What to Look for in a Financial Planner in Lehi, UT

If you’re looking to achieve your financial goals and create a plan to manage your money, you might consider working with a financial planner. A financial planner can help you identify your financial goals, assess your current financial situation, and develop a personalized plan to achieve those goals.

This article covers the areas of financial planning, what you might look for when seeking unbiased advice, and how to find a financial planner in Lehi, Utah.

How a Financial Planner May Help You

When working with a financial planner, you can expect them to cover a wide range of areas in your financial life. These areas might include budgeting and cash flow management, investing, retirement planning, tax planning, estate planning, risk management, and insurance review and recommendations.

Your financial planner should work with you to assess your current financial situation and create a plan tailored to your needs and goals. They will consider your income, expenses, debts, assets, and other factors to develop a complete financial blueprint to help you reach your goals.

In addition to creating a financial plan, a financial planner may also help you implement that plan and monitor your progress over time.

What to Look for in a Financial Planner

When you’re seeking objective financial planning advice, certain financial planners will act in your best interest and provide unbiased guidance. Here are a few considerations to look for if you’re seeking unbiased planning:

  1. Fiduciary duty: A fiduciary financial planner is legally and ethically obligated to put your interests ahead of their own. This means they must act in good faith and loyalty to you, avoid conflicts of interest, and fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest. As a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), our wealth management firm serves as a fiduciary to clients.

  2. Fee-only compensation: A fee-only financial planner is compensated solely by their clients. They do not receive commissions or other incentives to sell financial products. Fee-only financial planning can help assure you that recommendations are unbiased and in your interest, not the firm’s.

  3. Independence: An independent financial planner is not affiliated with any financial institution or product provider. This helps free them to provide unbiased advice without being influenced by sales quotas or other incentives.

  4. CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation: A CFP® professional has met rigorous educational and experience requirements to provide comprehensive planning based on a client’s goals. In addition, financial planners with the CFP® mark must serve as fiduciaries to clients. We require all our wealth advisors to have the CFP® designation.

Tips for Finding a Financial Planner in Lehi, Utah

Finding an objective financial planner requires doing your research and asking questions so you find an advisor you feel comfortable with.

To find a financial planner in Lehi, Utah, you might start by asking friends and family for recommendations or seeking referrals from professionals, such as your accountant or attorney. Make sure to check any potential advisor’s website to determine whether they offer the services you’re looking for. You can download their Form ADV or Form CRS to learn need-to-know facts like the fees they charge, potential conflicts of interest, and legal or disciplinary history.

You should also check the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website to check an RIA’s registration status and learn more about an individual advisor’s background.

Finally, many financial planners offer complimentary consultations, which can be a great opportunity to discuss your goals and how the financial planner might help you reach them. You’ll better assess whether there’s a mutual fit and if you want to move forward.

Schedule a complimentary, 15-minute call with an independent, fee-only, fiduciary financial planner today to discuss your personal situation.

This material was generated using artificial intelligence (ChatGPT) and edited by Kaleido Inc. from information derived from sources believed to be accurate. This information should not be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice.

Parkshore Wealth Management is a family-owned, independent, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor with offices in Roseville and Folsom, CA, and Lehi and Logan, UT. We partner with financially responsible individuals and families who are eager to take positive steps that will allow them to use their money to build the life they desire. The firm is led by Harold Anderson, CFP®, and Daniel Andersen, CFP®, both members of NAPFA, the country’s leading professional association of fee-only financial advisors.

Parkshore Wealth Management