There is so much unspoken resistance in these engagements. Someone sits across from us, the meeting goes well, and underneath it they are thinking: we like you, we think you are great, but we don't trust you. I have been in hundreds of these conversations and I can tell when that feeling is in the room. It is a gut feeling, and gut feelings do not respond to brochures. This page is about how to turn it into a decision you can reason through.
Why a referral feels different from a search result
When a friend sends you to someone, you borrow their trust. They have already had the experience you are worried about. The meeting still has to go well, but you walk in with the benefit of the doubt.
When you find a firm online, there is nothing to borrow. You can walk out of a first meeting thinking everything felt great about that, and still not trust the people you just met, because you found them on a search page and you have no idea what you do not know. That is a completely reasonable position. We would rather you hold it and work through it than ignore it.
The two questions underneath the hesitation
When we dig into what people are actually worried about, it usually comes down to one of two things.
Are you just a money manager? Meaning: are you going to put my savings in a portfolio and call me twice a year, or are you going to do the work on the taxes, the pension, the Social Security timing, and the estate questions that are keeping me up at night?
Are you going to sell me something? Meaning: is the recommendation at the end of this for me, or for you?
Both questions are fair. Both can be answered. Neither one is answered by how friendly the meeting was.
People are thinking, we like you, we think you're great, but we don't trust you. It's a gut thing, not a rational thing. I would rather put everything in your hands up front than pretend that feeling isn't in the room. Hunter Adair, Principal
Five things you can check in an afternoon
- Look us up, and look everyone upFINRA's BrokerCheck and the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site are free, public, and take about five minutes. They show licensing, employment history, and whether there have been complaints or disciplinary events. Our records are there like everyone else's. Any advisor who gets uncomfortable when you mention it has told you something.
- Ask what the work includes beyond the portfolioBe specific. What would you do with my tax return? When do you think I should claim Social Security? Who talks to my estate attorney? If the answers stay vague, you have your answer. We want people to see the depth of what we cover before they ever sit down with us, which is why this website has pages on each of those subjects.
- Ask how the advisor is paid, and listen for a plain answerThen ask what, if anything, changes in their compensation depending on what you choose. A clear answer to that second question tells you a lot.
- Ask who else will be in the roomWho answers when you call? Is the person who builds the plan the person you will talk to for the next twenty years? The size of the firm shapes this more than anything else, and we wrote about the difference between boutique and large firms separately.
- Read the firm's Form CRSEvery brokerage firm and registered investment adviser that serves individual investors must give you a short relationship summary, usually two to four pages, written in plain English. It covers the services offered, the fees you will pay, the conflicts of interest, and whether there is any legal or disciplinary history. You can ask any advisor for it. LPL Financial's Form CRS is linked at the bottom of every page on this website.
Then take the first meeting home with you
Have the introductory conversation, go home, and sleep on it. We do not ask you to decide in the room, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Trust that is built in an hour is usually just a good mood. Trust that survives a week of thinking it over is the kind you can build a plan on.
Something most people do not know about this page
Our industry is heavily regulated, and every page on this website, including this one, goes through compliance review at LPL Financial before it is published. The same goes for our emails, our videos, and the material we hand you in a meeting. That does not make us right about everything. It does mean we cannot promise you a return, call ourselves the best, or say something about your money that we cannot back up. If you ever see an advisor's website doing any of those things, that is worth noticing too.
What we do about it
We cannot make the hesitation go away with a handshake. What we can do is put everything in your hands before you commit to anything: who we work with and who we are probably not right for, what working together looks like step by step, and the difference between what we do and what your accountant does. Then we take the introductory call, listen first, and tell you plainly whether we are the right fit. If we are not, we will say so and point you somewhere useful.
We want someone to read this site and think, I finally feel like I'm home. If that is not what you feel after you have done your homework, keep looking, with no hard feelings on our end.
Key takeaways
- Hesitating to trust an advisor you found online is healthy. It means you are paying attention.
- The worry usually comes down to two questions: are you just a money manager, and are you going to sell me something. Both can be answered.
- Five checks, one afternoon: look them up, ask what the work includes, ask how they are paid, ask who you will talk to, and read their Form CRS.
- We would rather answer the question than pretend it is not in the room.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check an advisor's background?
Use BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org for anyone licensed through a broker-dealer, and the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site at adviserinfo.sec.gov for investment advisers. Many advisors appear on both. Search by name or by firm.
Is it rude to interview more than one advisor?
No. We would encourage it. You are making a decision that will shape the next twenty or thirty years of your financial life, and a second conversation is cheap by comparison.
What happens on the introductory call?
Thirty minutes. We listen to where you are and what you are trying to figure out, we answer whatever you want to ask, and we tell you whether and how we can help. There is nothing to sign.
Do I need to bring anything?
No. If you want a more specific conversation, your most recent tax return and a list of your accounts help, but the first call works fine without them.
What if I decide you are not the right fit?
Then you have learned something useful, and we will point you toward what might fit better. We say this on our Who We Work With page, and we mean it.