An investment advisor can appear with the click of a button, complete with a polished website, impressive credentials, market predictions and perhaps even a reassuring photo of someone standing in front of a bookshelf. That polished presentation tells you almost nothing about whether the person deserves access to your investment account.
Online searches can help you find legitimate financial professionals, but they also make it remarkably easy to confuse good marketing with good advice. Before discussing retirement savings, investment goals or the amount sitting in a brokerage account, take a few minutes to investigate the person behind the profile.
