Hiring a financial planner can make an enormous difference in your long-term financial well-being. The planner my husband and I work with — and the one before him — have been invaluable. Yes, they charge for their services, but when you have a good one, the benefits far outweigh the cost.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, my previous financial planner helped me avoid a ton of financial mistakes. And how do they do that? He helped me plan my investment strategy so that I invested appropriately for my risk tolerance. He provided a plan for me to invest so that I would have enough for retirement. And, he pointed out tax advantages that I could use going forward.

Let me give you an example. When I paid off my car, I wanted to take the payment and add it towards my mortgage payment. He told me no. He said he could make me more if I put it in a Roth IRA than I would be paying in mortgage interest. While I didn’t like it, I did what he said. When I got close to retiring, I pulled $60,000 out of that Roth IRA to pay down the mortgage balance. $20,000 of that $60,000 was earnings. In other words, $40,000 was money I had put in, the rest was dividends and interest payments to my account. Was he right? Absolutely. I just didn’t see it at the time.

When hiring a financial planner, ask if they’re a fiduciary. These are people or entities who have a legal and ethical duty to act in your best interest. They have to put your best interest above their own. Fiduciaries have to handle your business with good faith, care and loyalty. They must be prudent with your affairs and keep everything confidential.

Moral of the story:

I highly recommend you find a financial planner. Ask friends and relatives for suggestions. I found mine through a friend and he was highly recommended. His office isn’t close, about 30 miles away. But now they have the technology to do a Zoom call if necessary, so I don’t feel that I have to travel all the time. He’s made me a lot of money and helped me to avoid mistakes.