How to Check a Financial Advisor Before You Hire One

To check a financial advisor, look them up before you meet. Search the firm and the individual on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site or FINRA BrokerCheck, read the firm’s Form CRS, and ask in writing how they are paid and what conflicts they have. Then confirm they do the work you actually need.

That is the short version. The details matter most for people two to eight years from retirement, because the decisions ahead (tax timing, Social Security claiming, which account to draw from first) are large and hard to undo. This guide walks through five checks, in the order that tends to save the most time.

Where do you look up a financial advisor?

Start with the public record, which is free and takes about ten minutes. Which database applies depends on how the advisor is registered.

• Investor.gov, Check Out Your Investment Professional. The SEC’s search tool covers both investment advisers and brokers. It links to the firm’s Form CRS.
• Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD). Shows an adviser firm’s registration, its Form ADV filings, and the background and disclosures of individual advisers.
• FINRA BrokerCheck. Covers brokers and brokerage firms, including registration, employment history, and disclosures.

Search both the firm and the person you would work with, and confirm that the names and registration details match. Some professionals are registered in both worlds, so check both databases when in doubt.

Read disciplinary entries in full. Reports can include pending allegations or old matters that were resolved, so the context in each entry matters more than the count. An empty record is reassuring, but it says nothing about skill, and registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training.

What is Form CRS, and what should you look for in it?

Form CRS is a short relationship summary that registered investment advisers and broker-dealers must give retail investors. It covers the services offered, fees and costs, conflicts of interest, the standard of conduct, and disciplinary history, and it includes suggested questions to ask.

Read it for three things:

1. What you get for the fee. Does the firm describe ongoing planning, or mainly investment management?
2. How the firm makes money. Percentage of assets, flat fee, commissions, or a combination each create different incentives.
3. The conflicts it names. Every firm has some. A firm that names them plainly is giving you something to work with.

The longer document is Form ADV Part 2A, called the brochure. It describes the same ground in more detail, including how the firm is paid and how it handles conflicts. Ask the advisor to send both before the first meeting.

What does fiduciary mean for a financial advisor?

A fiduciary has a legal duty to put your interests first. The SEC describes the duty of an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act as a duty of care and a duty of loyalty. The adviser must serve your best interest and may not put its own interests ahead of yours.

Brokers are held to a different rule. When a broker-dealer recommends something to a retail customer, Regulation Best Interest requires it to act in the customer’s best interest at the time of the recommendation. That is a related standard, but not the same one, and it applies to recommendations rather than to an entire relationship.

Some professionals are dually registered and can act in either role. Ask directly: “Is this conversation, this account, and this recommendation brokerage or advisory, and what does each cost?”

Keep the standard in perspective. It describes a legal duty, not a result. It does not tell you whether the advisor understands retirement income, and it does not replace asking how they are paid.

How do financial advisors get paid, and what should you ask?

Common models include a percentage of the assets managed, a flat or hourly planning fee, commissions on products sold, and combinations of these. Each has trade-offs. A percentage of assets scales with the account. A flat fee does not, but it may cover less. Commissions can create an incentive to favor products that pay more.

No model is right for everyone. What matters is that you can see the whole cost. Ask for it in writing, in dollars, based on your actual accounts:

• The advisor’s fee, and what it covers.
• Fund or product expenses on top of that fee.
• Account, custody, or trading fees.
• Any cost to leave.

Then ask what you receive in return each year: a written plan, a tax projection, meetings, or only portfolio reviews.

How do you know an advisor does retirement income planning?

Many advisors list retirement planning as a service. Fewer build their practice around it. The difference shows up in specifics. Our post on whether hiring a financial planner is worth it and our answer on the difference between a retirement income planner and a financial advisor go further. Three questions surface it quickly:

1. How often do you run a tax projection for me? Not a portfolio review, a projection of your taxable income and bracket for the years ahead.
2. How would you model Social Security for both of us? A real answer covers both spouses’ claiming ages together, not each in isolation.
3. How do you decide which account funds each year? The order you draw from taxable, pre-tax, and Roth accounts affects your taxes and, before 65, your health insurance costs. See withdrawal sequencing.

Vague answers are informative on their own. A written multi-year projection you can review is more useful than a verbal assurance that it is handled.

What are red flags when choosing a financial advisor?

Some patterns are worth stopping for:

• Promises of guaranteed or risk-free returns. Investing involves risk, and no one can promise a result.
• Pressure to move money quickly, or a reluctance to give you time to review documents.
• No written fee disclosure, or answers about cost that change from one conversation to the next.
• A record you cannot find. If the person or firm does not appear in IAPD or BrokerCheck, ask why.
• Being asked to hand over control without a clear explanation of who holds your assets and how you can see them.

None of these proves bad intent, but each is a reason to slow down and get answers in writing.

Does your financial advisor need to be local?

Not necessarily. Many retirement planning engagements run by video, and the planning rules that matter most, such as federal tax brackets, Social Security, and Medicare, do not depend on where your advisor sits. Your state does matter for taxes. Tennessee, for example, has no state income tax on retirement income, which changes the cost of a Roth conversion. Our page on retirement planning in Chattanooga covers what Tennessee changes.

Sources and as-of date

The registration, Form CRS, and standard-of-conduct points above reflect these sources as read on October 20, 2026:

• Investor.gov: Check Out Your Investment Professional and Form CRS
• SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure
• FINRA BrokerCheck
• Investor.gov: Ask and Check
• SEC press release 2019-89 on Regulation Best Interest and the adviser standard of conduct

This guide is educational. It does not recommend or evaluate any particular firm, and rules change, so confirm current requirements with the regulators above.

What should you do next?

Checking an advisor is easier when you know what you want from one. A good first step is the free Risk Analysis, which takes a few minutes and gives you something concrete to bring to a conversation. When you are ready to compare, schedule a consultation with Robert Boeck, and bring your questions and your CPA. Ask him everything on this list.