I wanted someone to take an objective look at what I was making and spending. When I spoke to him on the phone he made it very clear that unless I had a lot of money to invest he wasn't interested in talking to me. Barb's relationship with the financial planner ended with the phone call. It could have been worse. There are no federal standards governing all areas of financial planning.
Financial planning is one of the fastest growing fields in the country.
There are some 200,000 to 300,000 people who make a living under the broad category of financial planners and the government expects the field to grow more than 36 percent by 2008. However, only a relatively small number of financial planners are certified by the various professional associations, and even that may not be the best guideline to picking a winner, according to Schatsky. There are a lot of associations and a host of them have minimalist requirements. Look at the totality of the prospective advisor's background - their education, continuing education, experience and associations they belong to. Here are some of the more common designations in the financial planning industry.