Clear Money Guide
What this guide covers
A quick view of the questions and evidence developed below.
Comparison tables scroll horizontally on smaller screens.
Updated July 3, 2026. Quick answer: The best questions to ask a financial advisor before hiring are about fiduciary duty, compensation, total annual cost, written scope, conflicts, implementation, and service standards. Compare the answers in dollars and in writing before choosing a firm.
Use this checklist before an intro call, then send one shared scope to each candidate so AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, and project quotes are comparable. This is an educational screening tool, not a directory, ranking, or personalized recommendation.
Fast tools before you shortlist
- Find a financial advisor: five-step screening guide
- Fee-Only Financial Advisor Near Me
- Fiduciary Financial Advisor Near Me
- Compare Financial Advisor Rates
- Financial Advisor Fee Calculator (annual-dollar math)
- Flat fee vs. AUM break-even calculator
- How to read Form ADV for fees and conflicts
- Fiduciary vs suitability check
- Do I need a financial advisor?
- ADV/CRS request email
- Advisor proposal scorecard
- Advisor contract checklist
- Advisor service calendar builder
- How to find a fiduciary checklist
- Fiduciary vs suitability examples
- CFP vs CFA vs ChFC advisor credentials
- Advisor capacity and SLA red flags
- Financial advisor fee guides by city
15 questions to ask a financial advisor
- Will you act as a fiduciary at all times, in writing? Ask whether that standard applies to planning, portfolio management, rollovers, insurance, and product recommendations.
- How are you and your firm compensated? Request a plain-language list of advisory fees, commissions, referral payments, revenue sharing, and other incentives.
- Can you send your Form ADV and explain the important conflicts? Review services, fees, brokerage practices, custody, disciplinary history, and outside business activities.
- What is my estimated all-in cost for the first 12 months? Ask for one dollar figure that includes advisory, planning, platform, fund, trading, overlay, product, and implementation costs.
- How does your fee model work at my balance and scope? For AUM, request by-slice breakpoints; for flat, retainer, hourly, or project work, request the exact billing calendar and renewal terms.
- Which costs are not included in your quoted fee? Ask about fund expense ratios, custodian or platform charges, tax preparation, legal work, insurance products, and specialist fees.
- What written deliverables will I receive, and when? Request the plan, portfolio map, action list, implementation schedule, and decision-specific work product in the proposal.
- How many meetings are included, and what are your response-time standards? Clarify review cadence, email turnaround, urgent-decision access, and who covers when the lead advisor is unavailable.
- What is out of scope, and how are change orders priced? Ask what triggers extra hourly, project, or implementation charges before the engagement begins.
- Who will actually do the work? Confirm the lead advisor, supporting team, credentials, experience, client load, and whether work is delegated or outsourced.
- How are investment implementation, trading, and custody handled? Ask whether the relationship is discretionary, where assets are held, who can trade, and how rebalancing and tax-aware sales are approved.
- How do you coordinate retirement income and tax decisions? Ask how Social Security, Medicare/IRMAA, Roth conversions, RMDs, taxable withdrawals, pensions, and CPA coordination are modeled together.
- Can your scope handle the decisions that make my situation complex? Name any equity compensation, concentrated stock, private-company equity, business ownership, real estate, charitable giving, or estate-adjacent coordination you need.
- What should I expect during onboarding, reporting, and offboarding? Request the timeline, required documents, reporting format, data-security process, termination terms, and asset-transfer steps.
- What could make my price or service level change? Ask for the renewal formula, fee increases, balance thresholds, scope changes, minimums, and the reason this model fits your needs.
Three more, once you have the Form ADV in front of you
The fifteen above are for the conversation. These three are for the paperwork, and each one has an answer you can check against the filing rather than against a tone of voice.
- Ask: May I have the brochure supplement for the person who will be advising me? You are entitled to it “before or at the time that supervised person begins to provide advisory services to the client” (17 CFR 275.204-3(b)(3)). It is also the one Form ADV document you cannot download for an SEC-registered firm, because the instructions say “If you are registered or are registering with the SEC, you are not required to file your brochure supplements through the IARD or otherwise.” — so asking is the only route. And if letters follow the adviser’s name, the supplement has to earn them: a firm that lists a designation “must provide a sufficient explanation of the minimum qualifications required for each designation to allow clients to understand the value of the designation” (Part 2B, Item 2). What the supplement must contain.
- Ask: is the fee schedule in your filed brochure your current one? A filed schedule can be a year out of date and the firm is still compliant: “You are not required to update your brochure between annual amendments solely because the amount of client assets you manage has changed or because your fee schedule has changed.” (Instructions for Part 2A, instruction 4). So the number you read may not be the number you would be charged, and the only way to find out is to ask. How current a filed fee schedule has to be.
- Ask: if I pay in advance and leave mid-quarter, how is my refund computed? The brochure already has to answer this: “Explain how a client may obtain a refund of a pre-paid fee if the advisory contract is terminated before the end of the billing period. Explain how you will determine the amount of the refund.” (Part 2A, Item 5.D). Read what it says before you sign, not after you want to leave.
Compare the answers in annual dollars
| Item | What to record | Sanity check |
|---|---|---|
| Advisor fee | AUM, flat annual, retainer, hourly, or project | Convert the full first year to dollars |
| Other costs | Funds, platform, trading, products, specialists | Add them to the advisor fee |
| Written scope | Deliverables, meetings, response time, implementation | Compare the same scope across firms |
| Exclusions | Work billed separately or not provided | Price likely add-ons before signing |
Run each proposal through the Financial Advisor Fee Calculator, then compare fee models with the advisor fee comparison guide.
Copy/paste email before an intro call
Subject: Fee, fiduciary, and scope questions before we schedule Hi [Name], Before we book an intro call, please send: 1) Whether you act as a fiduciary at all times, in writing. 2) Your estimated all-in first-year cost in dollars. 3) Your written deliverables, meeting cadence, and response-time standard. 4) All exclusions, additional costs, commissions, and conflicts. 5) Who will do the work and how implementation is handled. My main decisions are: [retirement / taxes / investments / equity compensation / business / real estate / other]. Thank you, [Your name]
Red flags before you sign
- The firm will not confirm fiduciary status for the full relationship in writing.
- The proposal uses a percentage without showing the annual dollar cost.
- Deliverables, exclusions, response times, or implementation responsibilities are vague.
- Compensation, referral arrangements, product incentives, or conflicts are difficult to explain.
- You are pressured to transfer assets or sign before receiving the fee schedule and scope.
When to talk to an advisor
An intro call can make sense when a decision is high-stakes, time-sensitive, hard to implement alone, or spread across retirement income, taxes, investments, equity compensation, business ownership, real estate, insurance, or estate-adjacent coordination. Bring this checklist and require a written proposal before committing.
Find the right next step for your situation
Answer three quick questions to see the option that fits you best.
Since you have $250,000 or more, a network of vetted advisers may fit.
If your portfolio is $250,000 or more, this connects you — free, with no obligation to hire anyone — with 2 to 3 vetted advisors.
Before you start, what actually happens. The matching service is run by WiserAdvisor, an independent advisor-matching company. It opens on their site, asks for your ZIP code and a few questions, and matches you with 2 to 3 vetted advisors. It is free to you.
WiserAdvisor states the service is built for portfolios of $250,000 and above. By submitting, you consent to emails, phone calls and text messages from WiserAdvisor and up to three advisors, so expect to be contacted. Clear Money Guide is paid when you complete the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone.
Opens on WiserAdvisor’s site in a new tab.
You have the questions. Now you need someone to ask them of.
The list only works in a live conversation, and the first one costs nothing. The advisers below pay to be introduced to you. It is free to you, and it is not the only way to find an adviser.
Before you start, what actually happens. The form is run by Kapitalwise, our advisor-matching partner. Kapitalwise sends your details to advisers who pay for the introduction, so expect calls and texts. Clear Money Guide is paid when you submit the form, whether or not you ever hire anyone. This is free to you and there is no obligation to hire anyone.
The Kapitalwise form opens here — you stay on this page.
What happens when you press the button
It asks about nine questions — age, investable assets, location — then your name, email and phone number, and verifies the phone by text. Nothing loads and nothing reaches Kapitalwise until you press the button.
Compare flat-fee and hourly ranges before you call anyone.
Flat-fee and hourly advisers price the work directly instead of as a percentage of your assets. The comparison guide below has current per-year, per-project and per-hour ranges so you can price a quote before you book a call.
Methodology
- Dollar-first comparison: percentage and recurring fees are translated into annual dollars before models are compared.
- Same-scope comparison: firms should quote the same decisions, deliverables, meetings, implementation work, and service standards.
- Conflict review: compensation and Form ADV disclosures are reviewed alongside the proposal rather than after selection.
- Educational scope: this checklist is general information, not tax, legal, or investment advice.
This page was materially reviewed on June 28, 2026. Editorial standards: Editorial Policy · Corrections · Disclaimer
Where did your candidate list come from? If a matching service introduced you, see how the advisor matching services compare on standards, minimums, and how each one gets paid — before the first call.
Before the meeting, and after it. The questions above are the interview. The background work that should happen first is the twenty-minute vet — registration, disclosure history, and the fee schedule in Form ADV Item 5. And if the answers you get are troubling, every warning sign has a specific document that confirms or clears it: 12 red flags and the check for each.