How do I find a financial advisor near me? you may have several reasons why you need an advisor. Perhaps, you’re planning for retirement, or you’re planning on buying a house. Advisors make managing your money a lot easier. But how do you find a financial advisor nearby that you can trust?

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One way to find a Financial Advisor near you is to conduct a simple internet search for an a fiduciary financial advisor that lives close by.

Your search, however, may turn hundreds if not thousands of results. That can make it difficult and tedious to choose the right one.

Alternatively, the best and quickest way to find the best financial advisors near you is through the SmartAsset’s free matching tool.

You simply answer a few questions and the tool will match you with up to three (3) financial advisors in your local area.

Let’s look in more details how you can find a local financial advisor.

1. How will a financial advisor meet my goals?

A financial advisor can help you set financial goals, such as saving for a house, getting married, buying a car, or planning for retirement. They can help you avoid making costly mistakes, protect your assets, grow your savings, make more money, and help you feel more in control of your finances.

When looking for a financial advisor near you, follow these five simple steps.

2. Finding the Best Financial Advisor Near Me

Finding the top financial advisors near you shouldn’t be hard. You just have to know where to look. Here are 5 ways you can locate a financial advisor in your neighborhood:

• Ask friends, family members, colleagues or even your accountant. It’s always a good idea to work with a financial advisor whom your family, friends, or colleagues have worked with in the past. That means if they had a good experience with them, chances are you are more likely to experience the same. So shy away of those sources to find yourself a good financial advisor close by.

• Through Smart Asset’s free matching tool. In fact it’s quite easy and simple! Financial advisors through the SmartAsset’s free matching tool are some of the best and top financial advisors out there. So you can have a peace of mind, knowing that they will be well qualified. In fact, each fiduciary financial advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is legally bound to act in your best interest. If you’re ready to be matched with top financial advisors near you that will help you achieve your financial goals, get started with SmartAsset today.

• NAPFA (The National Association for Personal Advisors). Another way to find a financial advisor near you is through NAPFA. There, you can search by location by entering your zip code and a list of financial advisors in your local area will pop up.

• Garrettplanning.com. Garrett Planning is another great way to find a financial advisor near you. There, you can search for a financial advisor by specialty, by keywords, by states, by zip code, etc..

• Search engines. If all fails, simply conduct a Google search to find a financial advisor in your area. Simply type in the phrase: “Financial Advisor Near Me” in the Google search box, and thousands of options should pop up.

3. Do your homework

As a starting point, always make sure your financial advisor is ethical and properly licensed to give you advice.

So, go to the U.S. Securities and exchange Commission Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. There, you can see the status of their licenses and see if there are any disciplinary actions them.

If you don’t have time to go through with all this trouble, then use the SmartAsset’s Financial Advisor free matching tool. The advisors there are properly regulated.

4. Questions to ask a financial advisor?

Once you have a shortlist of financial advisors, the next step is to know what questions to ask them. Some of these questions can be asked directly and other questions indirectly.

• What are your qualifications? asking whether they are qualified to advise is just important when considering getting a financial advisor. So ask find about their educational background. Some great questions to ask a financial advisor would be finding out where they went to school, and what was their major. Are they also certified? Did they complete additional education? if so, in what field? Do they belong to any professional association? How often do they attend seminars, conferences in their field.

• What is your experience and work history? So, you have to make sure you’re dealing with an experienced advisor — someone with experience on the kind of advice you’re seeking. For example, if you’re looking for advice on buying a house, they need to have experience on advising others on how to buy a house. So some good questions to ask a financial advisor are: Do you have the right experience to help me with my specific needs? Do you regularly advise people with the same situations? If not, you will need to find someone else.

• How much do you charge for your services? Financial advisor cost is an important factor to consider before you hire them. The reason is because not all financial advisors are created equal; some financial advisor charges hourly. Other financial advisors charge on percentage or commission basis. So a good question to ask a financial advisor is: how much will you charge me hourly? For more information on financial advisor cost, read: How Much Does A Financial Advisor Cost?

• Have you been subject to disciplinary action? Now this is one of the questions you might not want to ask the financial advisor directly. To avoid offending your potential advisor, do your due diligence by doing your own research.

Bottom line….

How do I find a financial advisor near me? Finding a financial advisor close by is very easy. But you have to know where to look. Reaching out to friends and family members is one way to find them. But one of the best ways to locate them as quickly as possible is through the SmartAsset’s free matching tool. In addition websites like NAPFA.org or GarretPlanning.com are as useful. The bottom line is to do a thorough research by considering all of the options above.

More articles to help you find the best financial advisor near me.

• 5 Mistakes People Make When Hiring a Financial Advisor
• How to Choose a Financial Advisor
• 5 Questions to Ask a Financial Advisor
• Should I Get a Financial Advisor if I’m Not Rich?
• 5 Signs You Need a Financial Advisor

Speak with the Best Financial Advisor Near Me

You can talk to a financial advisor who can review your finances and help you reach your goals (whether it is making more money, paying off debt, investing, buying a house, planning for retirement, saving, etc). Find one who meets your needs with SmartAsset’s free financial advisor matching service. You answer a few questions and they match you with up to three financial advisors in your area. So, if you want help developing a plan to reach your financial goals, get started now.

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