Today’s Prep:
On this inaugural edition of the Retirement Ready podcast, we’ll explore the meaning behind the fiduciary standard.
(Click the featured times below to jump forward in the episode)
Equipping Points:
[1:58] – What Is The Fiduciary Standard?
- A fiduciary is someone who acts on behalf of someone else to manage their assets. They act in good faith in trust. Quite simply, this means they’re supposed to represent your best interests. Recently, we’ve heard a lot about this term as it pertains to financial advisors, but lawyers, CPAs, and executors of estates are all supposed to operate as fiduciaries as well.
[3:18] – Not Everyone Is A Fiduciary.
- You’d think all financial advisors would operate in your best interest. “Do Unto Others…” Right? Believe it or not, not all advisors operate as a fiduciary. Other folks in the financial industry operate under the suitability standard. This means that as long as you have the knowledge and the assets available to sell a certain product, you don’t have to disclose to your clients whether there’s a more cost-effective option. Under this standard, advisors also don’t have to disclose any conflicts of interest to you as the client (I.e Getting a commission for meeting a sales quota or taking a large position in one product as a company). In other words, as long as a product is “suitable,” advisors can sell it. It used to be that only registered investment advisors worked as fiduciaries in the financial services industry, but more and more folks are beginning to adhere to that standard.
[5:13] – How Do I Know If Someone Is A Fiduciary?
- If someone says they’re an investment advisory representative of a registered investment advisor, they are most certainly a fiduciary. You also want to look at the disclosures and tag lines from your advisor. If they read “securities offered through….” and list out a broker dealer, they’re also on the fiduciary standard.
Other Preparation:
Today’s Takeaway:
Subscribe To The Podcast:
Apple Podcasts - Google Podcasts - Spotify - Stitcher - iHeartRadio - TuneIn
Check out some other recent episodes
Translating Financial Jargon
Do you know the difference between large cap and small cap funds? What are basis points? This episode will discuss various financial jargon to help translate what these really mean.
Read More
Financial Fill in the Blank
What’s the best way to not run out of money in retirement? What are most people worried about when retirement planning? Eric fills in these blanks in today’s episode.
Read More
What to Know About Biden’s Initial Executive Orders
Let’s take a look at some of Biden’s executive orders so far in his first few weeks. How could they alter your financial plan?
Read More
Mailbag: Retirement Planning With Separate Bank Accounts
From managing your income as a contract employee to managing your income in retirement, Eric answers three questions from the mailbag in today’s episode of the podcast.
Read More
Estate & Legacy Planning FAQs
When receiving an inheritance, a lot of interesting or unexpected scenarios can occur. We discuss four different situations to hear Eric’s advice on how to handle them on today’s episode of the Retirement Ready podcast.
Read More
What Does Mark Twain Have to Say About Your Financial Plan?
What financial wisdom can we glean from the sayings of Mark Twain? Believe it or not, many of these quotes are quite relevant today.
Read More
New Year, New Ideas to Consider
We all like the idea of a fresh start in the new year. What changes are already underway? Or, what changes might be unwelcomed when it comes to your retirement plan?
Read More
Mailbag: Should I Use My Severance Package to Pay Off the House?
Whether you want to learn more about using your HSA or trying to make strategic use of your severance package, Eric answers three questions from the mailbag. Do any of these questions relate to your situation?
Read More
Things Your Advisor Should Be Doing
What kind of decisions are you making alongside your financial advisor? How do you know if they are doing everything you need when it comes to creating and implementing a retirement plan? Eric talks through what you deserve from a financial advisor and how his team works with clients to meet their needs.
Read More
The Three Worlds of Money
Do you know the three worlds of money? Where does the bulk of your money live? Is your money appropriately balanced across all three worlds? We’ll break it all down on this episode.
Read More