MARMAC

If you’re in a domestic relationship, you must both go to see the adviser. (I won’t see clients who are married or living together unless they come in together.) Before you do, I urge you and your partner to have a talk about what you want to accomplish with the adviser and the fears about money you have and make sure you both have a thorough understanding of where you stand right now. After you’ve chosen an adviser, you must make all decisions as a team and both be kept up-to-date with what the adviser is doing.
I see so many clients, women in particular, who don’t have a clue what to do when their husband or partner dies or when they go through a painful separation or divorce. I also see how bewildered many people are when their parents die, leaving them an inheritance. When you have suffered a loss, you are in a state of grief, and this is not the time to make major financial decisions. Run as fast as you can from an adviser who suggests big changes at this time. My advice is to leave your money in a high-interest-bearing account for between six months and a year, until your inner voice feels okay about doing something with these funds. To be respectful of your money, you must give yourself time to heal.
If you and your partner are interviewing an adviser together, you must both feel comfortable talking to him inti. mately about your money. The adviser should address you both equally, give you plenty of time, and answer questions and explain fees in a way you can easily understand. You should also be comfortable with the kinds of investments he suggests and understand everything about them when he explains them to you. If he fails to meet any of these criteria, find another adviser.
When you interview anyone for a job, it is up to you to outline your requirements. For example, here are several expectations you should have for a prospective financial adviser:
That she will call you every time she makes a change in your account (unless she is an RIA).
That she will explain in thorough detail why she wants you to make every new transaction.
1 That she will tell you without your having to ask if she is selling something for you that’s not in your retirement account, fully explaining the tax implications.
That she will explain every commission. That she will never pressure you into doing anything that does not feel right to you.
I That she will send you a transaction slip from the brokerage firm that holds your money, telling you what’s been bought or sold. This slip must always match transactions you gave permission for.
That she will send you a monthly statement summarizing all that month’s transactions, including deposits, withdrawals, and current positions held. This statement must come directly from the brokerage firm that’s holding your money, not from your adviser’s office.
I That she will prepare both quarterly reports and an annual report that will tell you the exact return she is getting on your money, as well as all fees and commissions. The figure. on her report must match the report that is generated directly from the brokerage firm. These reports should also show you all the realized gains or losses (all the money you actually made or lost from selling an investment) and all the unrealized gains and losses (investments you own but have not yet sold and thus that have not yet realized a profit or loss). These reports should also include returns of the overall index, so you know whether you’re doing better or worse than the index. You want everything on paper.
That she will never ask you to write a check made out to her personally. All the money that is handed over needs to be pla’ced in an institution (Schwab, Merrill, or the like), and every check is to be payable to the institution. This is absolutely essential. More than one “adviser” has flown the coop with dozens of clients’ money.
%l That she will return your calls in a timely manner.
I That she will always get you the information you request about an investment and find out any answers to questions you have that she doesn’t know.
That she will keep you informed about your money, not just call you when she wants to buy or sell something. If a stock has gone down, or is not performing the way she expected it would, you are to hear about it from her, not read about your money first in the newspapers.
You should type up all these requests on a piece of paper and have your adviser sign an agreement to do all the above.