my number one rule for choosing a financial advisor is this, you must be ready. So many people come in and sit down and talk to me. And what I realize is they're just not ready to engage in the process. And so for some reason, they, you know, I guess, I don't know if it was out of guilt, out of coercion, necessity. I don't know what it is, but they come in and they sit down and they say, you know, I have this problem. And I'm like, okay. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit more about what's going on with you. And the more I dig and the more I dig, I find out that they're just not ready to engage in the process. They're just not ready to go through what it's going to take to get them from where they are and get them in a position to, or put them into a position of success.
(03:08): And so that's the number one rule is you must be ready and getting ready. Maybe you should maybe go online and then do a little research, you know, look at different credentials, look at different, look at different things that you probably should ask a financial advisor and just kind of take some notes. I'm looking at the different designations that are out there, and then just jot some notes down that you want to ask that financial advisor, when you go in and you sit down and you talk to them, and so you want someone who's going to look out for your best interest and you want someone who's not going to be afraid to answer your tough questions. If that potential advisor you're talking to, you know, if they cannot answer your tough questions, maybe they're not a right fit for you. So come ready to the meeting, come ready with your ideas.
(04:01): Come ready with your goals. Come ready with your dream. Seriously, put some thought into why you are interviewing that advisor for the potential role. It's a very critical role. And that leads me into point number two of knowing what you want. You should never go sit down with a financial advisor or a potential financial advisor, but not knowing what you want, because a lot of times you can go in and you have no idea what you want. They can paint a picture for you and you say, yeah, Oh, I want that. I want that. I want this. You can do that. I want that. I want that. I want that. But we haven't seen the blueprint of the financial plan. So without having a blueprint, you really are not sure what you really want. So what you have to do is figure out what it is you want, and then figure out whether or not they can build a blueprint in order to get you what you want and what you desire.
(04:55): Okay. That's number two, number three, this one, I don't know. This one is, it's a, it's a little touchy, but I think you probably should ask for referral. And here's what I mean. If you have someone that, you know, someone that's in your circle and you see them doing quite well in life, you really want to know what they are doing in order to make that happen. So if they're working with an advisor and it looks like they're having a lot of success, you know, they're able to pay for their kids' education. They take vacations, they're able to kind of drive what they want to drive, and they just have this overall sense of calm, this overall sense of peace about their financial situation. And you may want to ask them, Hey, so what is it that you guys are doing? Or who are you working with?
(05:40): And, you know, do you mind if I talk to them? And I think that's a very good thing, because you can sit down and have dialogue with, with that person. And just kind of find out a little bit about what they're doing to see if that's something that we would want. And this is a, this is a big one for me because, you know, I have clients being asked all the time. So what is it that you guys are doing? Who are you working with? What are they doing for you? And so the client, you know, they'll say, Hey, you know, this is my guy, this is what he's done, you know? And I think you ought to give him a call. And so, but I usually hardly ever hear from that individual. And I, you know, the other day I said, and I said, you know, my clients are having phenomenal success in their lives in regards to the rapid retire program.
(06:23): If you wanna know more about that, go to retire now, retire wild.com and then just check out the rapid retires section of my website. And if you're interested, complete the game changer form, send that in, or give me a call (808) 521-4401. And I'd love to talk to you, but again, a lot of people don't call in. And so what, I'm not sure if this is true, but from what I can tell, sometimes it's not really, they want to hire someone. They're just simply kind of being nosy and I'm not going to get into that too deep, but I've had people come in that do call in and that are referred in and you know, maybe they're working together with their coworker. And, and I kind of began to hear some of the things that are in their mind. And it's like, Oh, they have a very skewed view of that individual that referred them in.
(07:14): Maybe they think, Oh, you know, they're my supervisor. So they make more money than I do. That's why they're more successful. But a lot of that is just head trash. And so you're not going to know what you're going to be able to accomplish or achieve until you sit down and talk to a planner and then let them lay everything out for you and then give you the options of what direction you should go in, allow them to build a blueprint. And then you guys are gonna work together as a team. And that's very, very, very, very important. Now the next point is very important as well. And I think you should only work with an advisor who has some sort of designation like the CFP or a licensed fiduciary. Someone who's not pushing a product and someone who's not pushing a concept. There's so many products on the market.
(08:04):
There's so many concepts in the market. And I have people coming in all the time trying to fall follow the, you know, this concept, that concept, the other concept. And I told them, I said, you know what, what you're telling me as like walking into a hardware store and saying, or a building supply store and saying, Hey, you know, I want to build a house. And the guy says, okay, what do you want? And they said, well, I want to build a house. And so I want you to sell me some stuff that I'm going to need to build a house. Now, no one does that. You would think no one does that. But when it comes to the financial industry, I see people doing this all the time. So you say, I want to build a house. And the guy says, I'll tell you what, I'll sell you a couple of hammers and some nails.
(08:43): And then, you know, you can go from there. Well, what are you forgetting? You're forgetting the blueprint. You're not going to know what kind of tools and products you need, unless you have the blueprint and the game plan put place. So the tools are just a means to accomplishing your goals. And so you should never buy a product because someone sells it to you or they say, Hey, you should buy this. Or you should start this concept. And by paying off your house in 10 years or whatever, well, how does that benefit your long term financial plan? It sounds good. Maybe your house is paid off, but I'm going to get into something a little bit down the road here, but it's very, very important. So make sure your person is trained. The person you're looking at is trained. They're licensed. They're, they're certified. They've gone through rigorous testing and training because you're going to have to understand something else.
(09:27): Share that with you. I'll share that with you in a second. Why? I think that way, okay. The next point is this. And this one is a little mushy, and I've had the opportunity to share on this before at a couple of different conferences. And it's, it's one that's near and dear to my heart, your advisor, I feel, this is my opinion. And this is, this is just my heart. Hear me out as a planner advisor, you must love your client. If you don't have a deep sense of love and care for your client, it's purely going to be transactional for you. And nine times out of 10, you may find yourself in a difficult situation where you have to do what's in your client's best interest rather than your own. And I feel that if you love someone, and this is just me, if you love someone you're automatically going to do, what's in their absolute best interest.
(10:24): You're going to allow that along with your skill, your knowledge, your talents, to guide the choices you are making for that client. You're going to look at them like a family member and somebody that you care about deeply. Now, I don't require the same thing of my clients, you know, and sometimes when they leave, that's why it hurts so bad because I get invested a hundred percent. I am all in when it comes to wanting the best for them, as long as they're willing to meet me halfway. And I think that's very, very, very important. That's why when they pass away, it hurts. It hurts really bad because I do get really close to my clients because I want what's best for them. I always do my best to think about them. When I'm making trades, when I'm doing different types of research, when I'm adjusting their portfolios, I'm always thinking about them.
(11:16): Is this in their best interest? Is this going to help them, you know, retire on time, the way we need them, isn't going to help them take that extra vacation. Is it going to help them, you know, maybe pay for grad school versus just paying for four years of college and then that's it. You know, and I know their kids, I think about their kids. I think about the future. I have a lot of things that are in my mind. Yes, these things are very, very heavy, but this is how I think about my clients and the people who come on board. And also, also, I don't really take people on that. I don't think I care deeply for, you know, and for me, because it's going cause some kind of friction, you know, and I don't think we can get along and, and become close.
(11:58): I don't take them on because number one, they're not going to share everything with me. They're not going to be honest with me because we don't have that, that connection on a deep level. I want that intimate connection, not, not to the point where I'm going to tell you what to do with your life. And I want to control your life or anything like that. But you know, the stronger the bond we create, the more we communicate, the more we'll open, the more, we're honest about things that go on in life. Okay? Here's the next point. We want to talk about prices or the price. And we want to talk about the theories, but I'm going to share with you, if this advisor checks all of your boxes, the last thing that should worry you are fees and prices. And I'll tell you why. If this advisor is going to check all of your boxes and it comes down to what they charge, you're going to have to have a real deep conversation about that.
(12:53): Because I see a lot of times people choosing fees and price. So when it comes down to price and fees, if the advisor is checking all of your boxes, that shouldn't matter as much. You know why? Because if that advisor is going to perform, I guarantee you, they're going to recoup what you paid to them in fees, 10, 15, 20, you're going to receive so much value. It's unreal. And if the advisor can't show you how you're going to benefit by working with them, that means they haven't checked all your boxes. And so I've heard that fees and prices are only an issue in the absence of value. If they're not going to create the value that you need, then they're not checking all of your boxes. And that leads me into the next thing. They need to be honest and upfront with you guys from the very get go, they ought to be fully transparent.
(13:45): They should disclose every single thing that there is, you know, they may forget one or two things here and there, but you know, that can be squared away with a couple of questions, emails, phone calls, and things of that nature, but they gotta be honest and upfront. And you have to feel that they're being honest with you. And you know, they gotta look you in your eye and they got to tell you exactly what you need to know. And they have to tell you exactly what you need to hear. And that leads me into my next thing is that they should not be afraid to challenge your thinking. Because if the advisor is afraid to challenge your thinking, they've already let you down from day one, because you're thinking is probably the reason why you're not getting the results that you want in the first place.
(14:25): And so I tell my clients a lot of times, you know, I may step on your toes. I may, I may say something to you that bothers you. I said, but I want you to understand where I'm coming from. I need to challenge your thinking because the things you are doing, the things you are saying to me, that you want and the things that you are doing do not line up. I call it a crisis of values. Okay? You want one thing, but you're doing something different. This person said, this, that person said that you want this, your mom said this, your dad said that you need to help with this. You got this financial obligation, you got this concept going. I mean, you've got so many different things going on. You haven't focused your energy and you haven't focused your power on what it is that you truly need to do.
(15:05): So I'm not afraid to challenge your thinking. I'm not afraid to challenge your thoughts at all, because I guarantee you, your thoughts are probably not aligning with your blueprint. And that's one of the things we have to do. All right? So that leads me into the next thing, which is your advisor must have a strong desire for transparency and they must be communicative, right? It goes back into, you know, sometimes they don't tell you everything because they don't want to hurt your feelings or whatever it might be. Again, they must not be afraid of that because they have to do what's in your absolute best interest. It's like telling your kids, they just can't have that bucket of ice cream before they go to bed. You just can't give them everything that they want. So you have to put everything in perspective for them. And that leads me into my next thing, because sometimes you have to be willing to see the big picture.
(15:58): And if the advisor can't paint the big picture for you, then it's going to be extremely problematic. I think that is our job to paint the big picture for our clients so that they can see where it is that we are trying to lead them. And one of the things I see a lot is that sometimes people are afraid of the big picture. They don't, they don't see it for one or two reasons. They don't want to see it, or they're afraid to see it because it's not pretty. And so my goal as an advisor is to paint, paint a big picture for them, their current situation, how it is right now, what it might end up in. If we don't fix things and then show them a brighter picture, a brighter future, and then show them how the tools and the planning that we have can change that future for them.
(16:42): And that's very, very, very important. And that leads me to the next thing, which is that your advisor must be extremely knowledgeable and skilled across a number of different planning topics. It can't just be, I go to see them because you know, we're doing insurance, but they're also my advisor, but they only do insurance. And so if that's all they know, then when different things come up, sometimes you're left to do that on your own. In my case, a lot of people come in and they see me. And then they say, yeah, I'm working with Johnny over here. Or I'm working with Sally. And you know, they're just great. We just love them. We've been with them for like many, many years. And I say, well, why are you sitting here talking to me? If they're great, well, you know, they don't do what you do.
(17:26): They just do my investments. And, and that's it. They don't, they don't do anything with college. And I'm like, well, that's going to be a conversation that you're going to have to go back and talk to them and figure that part out because I don't want to step on their toes, especially if you love them and you have a strong affinity for them. I, I just don't want any part of that. And so a lot of times people will pigeonhole themselves into relationships that their advisor is not skilled across a variety of different things. And that's why the designations are very important. And them not just having a license to sell stocks or licensed to sell insurance. And that's all they do. So working with a CFP or a team of people, if you can have a team of people who do different things, but they're operating as a team and you have access to 18, then that's important as well.
(18:09): But the one size fits all approach type of concept. And then people who push the one size fits all type of concept. You really got to watch out for that. Okay. The last point is this. Once you hear everything that you need to hear, okay, they check all your boxes. They show you the value for what you're paying. You have to be willing to go all in. Because if that advisor is going to go all in for you and they're going to give it everything they got, you can't hold back. I mean, this is, this is one of the tough things about being a financial advisor. I know it, it takes time to build trust, but if you can't build trust right away and they can't show you the value that they're going to create, then the relationship is going to get off to a Rocky start.
(18:54): And a lot of times I'll see people, they come in and they'll say, you know, I'll say, well, what do you have as far as assets go? You know, once they come on board and so on and so forth. And I'm like, well, we got this, we got that. But there's some things that they hold back. They're not telling me. It's kinda like, well, you know what of Harold? What if he is too good to be true? What if he turns out to be a fraud? What if he turns out to be a scammer? What if he just turns out to be one of those guys that are just out to get our money? And he has this nice facade. He's a nice guy. You know, he cares about his clients. He loves them, but then bam, he whammies you, right? Well, we want to have this a hundred thousand or 300,000 over here that we don't tell them about.
(19:30): And then just in case things don't work out, then, you know, we can tell them later. And I'll, I'll be honest with you guys. I understand that, but you're really shooting yourself in the foot. Have you, if you can't go all in with your advisor, you shouldn't go in period. Just don't because there's a lot of things that if I had known about you or assets that you had put on the table, we could put you so much further ahead with different goals and different dreams and so on and so forth. And so I just want to share that with you guys, in order to arm you with knowledge and with the truth that you're going to need in order to pick the advisor. That is right for you. So in closing, what I want to tell you is very
(20:07): Simple. Okay? Number one, you must know what you want. Number two, the advisor must be able to paint the picture for you. That adds extreme and tremendous value. Number three, once you see all of those things, you got to go all in. I'm summarizing that. But if you guys haven't found anybody that you can trust, if you haven't found anybody that you can share your deepest thoughts and feelings about things in life and how things are for you.
(20:37): Give me a call. Like I said, (808) 521-4401 to just, You know, well on my website, shoot me an email, Sit down and talk to you guys about some of the things that you're doing, that you hate and how to build a blueprint, to paint a brighter picture for you and your family. So thanks for allowing me to vent at you guys today and to share some things with you. If you guys stay safe and until next time, one, two, three less, get it.
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