What is the difference between an Investment Advisor and a Financial Planner?
Most Financial Planners are Investment Advisors, but not all Investment Advisors are Financial Planners. Some Financial Planners assess every aspect of your financial life–including saving, investments, insurance, taxes, retirement, and estate planning–and help you develop a detailed strategy or financial plan for meeting all your financial goals. Others call themselves Financial Planners, but they may only be able to recommend that you invest in a narrow range of products, and sometimes products that aren’t securities. Before you hire any financial professional, you should know exactly what services you need, what services the professional can deliver, any limitations on what they can recommend, what services you’re paying for, how much those services cost, and how the adviser or planner gets paid.
