Interviewing a Financial Advisor? Take These Questions With You

Choosing a financial advisor is a decision about trust as much as credentials. You are handing someone visibility into your income, your family, and your plans for the next several decades, so the interview deserves the same care you would give any major hire.

This guide collects the questions worth asking in that first conversation, grouped into five areas — fiduciary duty, compensation, independence, conflicts of interest, and the shape of the working relationship — plus a short set of reflections to work through afterward while the conversation is still fresh.

Print it, bring it to every meeting, and use the same questions with each advisor you speak with. Comparable answers make the differences between firms much easier to see.