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According to Investopedia, a fiduciary is a person or organization that acts on behalf of another person or persons, putting their clients' interests ahead of their own, with a duty to preserve good faith and trust. Being a fiduciary thus requires being bound both legally and ethically to act in the other's best interests.
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What Is A Fiduciary Financial Advisor?
According to an article published in June 2023 via Forbes.com/Advisor, a fiduciary is a professional that is required by law to act in their clients’ best interest. The professionals usually manage assets, such as an investment portfolio or property, for their clients. These professionals can range from financial advisors to lawyers, estate executors and real estate agents.
Because fiduciaries work in their clients’ best interests, they can only recommend financial strategies that fully benefit a specific client’s economic situation. Fiduciaries are also required to avoid and disclose any conflicts of interest to their clients, such as profiting at a client’s expense.
These organization offer databases of fiduciary financial advisors:
If you find a financial advisor you’re interested in working with, ask if they are a fiduciary and if they are always acting as a fiduciary (some fee-based advisors don’t act as fiduciaries while selling commission-based products).
It’s also important to understand how the financial advisor will make money. Most fiduciary financial advisors are fee-only or fee-based, meaning they may charge by the hour, by the plan or through a subscription model.
Because fiduciaries work in their clients’ best interests, they can only recommend financial strategies that fully benefit a specific client’s economic situation. Fiduciaries are also required to avoid and disclose any conflicts of interest to their clients, such as profiting at a client’s expense.
These organization offer databases of fiduciary financial advisors:
- ACP (Alliance of Comprehensive Planners)
- Fee Only Network
- Garrett Planning Network
- NAPFA (The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors)
- WealthRamp
- XY Planning Network
If you find a financial advisor you’re interested in working with, ask if they are a fiduciary and if they are always acting as a fiduciary (some fee-based advisors don’t act as fiduciaries while selling commission-based products).
It’s also important to understand how the financial advisor will make money. Most fiduciary financial advisors are fee-only or fee-based, meaning they may charge by the hour, by the plan or through a subscription model.
A Golden Civilization?
George Kinder, a thought leader in the financial planning community whom many consider the father of the financial life planning movement, has a radical idea – or is it? It goes beyond following “the Golden Rule” which is the principle of treating others as one would want to be treated by them. According to Wikipedia the Golden Rule is sometimes called an ethics of reciprocity, meaning that you should reciprocate to others how you would like them to treat you (not necessarily how they actually treat you). Various expressions of this rule can be found in the tenets of most religions and creeds through the ages.
But Kinder takes this one step further by crafting a one-sentence legislative proposal, dubbed “fiduciary in all things,” or FIAT for short, which would require all institutions to place the interests of those stakeholders above their own self-interest. Kinder says we need a standard for humanity.
According to Kinder’s website, www.FiduciaryInAllThings: To be a Fiduciary In All Things (FIAT) requires us (and the institutions we interact with) to attempt to be trustworthy in everything we do. FIAT is essential for civilization and for Earth, not secondary. It’s time our institutions be models of humanity in all things, never antagonistic to it. It’s time to change the social contract between our institutions and all of us by building the best of humanity into all systems, so that new technologies and old deliver us and Mother Earth to the best of all possible worlds.”
But Kinder takes this one step further by crafting a one-sentence legislative proposal, dubbed “fiduciary in all things,” or FIAT for short, which would require all institutions to place the interests of those stakeholders above their own self-interest. Kinder says we need a standard for humanity.
According to Kinder’s website, www.FiduciaryInAllThings: To be a Fiduciary In All Things (FIAT) requires us (and the institutions we interact with) to attempt to be trustworthy in everything we do. FIAT is essential for civilization and for Earth, not secondary. It’s time our institutions be models of humanity in all things, never antagonistic to it. It’s time to change the social contract between our institutions and all of us by building the best of humanity into all systems, so that new technologies and old deliver us and Mother Earth to the best of all possible worlds.”