Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

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How to Hire Investment Counsel: This is the Way

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Real quick. You’re interested in hiring a financial advisor—one who’s held to a fiduciary standard by law, not some silly suitability one. You know you need help, but you just can’t make it happen because there’s resistance: No time, no real interest in digging into it, or you don’t know enough to explain to a loved one why you need it. “We’re fine, aren’t we?” She might ask.

OK, here are summaries of two calls I had yesterday with prospective clients that will help you gain some perspective.

The first one was with a prospective client whom was referred to me by a client I’ve been working with for twenty years. The two of them have been friends for 60 years. That was a great conversation lasting 45-minutes and could have easily gone longer as it was a comfortable exchange of questions and answers and life stories. The best conversations are like that and can only happen because there’s a level of trust already built-in.

In contrast, the other call was from a prospective client who wasn’t familiar with us. This call was more—bang, bang, bang—questions and answers about his eight-figure portfolio. The trust hasn’t been established yet. It can happen, though. It just will take more than three-quarters of an hour. But that’s my job.

Action Line: Finding an investment approach that’s right for you and your family is not intuitive. It takes work to find someone you feel you can trust. Then it’s a leap of faith of sorts. Keep putting in the work, and you just might realize, “This is the Way.”

Originally posted on October 22, 2020.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com