How to Choose a Financial Planner: Credentials, Registration, Fees, and Questions to Ask

Start with the problem you want help with, because planners differ in what they do. Some focus on investment management, some on retirement income or tax coordination, and some on a single project such as an estate plan or an equity compensation decision. The SEC's Investor.gov notes that financial planners come from many educational and professional backgrounds, and that you should know what services you need, what the planner can deliver, and any limits on what the planner can recommend (Investor.gov, Financial Planners, reviewed October 22, 2026).

It also helps to decide how involved you want to be, how often you want to meet, and whether you want ongoing management or a one-time plan. Writing these down gives you a consistent set of questions to bring to every planner you interview. The trade-off is that your needs may change, so a first list is a starting point rather than a permanent requirement.

Three free public tools cover most of what you can verify before a first meeting. The table below shows what each one is generally used for. None of them tells you whether a planner is a good match for your situation, and a clean record is not an endorsement.

The SEC says to always check the background of any financial professional, and describes its search tool as a way to see whether a professional and firm are registered with the SEC, a state, or FINRA, along with any reported disciplinary history (Investor.gov, Check Out Your Investment Professional, reviewed October 22, 2026). Investor.gov also cautions that if you cannot find a person or firm, that may mean the person is not a registered financial professional (Investor.gov bulletin, reviewed October 22, 2026).

For CFP® certification, CFP Board's verification search lists individuals who currently hold the certification, identifies people who held it in the past, and includes public discipline and bankruptcy disclosures reported to CFP Board. CFP Board states that more than 109,000 individuals currently meet its certification requirements (CFP Board, Verify a CFP® Professional, reviewed October 22, 2026). CFP Board also notes that other sources may hold information you want, so use the tools together.

CFP Board describes certification as resting on four requirements: education, examination, experience, and ethics (CFP Board, certification process, reviewed October 22, 2026). As part of the ethics requirement, candidates commit to CFP Board to act as a fiduciary, which CFP Board describes as acting in the client's best interests at all times when providing financial advice (CFP Board, ethics requirement, reviewed October 22, 2026).

The limits matter as much as the benefits. Certification shows that a person met CFP Board's requirements and agreed to its standards. It does not show that a planner has experience with your situation, charges fees that suit you, or will communicate in a way you prefer. Investor.gov recommends asking what any credential means and what the person had to do to earn it, and then confirming it with the organization that issued it.

Association membership is a separate question. The Financial Planning Association (FPA) describes itself as "the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional's partner in planning" (FPA, About FPA, reviewed October 22, 2026). Membership is a professional affiliation. It is not a credential, a performance rating, or an endorsement of any planner, though PlannerSearch, which the FPA operates, lists professional affiliations among the topics to ask a planner about (PlannerSearch, How Do I Choose the Right Financial Planner for Me?, reviewed October 22, 2026).

How a planner is paid shapes the incentives around the advice. Investor.gov says you should feel free to ask how and how much your adviser is being paid, and that if a fee is quoted as a percentage, you should understand what it translates to in dollars (Investor.gov, Working with an Investment Professional, reviewed October 22, 2026). A percentage of assets that sounds small can be a meaningful annual amount on a larger portfolio.

The term fee-only has a specific meaning in the CFP® context. As displayed on PlannerSearch profiles, a CFP® professional may describe a practice as fee-only if, and only if, all of the planner's compensation from all client work comes exclusively from clients, in the form of fixed, flat, hourly, percentage, or performance-based fees. Compensation details on PlannerSearch profiles are self-certified by each planner, so verify them in the planner's Form ADV.

Fee-only can reduce some conflicts of interest, such as commissions on products, but it does not remove all of them. For example, a fee based on assets under management can create an incentive to keep assets with the adviser. It also does not by itself mean lower cost or better advice. For more detail on pay models, see fee-only vs. commission financial advisors, what a fiduciary financial advisor is, and how much a financial advisor costs in Austin.

Ask for the planner's written disclosure document before you meet. For an investment adviser, that is the Form ADV. Investor.gov explains that Part 2A, the brochure, is the primary disclosure document for investment advisers, covering business practices, fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary information (Investor.gov, Form ADV, reviewed October 22, 2026). The SEC's IAPD also lets you view the firm's current relationship summary, a shorter summary document, alongside the Form ADV (Investor.gov, Using IAPD, reviewed October 22, 2026).

PlannerSearch recommends requesting a written disclosure document, which may be a financial planning contract or a Form ADV, and notes that it should answer many of your questions. Reading it first lets you use the meeting to ask about what you did not understand rather than to collect basic facts. The limit is that these documents are written in general terms, so they describe how a firm works, not what it would recommend for you.

PlannerSearch recommends interviewing at least three CFP® professionals, because planners specialize in different client types and many have minimum income or asset requirements. Its list of topics to raise includes the planner's designations, education and experience, licenses, services, approach, specialties, typical clients and minimums, professional affiliations, how a plan is prepared, who implements the recommendations, business relationships that could present a conflict of interest, and how the planner is paid (PlannerSearch, How Do I Choose the Right Financial Planner for Me?, reviewed October 22, 2026).

Fit is also personal. PlannerSearch suggests noticing whether the planner is forthright, whether you have a sense of rapport, and whether the conversation focuses on your needs rather than on products. These impressions are subjective and should supplement, not replace, the verification steps above.

As a reference point, Steve Ankerstar, CFP®, holds a Series 65 license and is a member of the FPA and FPA of Austin, and his PlannerSearch profile is self-certified. Ankerstar Wealth is a fee-only firm, and its fees page and disclosures describe how it is paid and registered. You can read more on the team page and in the section on professional memberships. You should hold every planner you consider, including this firm, to the same checks.

1. Which services do I need now, and which does this planner deliver directly or through outside professionals? 2. Is the planner's CFP® certification, or other credential, current in the issuing organization's verification tool, and do I know what the credential required? 3. Are the planner and the firm listed in the SEC's IAPD or FINRA BrokerCheck, and have I reviewed registration status and any reported disclosures? 4. Have I read the Form ADV Part 2A brochure and the relationship summary, or the written planning agreement? 5. Do I understand, in dollars, how the planner is paid, including any percentage-based fees? 6. Does the planner receive commissions or other payments tied to products, and how are conflicts of interest disclosed and managed? 7. Who holds my assets, and is the custodian separate from the planner's firm? 8. What are the planner's minimums, typical clients, and meeting frequency? 9. Have I interviewed at least three planners and compared their answers in writing? 10. Does the planner focus on my needs rather than on products, and do I feel able to ask questions?

This checklist is educational. It is not a recommendation of any planner and does not replace advice from a qualified professional who knows your situation.

If you are comparing planners, the financial planning page describes how Ankerstar Wealth approaches planning. Request a conversation about how we would answer the questions above through the contact page, and bring your own list.

The opinions in this article are the advisor's own and are not personal financial, tax, or legal advice. The article is educational, does not recommend any planner or firm, and does not promise any outcome. Registration databases, certification standards, and association programs change, so confirm current details with each source.