About them.
How long have you been a financial professional? What's your registration, registered representative, investment adviser representative, or both? What states are you licensed in? Where can I verify your background? (FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC's IAPD database are the right places.) Have you been the subject of any complaints, regulatory actions, or disciplinary events? You don't have to make these questions awkward, they're standard, and any advisor worth working with will answer them clearly.
About how they work.
Who is your typical client? What kind of situations do you handle most often? Will I work primarily with you, or with a team? How often will we meet, and what does an ongoing review look like? What happens if you retire, change firms, or are unavailable? The texture of the relationship matters as much as the technical work, these questions surface that texture.
About fees and conflicts.
How are you compensated, advisory fees, brokerage commissions, insurance commissions, or some combination? When you recommend a product, are you paid more for that product than you would be for an alternative? What's the total cost to me, including the advisor fee plus any product fees? Do you receive any third-party compensation tied to the products you recommend? Asking these questions in the first meeting saves a lot of confusion later.
About the planning approach.
What does your planning process look like? Will I receive a written plan? What's covered in the plan and what isn't? How do you coordinate with my CPA and attorney? How do you handle situations where the right answer isn't a product? An advisor who can describe their process in a structured way usually has one.
About fit.
What kind of clients do you tend to work best with? Where would I not be a fit for your practice? What questions do you have for me? The advisors who are confident enough to admit when a client isn't a fit are often the ones worth working with.
Red flags to listen for.
Vague answers about compensation. Discouragement from getting things in writing. Quick recommendations of specific products in a first meeting. Promises about performance or guaranteed outcomes. Pressure to decide quickly. None of these are automatic disqualifiers on their own, but more than one in a single meeting is worth noticing.
The bottom line.
The right advisor relationship lasts decades. A first meeting that asks honest questions and gets clear answers is the foundation. If a meeting feels like a sales pitch, it probably is one.
Important: This article is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation regarding any specific advisor or service. Selection of a financial professional is a personal decision that should be informed by the advisor's qualifications, services, fees, and conflicts of interest as disclosed in their Form CRS and Form ADV (where applicable).