Why are you making more money, but have less in the bank? Are you finding it increasingly more difficult to meet your financial obligations? Maybe you need professional help. Listen to financial planner Justin Kace explain what a financial planner does and how they can help you achieve your financial objectives.

Justin, just what does a financial planner do?
A financial planner, or financial advisor, looks at what his, or her, client hopes to accomplish from a financial . A financial planner looks at a person's and objectives and then helps that person achieve those objectives. The classic examples are planning for a comfortable retirement, providing an education for the children and making sure loved ones are taken care of after death. Other areas of concern are debt management, tax savings and the transfer of an estate after death without losing money to taxes or .

How does the financial planner work with a client?
The advisor takes into account everything a person is doing in life that makes an impact financially, and then helps them plan ways that can make their financial lives more and more in line with what they're hoping to achieve. Sometimes an advisor even helps a person define what they hope to accomplish. For example, it’s quite common for people to put money into long-term without having a clear idea of what they want that money to do. In fact, I find many people don't have a clear idea of where they want to go financially. It’s important to remember that a that isn't written down is only a .

Why go to a financial planner?
Well, there’s no reason why people can’t plan for themselves. There's certainly a lot of financial advice in books and on the internet. The difficulty for many people is finding the important information and making reasonable that will have a positive on a person's financial future. What the advisor can offer is his, or her, professional knowledge, knowing which information is and which is not. The financial business is a mystery to most people. A planner helps clients make sensible choices according to their financial situation.

At what point in life should one seek out a financial planner?
As soon as you begin making an income. The common is that you have to be rich to work with a financial advisor. In fact, just about anyone who has an income can make use of advice on how to organise their , retirement plans or medical plans offered by their employer. In most cases, hiring an advisor pays for itself almost immediately. Now, whether or not we can give advice that's going to put them in a better financial situation depends, of course, on what that person has to work with. We can certainly help a person who has financial difficulties and who is in , but that's really not the most effective use of a financial planner. That’s more the job of a .

With so many advisors out there, how do you know who to trust?
You have to be careful. There are many people who call themselves financial planners but they really aren't. Insurance agents, or investment advisors at banks, for example. In most cases these people are not developing an overall financial plan for a client, they're trying to sell a product.
Essentially there are three types of financial planners: fee only, commission only and a combination of the two. Fee only planners you for their services but don't take commissions on products you buy - like, for instance, mutual funds. Planners on commission work for free but, of course, they make their money when they sell you a product. The last category is the most common; Planners who you money for their services and earn commissions on products.
There are some who feel that a fee only planner is the only one who can give honest, unbiased . I don't agree with that. If the planner has a wide variety of products to offer and different ways of paying for that product, I believe it removes a lot of the bias. Of course, if you're working with a planner who has only one product to offer then that would definitely be . Make certain the advisor offers product outside his, or her, company.

What's the best way to locate a financial planner?
By looking through the phone book, searching or contacting the Financial Planning Association. Limit your search to people who have qualifications, experience and, if possible, recommendations from people you .
Financial planning is a service business so you have to feel comfortable with the person you’re working with. This means you should conduct an interview and ask questions. Make sure the person has , find out how long they've been working in finance. Ask how they get paid, find out what their background is. What you really want to learn is whether, or not, their financial philosophy matches your own. Ultimately, you should have the feeling that the advisor understands what you were looking to accomplish and that they have the and to help you with it.

Okay, you've found an advisor. What happens next?
Essentially you provide the advisor with financial data specific to your situation. The advisor will want to see the documents your income like your pay slips, tax and social security contributions, investment statements, etc. They'll go through the cash flow, identify areas of - and excess income. They'll listen to your financial goals, help you define them and do an assessment to see where you are in relation to those goals. Once that's done, the advisor's job is to help you get on track financially to realize those goals by developing a plan that's well within your .
What I typically do is sit down and talk strategy with the client and then implement that . What comes out of this process is the "to do" list. This list might include investing in a company retirement plan, putting money aside each month for the children's education, updating a will, taking out additional life insurance or recommending one or more products we offer.
An advisor takes a look at a client's financial picture and makes recommendations that can keep them on track toward achieving their goals.

So the advisor-client relationship is an ongoing one?
Absolutely. I typically see my clients a couple of times a year and the also have products with my company, like mutual funds, stocks and bonds, insurance. So I become the for the client.
Another point to remember is that people's lives and situations are constantly changing. Maybe they change jobs, get made , have another baby. it's a dynamic process that must continually be monitored, updated and upgraded as we go along.
Another thing. Not only is the relationship dynamic, it's personal. When you're working with someone's financial life you're getting very close to the rest of their life. In fact what we do, some people may call life planning. When you're working with a good advisor, the should always feel like a conversation. There should never be a feeling of pressure.