How to find the one that's right for you.

Large firms. Small firms. Advisers that can offer you a choice of all the products on the market and advisers that will only refer you to products from one company.

So how do you pick the adviser that's right for you?

There's three main things you need to consider:

• Know-how
• What products they can offer you
• How you feel

Know-how

All advisers will be able to give general financial advice but they also specialise in different things. So you need to think about the type of advice you're looking for and make sure that it's something your adviser knows about.

The rule is: always ask what the adviser specialises in.

Seeing an adviser means you're committed

What products they can offer you

It all depends on the type of adviser. Insurance Broker can recommend any product out there. Banks can recommend you from a given range. Tied agents can recommend a range of products. A tied agent is, well, tied, to one company and its products The adviser must tell you which category they fall into.

The rule is: always ask what the adviser specialises in.

How you feel

This isn't wishy-washy hippy talk. It's important that you pick an adviser that you feel comfortable with.

Check out a number of advisers and go with one who not only has the right qualifications, status and experience, but you can get on with too. After all, it will be a long partnership.

Finding your adviser

If you have any problem in choosing an advisor, you may leave your contact details on this website to enable us to send an adviser who will help you in making your financial planning.

Pension transfer

If you have a pension and get a new job, you may want to transfer your existing pension benefits into your new company's pension scheme. You should speak to a financial planning adviser as to whether this is the best thing for you to do.

See more terms from the glossary