Financial Advisors in Sanford, NC

Look for a Certified Financial Planner-you can go to the CFP website & search for ones in your area. Meet with several different planners before choosing who to work with because you may connect & get a better feeling with one in particular. Finding someone to work with who you trust is very important. Look for a fee-based or fee-only planner. Avoid Edward Jones, Northwestern Mutual, Transamerica. Look for independent advisors typically with firms like LPL, Raymond James, Stifel, Charles Schwab, RBC. While the firm is important, most of these independent firms operate similarly, so the particular advisor you choose to work with will make a greater difference than the firm they’re with. Depending on where you live there should be a few advisors that stand out in terms of their community presence, reputation, team size etc. so I’d recommend starting there first.

If you're looking for a long term relationship with a fiduciary, fee-only financial planner, [the XY Planning Network](https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/) is a great resource to find an advisor either in your area or to meet with virtually. If you're just looking for good advice (not investment management) and to pay as you need it, I would highly recommend [this guy](https://www.letsmakeaplan.org/choose-a-cfp-professional/find-a-cfp-professional/Details/?key=eb859 de3-8639-4129-9 c4 f-ddd53 f070637&SimpleSearch=False&Latitude=0&Longitude=0&AreasOfSpecialization=&FirstName=Benjamin&LastName=Dobler&Page=1&Session=74620) :).

Fee only and fiduciary. Those are the only two (2) things you need to worry about. Many FAs will charge you a "small" 1-2% fee. That "small" fee could result in you paying them 60 - 75% of your total returns. It's not intuitive but make sure you double check using an Expense Ratio calculator. You should also ensure they are a fiduciary. Only fiduciaries are required to act in your best interest, other will have you buy high fee funds that goes in their pocket. You really should ask yourself: "why do I think I need an FA?" In 99% of the time you only need an FA if you have very complex accounts e.g. own your own large business or have >$5MM in assets. Based on the data you provided you'd be better off with a Bogglehead lazy 3fund portfolio or a Target Date Fund.

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Ask local coworkers. See if you like anyone on XYPN (www.xyplanningnetwork.com) who work remotely with clients. Stick to people who are Fiducuaries and Fee Only so they have your best interests in mind.

Yes, it's called a flat fee adviser or fixed fee adviser.

Plenty of fee-only advisors will work on an hourly basis and just do planning, not investment management (they'll make investment recommendations, but then it's up to you to implement they yourself). This is pretty common for fee-only planners in the XY Planning Network, which also targets 30-somethings: https://www.xyplanningnetwork.com/

You are your own best advisor. Read an investment book or two. TLH? I check my portfolio after a big market decline and, if I have a few thousand $ in losses, sell the holding and buy something different. Haven't done this in almost 10 years. Tax efficiency? Stocks in taxable, bonds in IRAs. Back door IRA/401 k? I personally don't bother, but if you want to do this, you can gain an understanding of it in 30 minutes or so, and ask questions here. HSA? Do you have a high deductible health plan?

Edward Jones has some great financial advisors. We use Lisa Pace