Does your head spin when you think finance?

Does your head double spin when you think financial advisors?

Does your head shutdown when you think of advisor qualifications? Is there not an alphabet soup out there?

I have seen people with these qualifications offering Personal Finance Consultancy: BE, CA, ICWA, MBA, CFP, CFA, CFC, CWM, CRM, AFP, …if your head is not spinning, maybe you have one of these degrees?

So what qualification really prepares a person to be a good financial planner?

Let me (like all self respecting CAs) start with a caveat: It depends.

It depends on what you want your financial planner to do for you.

Do you want him to do asset allocation?

What about helping you prepare a budget?

What about Financial goal setting, and choosing the asset classes in which to invest?

What about helping you write a will? What about closing a demat account, do you need help for that too?

What about asset splitting post divorce? Or creating a Living Will for a child care? And where your loved ones live if you are not around?…

Well if you have a very complicated requirement, please choose a well qualified person with lotsa experience – and I do not think any liberal sprinkling of alphabets from the above soup will matter. Especially, if you trust him….

Honestly there is no nice easy cut n dry answer. If I see a serious person I can recognise him/ her from far.

I have done many posts saying ‘what to ask your financial planner…..’ see if YOU are happy with the answers. See if he meets you in the eye, that if you ask me is the best test…..