However, as with nearly every other profession, financial planning does have some bad actors.

To gain client confidence and trust, some advisors avoid telling the whole truth about who they are and the products they use to ensure your financial success.

There are many reasons why your advisor may not be disclosing everything about their background, training, methodologies, or compensation. It’s up to you to take the time to ferret out the vital information your financial professional might be deliberately omitting or glossing over.

Before committing to any advisor or firm, be sure to see if they are honest and upfront with you in the following key areas.

Experience or eager neophyte? – The financial industry attracts a lot of people, but there is a tremendous amount of turnover leaving prospective clients in a lurch. There are advisors who are barely scraping by and time is not on their side. The last thing you need to do is open an account or purchase a policy from a personal friend and the next thing you know they left the business and you are now stuck with an advisor you never met before or a product you don’t fully understand.

Fiduciary standards – The public has become increasingly aware of the concept of “fiduciary responsibility.” A fiduciary duty is when there is an obligation on the part of an advisor to act in the client’s best interest at all times and to disclose potential conflicts of interest. Determining if your fiduciary advisor is truly upholding this standard can be tricky.

There are many Certified Financial Planners (CFP) who are part of a RIA, they ethically adhere to a fiduciary standard, but if they are solely focused on managing your money for a fee and do not hold any other licenses there is an inherent bias because they cannot help you purchase disability insurance, life insurance or consider other investment options since they are not properly licensed to do so.

There are instances where you can be working with a Fiduciary who is a captive CFP. Meaning that they are restricted to what they can offer verses an advisor who is independent. Often the captive CFP is offered “company” incentive programs, bonuses, and perks. This can be very problematic because the client feels that they are in good hands when in fact they are dealing with a person who is limited to what the advisors broker dealer allows them to offer.

When working with a fiduciary make sure you look at and consider all other options outside of this relationship. The fiduciary is supposed to act in the client’s best interest, but if they tell you to go elsewhere with your money they will get fired. That is called selling away.

So, regardless of what your advisor says on their website or in marketing materials, never assume that they are acting out of loyalty, exercising good faith, and taking due care of your wealth.