Peter Tuchman

All right. So the must haves, I like to call them the C's. And let's start with the first C, which is custody. You never want to work with an advisor that takes custody of your money. It just puts it in their own accounts. If you think about Bernie Madoff and that crisis, people who hired Bernie Madoff literally wrote a check to Madoff Investments and he went and put it in his bank account.

All right. So the must haves, I like to call them the C's. And let's start with the first C, which is custody. You never want to work with an advisor that takes custody of your money. It just puts it in their own accounts. If you think about Bernie Madoff and that crisis, people who hired Bernie Madoff literally wrote a check to Madoff Investments and he went and put it in his bank account.

All right. So the must haves, I like to call them the C's. And let's start with the first C, which is custody. You never want to work with an advisor that takes custody of your money. It just puts it in their own accounts. If you think about Bernie Madoff and that crisis, people who hired Bernie Madoff literally wrote a check to Madoff Investments and he went and put it in his bank account.

You never want to work with an advisor that does that. So this is an example at Creative Planning. We custody our clients' assets primarily at Charles Schwab or Fidelity. A client never writes a check to creative planning. They write it to Schwab or Fidelity. It's custodied somewhere else. And that's the safest way to work with an advisor. Most advisors work that way. That's a must have.

You never want to work with an advisor that does that. So this is an example at Creative Planning. We custody our clients' assets primarily at Charles Schwab or Fidelity. A client never writes a check to creative planning. They write it to Schwab or Fidelity. It's custodied somewhere else. And that's the safest way to work with an advisor. Most advisors work that way. That's a must have.

You never want to work with an advisor that does that. So this is an example at Creative Planning. We custody our clients' assets primarily at Charles Schwab or Fidelity. A client never writes a check to creative planning. They write it to Schwab or Fidelity. It's custodied somewhere else. And that's the safest way to work with an advisor. Most advisors work that way. That's a must have.

I think the next is credentials. You want a team that has credentials. If you're getting tax advice, make sure it's a CPA. If you're getting legal advice, and believe it or not, a lot of non-lawyers are giving legal advice. Make sure that person has a JD. They're actually a lawyer. And financial planning team should always include someone with a certified financial planner designation.

I think the next is credentials. You want a team that has credentials. If you're getting tax advice, make sure it's a CPA. If you're getting legal advice, and believe it or not, a lot of non-lawyers are giving legal advice. Make sure that person has a JD. They're actually a lawyer. And financial planning team should always include someone with a certified financial planner designation.

I think the next is credentials. You want a team that has credentials. If you're getting tax advice, make sure it's a CPA. If you're getting legal advice, and believe it or not, a lot of non-lawyers are giving legal advice. Make sure that person has a JD. They're actually a lawyer. And financial planning team should always include someone with a certified financial planner designation.

I also focus on credibility, like how much experience does this firm have with people like you? Do they work with a lot of people of your profile? If you've got $250,000, you want a firm that's working with a lot of people that have $250,000. And if you've got $10 million, you want to work with a firm that has a lot of people that have $10 million.

I also focus on credibility, like how much experience does this firm have with people like you? Do they work with a lot of people of your profile? If you've got $250,000, you want a firm that's working with a lot of people that have $250,000. And if you've got $10 million, you want to work with a firm that has a lot of people that have $10 million.

I also focus on credibility, like how much experience does this firm have with people like you? Do they work with a lot of people of your profile? If you've got $250,000, you want a firm that's working with a lot of people that have $250,000. And if you've got $10 million, you want to work with a firm that has a lot of people that have $10 million.

Many firms just cover one area or they don't have a lot of experience in that space. You don't want anybody to be learning on you, just like you don't want to go to a doctor that doesn't do the kind of surgery you're going to have all of the time. You want somebody who's really used to seeing that. And the way we remedy that at Creative is we make sure

Many firms just cover one area or they don't have a lot of experience in that space. You don't want anybody to be learning on you, just like you don't want to go to a doctor that doesn't do the kind of surgery you're going to have all of the time. You want somebody who's really used to seeing that. And the way we remedy that at Creative is we make sure

Many firms just cover one area or they don't have a lot of experience in that space. You don't want anybody to be learning on you, just like you don't want to go to a doctor that doesn't do the kind of surgery you're going to have all of the time. You want somebody who's really used to seeing that. And the way we remedy that at Creative is we make sure

There are groups that serve all of these different people. So they're dealing with specialists all of the time. And then I think cost matters. You want to make sure that, hey, what am I going to get and what am I going to pay? If I'm going to pay a money management fee, is it going to be customized to me or not? Are you going to do a financial plan for me? Is that financial plan included?

There are groups that serve all of these different people. So they're dealing with specialists all of the time. And then I think cost matters. You want to make sure that, hey, what am I going to get and what am I going to pay? If I'm going to pay a money management fee, is it going to be customized to me or not? Are you going to do a financial plan for me? Is that financial plan included?

There are groups that serve all of these different people. So they're dealing with specialists all of the time. And then I think cost matters. You want to make sure that, hey, what am I going to get and what am I going to pay? If I'm going to pay a money management fee, is it going to be customized to me or not? Are you going to do a financial plan for me? Is that financial plan included?

Am I going to get tax advice? Is it included? Make sure that you understand that you're getting value for what you pay for. And the most important thing is make sure you're working with a fiduciary. make sure you're working with somebody that has to be a fiduciary to you 100% of the time, no exceptions. This means no brokers, no duly registered advisors.

Am I going to get tax advice? Is it included? Make sure that you understand that you're getting value for what you pay for. And the most important thing is make sure you're working with a fiduciary. make sure you're working with somebody that has to be a fiduciary to you 100% of the time, no exceptions. This means no brokers, no duly registered advisors.