How to Work with your Financial Advisor?

By Jessica Perrone

Has your financial advisor ever used a tone that belittled or made fun of you? Did it make you feel like you weren’t smart enough? Was the conversation a one-way street, where it was difficult to ask questions or learn something new?

If these scenarios sound familiar, you may be dealing with a bully. I know it’s easy to feel helpless, especially if you are not confident in your financial knowledge and understanding. You might even be tempted to ignore the problem, thinking it will disappear. But you have a right to advocate for yourself. It’s your money, and it’s crucial to feel safe with the person helping you make critical financial decisions.

If you’re not sure if you have a bully on your hands, here are some signs to look out for:

Your advisor makes you feel stupid and doesn’t listen to your concerns.

There are many reasons why an advisor might be ignoring your concerns. If you feel like your concerns aren’t being heard, ask for clarification by saying something like “I’m confused about X.” This should allow the person to explain what they mean or help you better understand their point of view. You can also try asking questions: “What does this mean?” or “How does that apply here?”. Sometimes people need a little prompting to realize that something confusing is going on.

If you still feel like the advisor is treating you poorly, it might be time to bring up these issues and ask them to clarify what they mean when they say certain things that bother or upset you. For example: “When we talked last week about the benefits of annuities in retirement — I felt confused because I wasn’t sure how another annuity would help my retirement planning.”

You are not a big enough client.

You might also feel bullied by your financial advisor if your account is not “big enough.” Financial advisors are compensated based on the number of assets they manage. The bigger the assets, the better their income and bonuses. Let’s say that you only have $5K to invest. That may not make much difference to an advisor with $100K+ accounts — especially if other clients with more money need attention!

You feel like your advisor is always trying to sell you something.

Financial advisors may tell you they are there for all your financial needs. Still, they may refer you to insurance or other products — even if these aren’t suited to your situation — if a commission is involved. Asking your advisor outright how they are compensated can help you identify whether or not they will try to sell you unnecessary products.

You no longer feel safe working with the advisor.

If you feel unsafe working with the advisor, get out of the situation and find someone else to help you. It’s not worth staying in an abusive relationship because it feels too hard or scary to leave.

If a financial advisor is not respecting your boundaries, don’t be afraid to say no! Many people are worried that saying no will cause their advisors to drop them as clients — but if this happens, maybe it was a bad fit anyway!

Conclusion

Financial advisors are supposed to help guide their clients through their life stages by making recommendations based on their needs. A good financial advisor will be able to address any concern brought up by their clients and clearly explain what steps are needed moving forward. Financial advisors should be there for their clients as resources whenever needed — and never make them feel as though they are bothering them with their questions or concerns. If the advisor doesn’t do this and instead brushes off any questions or concerns you may have, you have permission from me to walk away from any situation that makes you feel unsafe or disrespected.

Thanks for reading my column – and if you find these topics interesting, please check out my Social Media Accounts
@HerFinIQ and catch up on episodes of “Her Money + Investing Show” on HerFinIQ.com

Jessica Perrone

Founder, Her Financial IQ

Show Host, Her Money + Investing Show