How To Find A Financial Advisor

The FASTEST and EASIEST way to confirm that your financial advisor is NOT running a scam

Sean Kernan Season 6 Episode 3

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0:00 | 3:50

Sean recounts a thread in one of his Facebook groups where a member was dealing with a case of fraud, and didn't know where some of his money was. Sean recommends asking two questions: Who holds my money? and Who prints my statements?

SPEAKER_00

Hey there, Sean with How to Go Independent. I want to get a video out today before the day ends because I've been publishing one at least every weekday in 2024. So I want to keep up this the streak. So first time I've been live, but this will most likely be watched later. So came across a thread in a Facebook group I'm part of that unfortunately someone was going through a difficult time of it looks like either being exposed to part of a some sort of fraud or at least having a temporary uh unknown whereabouts of some money. And so I thought and wondered what's the easiest way to shortcut that potential risk to avoid it to get rid of it. So this hopefully will be brief. The best way to do that is to simply ask your current or future advisor who holds the money and who would print my statement. If you've heard of the firm that they mention, it's a big name, um, widely known. Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Bells Fargo, LPL, Raymond James, Commonwealth, Vanguard, the odds of having some sort of fraud go down way, way down. Because the who holds the money is a big part of what allows or not fraud to be committed. So in this instance, it sounds like some sort of either insurance company or the appearance of an insurance company or some very private, small investment provider. And all those firms that I just mentioned, there's certainly fraud that's been committed using their platforms, but it's very few and far between, and much harder to sustain that for any amount of time. So if you have your money at a place where you recognize the name on the statement, odds are there's not a fraud going on. Doesn't mean you're gonna get the best advice, doesn't mean it's the best fit for an advisor, but at a minimum, you're not gonna lose your money to fraud most of the time. I'm not an attorney, no guarantees, all that. But um those firms have a lot of safeguards in place. So that's one quick way to minimize that risk. Because I feel for the person that was posting and going through this, I can't imagine what that feels like. But it's you know, for for you and and people that you uh care about that you want to share this with, it's it's avoidable. So check that out beforehand. And if it sounds too good to be true on the investment returns or interest someone's promising, it probably is too good to be true. So keep that in mind. And if you're worried about fraud, you can check it off the list or at least put it way down the list, or still ask questions, make sure you feel comfortable. But um, if you're getting statements from big firms' name, there's other ways to verify it. If you want any help with that or a second opinion on does something feel right or sound right, give me a call at 469-893-0067, and uh or shoot me an email at Kernan K-E-R-N-A-N at hey.com. I'm happy to help and hopefully put you at ease that uh more than likely with a with a firm you've heard of, your money is safe from a uh it's there. You know, market fluctuation is one thing, but this is the money is not going to be at risk to never, you know, to to never be seen again. So uh that's all I have. Hope you enjoyed this video and let me know if I can help. Thanks.