We all have the pre-conceived notion that only people with millions of dollars in their bank accounts are the ones who get to have the luxury of being able to rely on financial planning advisors. That's not entirely untrue, of course, since wealthy people like celebrities and sportsmen have often gone broke due to the lack of planning or, in some cases, careless planning, and if they had an advisor by their side, they might have been in a much better position today. However, the people who actually need a financial advisor are the ones who're having difficulty paying for one - those are the people who're doing so badly with their finances that some advice could help them a long way. If you think that you're not rich enough to afford a financial advisor because a lot of advisory firms tend to take clients with accounts bigger than $500,000, then we've got some advice for you as to how you can manage to land a proper financial advisor who'll help you through your troubles and won't be as costly as you imagine.

Know What You Want From A Financial Adviser

Financial advisors aren't magicians who can simply make all your money troubles disappear - they've all got a special set of skills, knowledge, and packages that they offer depending on your situation. You'll need to know exactly which one you want to approach. Some of them are going to charge you by the hour for providing you with simple advice on what you should be doing in the future and how you should be handling your wealth. Others are going to handle all your wealth for you and will charge an annual fee based off of a percentage - this is the option that you most likely shouldn't go for because it might be too costly, especially if the fee is higher than 1% because you might end up losing more than you've gained.

Know How To Find An Advisor

Don't just surf the internet if you want to find a good advisor. Your friends, colleagues, and family are a good place to start if you're looking for someone suitable, especially if their financial standing is similar to yours. They'll be able to give you the right pointers if they've had a good experience with a financial planner. NAPFA.org is another source that you might want to take a look at, and while the target audience for this organization isn't middle-class families, you never know when you'll strike gold, and it doesn't hurt to have a look around - all it'll cost you is a few minutes of your time and it could end up being worth it. If you think you don't want to pay too much for such services at all, there might be automated services online that you'll be interested in. They charge much less than your average planner and also take in accounts that are far, far smaller than what any human financial advisor would want to handle, so you might want to consider robo-advisors if you think you need a simple service that's bare bones and doesn't require too much from your side.

Cross Check Your Advisor

The last thing you want is to put your life savings in the hands of someone whose only goal is to scam you out of your money. While this isn't the most likely scenario, it might pay big time to simply try to get some references for the advisor that you think is suitable for you. Any sources would do just fine, including some past clients that your advisor might have had. If you can get your hands on some online reviews, that would work out great for you. Once you've made sure that your advisor is legitimate, take some time to ensure that you're both synchronized so that you can have the most benefits out of your sessions with them.

Getting a financial planning advisor might be the difference between retiring with a sizable amount in your savings account or going broke in a few years, so make sure that you reach out to one if you can afford it. It'll definitely be worth it, and while even financial advisors can screw up sometimes, you're far more likely to mishandle your wealth and squander it.