What I Learned From My First Meeting With a Financial Advisor

I’ve been a personal finance writer for nearly a decade. I’ve interviewed dozens of financial advisors in that time, but I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’d never actually talked to one about my own finances.

That changed recently, when my husband — who works in finance too — accepted a new job offer. It felt like the right moment to take a step back from focusing on other people’s money and focus on ours for a change.

I set up our very first meeting with a certified financial planner, and learned a lot from the experience. If you’re curious about what it’s like to talk to an advisor, maybe you’ll learn something, too.

Finding a CFP was surprisingly easy

The first step was to seek out an advisor. There are many types of financial advisors, but I knew I wanted to meet with a certified financial planner.

CFPs go through a rigorous certification process, handle a broad range of topics and have a fiduciary duty to act in their clients’ best interest.

I went through XY Planning Network, a financial planning network I often use to find expert sources for articles. Instead of submitting a media request through the website like I normally do, I clicked on the “find an advisor” search button.

There are more than 2,000 advisors in the network. The thought of sifting through a lot of profiles seemed extremely daunting. But in reality, it wasn’t bad at all.

The whole process from start to finish took less than 10 minutes.

Personalizing the search

I started by entering our location into the search bar. While many CFPs work virtually with clients throughout the country, I was looking for one who lives in the Bay Area, like us, and would be well-versed in the local industries and the housing market.

Then, I set filters to narrow the results based on advisor specialties.

I chose a few key categories that describe my husband and me: married couples, parents, Gen Y/Millennials and HENRY (high earners, not rich yet).

Scheduling the meeting

My husband and I clicked on a few profiles that appeared on the first results page. We checked out the advisors’ websites and ended up picking the CFP whose site we felt looked the most professional and inviting. The clean design, dusty rose colors and her smiling photo gave the site a calming vibe.

We appreciated that the CFP’s fees were clearly laid out and easy to find. We also found her FAQs helpful.

We clicked on the website’s “book appointment” button to schedule a free introductory meeting. We chose a date and time on the calendar and entered a few details. Easy peasy.

Ahead of the consultation, the CFP emailed us a virtual meeting link and agenda: we’d chat about our financial goals, challenges and what kind of support we might need.

The meeting was very casual

The first meeting was simply about getting to know each other. We didn’t need to come prepared with tax returns, account balances or anything like that.

The CFP kicked off the conversation with a quick introduction. She discussed her educational background, experience and what she aims to help people accomplish.

We talked about how my husband is about to start a new job, and shared our main goals: saving for our kids’ education and buying a home in the future. We explained that while we feel good about our finances, we’re curious about what we could be doing better.

The CFP told us what we could expect if we decided to keep working with her. In addition to reviewing numbers, we'd discuss our goals, values and feelings around money. She said she'd look at our current and projected income, expenses and net worth. She also talked about the planning software she uses to map out different scenarios.

But there was no pressure to move forward with planning services. We felt comfortable and supported throughout the 30-minute call.

Advisors aren’t just for rich people

Professionally, I’ve talked to enough CFPs to know that advisors work with people in different life and wealth stages. But I always figured the more money someone had, the more useful an advisor would be. After all, some advisors only work with people who have $1 million or more in assets.

My husband and I are high earners, but not wealthy. So it was reassuring to hear the CFP in our meeting say she believes everyone could benefit from a financial advisor. We wouldn’t have to meet an asset requirement to work with her.

Still, our CFP acknowledged that working with a financial advisor is “a luxury expense,” and some people would rather not spend the money on one.

She said a good sign someone might need an advisor is if they’re checking their bank account daily or constantly transferring money between accounts to make sure there’s enough to cover a bill. An advisor can also be worthwhile if you just don’t have the energy to stay on top of your finances, she added.

In our meeting, we dived deeper into the different topics that advisors can help with, including reviewing employee benefits packages, planning for college or retirement, investment advice and estate planning.

I have a lot more thinking to do

The CFP said she’d check back in with us in a few weeks. In the meantime, my husband and I will have to sort out what we want to do next.

Should we hire this CFP? Should we schedule introductory meetings with other CFPs? Do we want to pay for planning services at all right now?

Whatever we decide, I’m glad we had this experience. Meeting with an advisor helped me realize that even though we have financial goals, we haven’t been checking our progress toward them as often as we should.

It was a good reminder that we’ve had our finances on autopilot for a long time. We need to take a closer look at our income, expenses and investments.

One thing I’m confident in: this won’t be the last time I work with a financial advisor.