Wealth Management

Maybe your best avenue would be a referral from someone who has had experience and is happy with whoever they are dealing with. But most of the financial planners or advisors or wire houses, we all offer basically the same thing.

ULBRICH: It’s almost an interview process. It’s listing your goals and objectives and what you need help with and interviewing four or five and finding the person that you think you are going to be able to work with.

HOLMGREN: You’ve got to remember that it’s your money. I always tell clients, “This is your money. I’m going to help you with it but you always need to be in control. I shouldn’t be more interested in planning your financial goals than you are.”

What do readers need to know in this interesting economic environment?

ULBRICH: Sit down with your financial advisor and do the reality check—is this exactly what my goals and objectives still are? Have we structured my financial affairs accordingly to those goals and objectives? What is my savings plan; when do I want to retire; has that horizon changed? It’s getting back to basics and making sure you are in it for the long haul to achieve those goals and objectives.

JEFFERIES: Right now might be a great time to reevaluate your retirement goals with the recent pullback in the market. For someone who is going to be retiring in five years, it would be a good idea to look at your retirement projection and start preparing yourself to maybe not have as plush as a retirement as you were planning on, or to make the adjustment and start saving more for your retirement.

YOUNG: The most important thing is getting your risk tolerance right. For clients who have their risk tolerance right and they are invested properly, their life is good.

HOLMGREN: Financial planning is a process and not a one-time event. It’s a great time to come in and see where the opportunities are. The tide has gone out. What can we pick up that we could not see before or was not available to us? There is always some opportunity.