The Tennis Hacker's Investment Guide: Financial Planner Like a Tennis Coach

Many investors handle their own financial planning. Some investors prefer to use a financial planner.

If you do use a financial planner, you should hire a planner the same way you hire a tennis instructor. You pay a tennis instructor a fee per lesson. Likewise, it is a good idea to pay your financial advisor per visit, per hour or for services rendered.

If you pay your financial advisor by commission, you are inviting danger. Paying by commission can lead to 'churning', a phenomenon -- not unlike heartburn and indigestion -- that causes an uneasy stomach. 'Churning' occurs when your financial advisor moves your money from here to there and back again -- constantly selling and buying stocks and bonds, moving into this fund and that fund.

This frenetic activity may or may not lead to increased earnings -- statistics say you would lose money because of this constant movement -- but your financial advisor is guaranteed a commission for each transaction.

So before you hire a financial advisor, ask him: how are you paid by fee or commission? If he says commission, hold on to your pockets, get up slowly, walk carefully to door; when you get to the door: run, run as fast as you can.

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Some financial planners have the title CFP (Certified Financial Planner) behind their name. Some CFPs in Arlington, Texas, are:

Robert Williams
JPM Chase
1301 S. Brown
(817)548-2615

Kenneth Wieland
North Arlington Tax Service
1414 W. Randol Mill Ste 200
(817)860-2484