Choosing a financial advisor is not just a matter of comparing investment returns or asking about management fees. For families, the right relationship may involve retirement planning, college funding, tax decisions, estate documents, insurance, charitable giving, and the financial effects of owning a business. A decision that looks reasonable for one household may be poorly suited to another.
Before handing over account access or signing an advisory agreement, families should ask questions that reveal how an advisor thinks, communicates, and coordinates decisions over time.
Does the advisor understand our full financial picture?
A useful planning conversation should extend beyond investment accounts. Families may need help balancing several competing priorities:
- Saving for retirement while paying for private school or college
- Supporting aging parents
- Managing a business or concentrated stock position
- Protecting income through insurance
- Reducing unnecessary tax exposure
- Passing assets to children or charitable organizations
Ask how the advisor would evaluate these issues together rather than treating each account separately. A portfolio may look diversified while the family remains overexposed to one employer, industry, property market, or source of income.
Business-owning families should also ask whether the advisor has experience with issues such as succession planning, buy-sell agreements, estimated taxes, equity compensation, or preparing for a future sale. These decisions can affect both household cash flow and long-term family wealth.
How is the advisor paid, and what will the relationship cost?
Fees should be clear before an engagement begins. Ask whether the advisor charges a percentage of assets, a flat planning fee, hourly charges, commissions, or a combination of these. Request examples of potential annual costs at different portfolio sizes, including any account, fund, transaction, or planning fees.
The lowest quoted fee is not automatically the best value. An advisor who provides comprehensive planning may help a family avoid expensive mistakes, such as holding unsuitable insurance, missing tax deadlines, underinsuring a business, or making an ill-timed retirement distribution. The key is to understand what services are included and what may generate additional charges.
Families can also ask whether the advisor is held to a fiduciary standard and how that responsibility applies throughout the relationship. The answer should be specific rather than based on vague claims about putting clients first.
Who will actually manage and review our plan?
In some firms, the person who conducts the initial meeting is not the person who handles ongoing decisions. Ask who will serve as the primary contact, who makes investment recommendations, and what happens if that person leaves the firm.
A practical planning relationship should include a regular review schedule. Quarterly or semiannual meetings may be appropriate for many families, while major events—such as selling a company, receiving an inheritance, changing jobs, or approaching retirement—may require a separate review.
Ask what information the family will receive after meetings. Clear summaries, updated projections, and defined action items make it easier to follow through and identify decisions that need attention before the next review.
How will the plan change as our family’s needs change?
Financial planning should account for uncertainty. Children may choose different education paths, a parent may need care, a spouse may stop working, or a business opportunity may require significant capital. Ask how the advisor tests a plan against changing income, inflation, market declines, longer life expectancy, or major health costs.
It is also reasonable to ask what assumptions the advisor uses. For example, a retirement projection based on a fixed return may look reassuring but provide little insight into the risk of retiring shortly before a market downturn. Families should understand which outcomes are likely, which are possible, and which decisions would need to change if conditions deteriorate.
Can the advisor coordinate with our other professionals?
A family’s financial decisions often involve an accountant, attorney, insurance professional, business consultant, or trustee. Ask whether the advisor is willing to coordinate with those professionals—with the family’s permission—and how information will be shared.
Firms such as Soltis Advisors may be evaluated not only by their investment approach but also by how well their planning process fits a household’s broader goals, obligations, and professional relationships.
The strongest advisor choice is usually the one that makes complex decisions easier to organize and revisit. Before comparing performance charts, families should determine whether the advisor listens carefully, explains tradeoffs plainly, discloses costs, and has a process for keeping the plan aligned with real life. That foundation can matter more than any single investment recommendation.
