If you’ve been wondering for a while whether you should be working with a experience.
Her story may sound familiar: She felt unsure of her family’s financial progress or their next steps, because they were caught up in daily life, trying to make good choices for today and for their future. What did she learn? Even just one conversation with a professional — and the process of preparing for that conversation — can help you organize your thoughts and figure out what matters most to you.
I appreciate that Lauren kept an open mind when meeting with an advisor and didn’t feel obligated to take it any further. The point of that first meeting is to get to know the advisor and what they could help you with. If you discover it’s not a good fit or your needs have changed, the meeting has served its purpose.
My conversation with Lauren has been edited for length and clarity.
Taryn Phaneuf:What were you initially hoping that an advisor would help you with?
Lauren Schwahn: I think part of it was reassurance. We wanted to see whether or not we were on the right track or if there was something glaringly obvious that we were missing when it came to handling our finances. Part of it was curiosity. I had talked to so many financial advisors for work, but I never really knew what that experience looked like on the other side. So I wanted to explore that further.
Back then we were also toying with the idea of buying a home. That was one thing we wanted to talk about with somebody who was in our area. We’re in San Francisco, which is like one of the worst housing markets in the country. Things have changed since then, but that’s where we were at the time.
TPh:So with talking to someone about the home decision in particular, were you hoping to get an unbiased opinion on something like, “Is that a smart move for us given all of our circumstances and where we live?”
LS: I think at the time it was more just can we make that happen and if we did, what would that look like? Would we be close to being in a position to actually save enough for a down payment or do we have some steps that we need to take to get there?
Lauren searched for a financial advisor using
<p>XY Planning Network lists fee-only advisors, which are advisors who are paid directly by clients and don’t receive commissions on products they recommend. (A fee-based advisor, on the other hand, may charge clients a fee but also may get commissions or other fees from third parties if clients buy certain products or securities, which can create conflicts of interest.) Other useful directories include the
