Working With Brokers and Investment Advisers

Are you the type of person who will read as much as possible about potential investments and ask questions about them? If so, maybe you don’t need investment advice.

But if you’re busy with your job, your children, or other responsibilities, or feel you don’t know enough about investing on your own, then you may need some help.

Brokers and investment advisers offer a variety of services at a variety of prices. It pays to comparison shop.

You can get investment advice from most financial institutions that sell investments, including brokerages, banks, mutual fund companies, and insurance companies. You can also hire a broker, an investment adviser, an accountant, or a financial planner to help you make investment decisions.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Investment advisers and brokers do not perform their services as an act of charity. If they are working for you, they are getting paid for their efforts. Some of their fees are easier to see immediately than are others. But, in all cases, you should always feel free to ask questions about how and how much your adviser is being paid. And if the fee is quoted to you as a percentage, make sure that you understand what that translates to in dollars.

Tricky Titles

If a broker or adviser has initials after his name, don’t assume that makes that individual better qualified than another. These titles are not all the same and do not necessarily mean better service for you. In fact, the initials may mean that the adviser or broker can only sell certain products. Check the titles to see if there are limits on what that adviser or broker can sell. For instance, if someone can only sell fixed annuities, he or she may be inclined to recommend them for every customer.

Check out this list from FINRA. It shows how some credentials can be obtained easily, and how others are hard-earned.

Must Read Tip

If you have a brokerage account, read your statement every month -- it may not be fun to look at it when the market is down, but it is your most important protection against unauthorized transactions. If you do not object in writing within ten days of receiving notification of a transaction, you might not be able to contest it later. That’s why it’s important to read your statement and object right away if something is wrong.

Please use the menu on the left for more information about broker-dealers and investment advisers.