If you’re almost ready to retire, you might be thinking you’re in the home stretch. You can see the finish line, and once you get there, the rest of your life will be nothing but playing golf and sipping pina coladas. The rest is in your financial advisor’s hands. After all, they got you to this point. Why wouldn’t they be able to get you through it?

Many people who first see a financial advisor are looking for help with growing their retirement savings. But helping you accumulate wealth in your working years and helping you transition into spending in retirement require different skill sets–and not all advisors are created equal.

Whether you’re looking for an advisor for the first time as you get closer to retirement, or you’ve been seeing an advisor for years, you’ll want to make sure they can help you plan out the next steps in your financial life. Here are three things to consider.

Specializations

Unlike the legal or medical industries, job titles in the financial industry are a bit more fluid and ambiguous. With general titles like “advisor” or “planner,” you may find that financial professionals exist in a broad category that encompasses multiple schools of expertise. It can make filtering through all the professionals at your disposal a little confusing.

That’s why it’s important to look for a comprehensive financial planner–someone who can look after every aspect of your financial life. As you were saving for retirement, you may have used an investment manager to simply keep your investment portfolio up to snuff so you could afford the retirement of your dreams. But after you retire, you have more things to think about, like:

• When (and how much) to draw from your retirement accounts
• When to start taking Social Security
• Estate planning considerations
• Life insurance policies

Finding someone, whether it’s a single person or an entire team, who can advise on every one of these considerations and more will be one of the most invaluable things you can do in retirement.

Credentials & Accolades

Let’s say you find an individual or firm who claims to be an expert in every field of financial planning and management. It’s one thing for them to say it. It’s another thing for them to prove it.

Do your research. Look into their credentials. Do they have a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation? Are they a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)? What about a Certification in Long-Term Care (CLTC®) designation? These designations can help you determine if the financial professionals you’re looking into are qualified to look after your wealth.

Additionally, you might find that there are still a lot of qualified advisors out there with the necessary credentials. Beyond certifications, you can also look into accolades. Has your advisor received any awards or honors? Have they been recognized in their field by other professionals or some sort of governing body? This can help narrow your search and ensure that any potential advisor you look into is not only qualified to handle your retirement, but also a trusted option at the top of their field.

Focus

This last consideration is arguably the most important because, in a certain way, it encompasses all others. When looking for a financial advisor to get you through retirement, you want to make sure they’re not just focused on your money. You want to make sure they’re focused on you.

You may find that your current advisor (or a prospective advisor) doesn’t see you as anything more than assets to manage. They may even do a good job. But are they proactive about checking in, giving advice, or listening to your needs and wants? Do they work under the fiduciary standard, a legal obligation that means they have to keep your best interests in mind at all times? Or are they trying to sell you on proprietary products that may do nothing for you but will earn them a nice commission?

You worked hard for your retirement, and you shouldn’t settle for anything less than what you deserve. The specialists at Wealth Enhancement Group are certified in the many areas of comprehensive financial management, have received numerous awards and accolades, and are held to the fiduciary standard. Reach out today to learn more about how our Roundtable™ team of specialists can help guide you through the retirement of your dreams.