Builds a plan around what you want to happen and then keeps it current: retirement income, account types and the order you draw from them, insurance gaps, education funding, and how the portfolio is invested. Some firms only plan, some only manage money, and many do both. Establish which you are buying before the fee conversation.

Three broad ways: a percentage of the assets they manage, a flat or hourly planning fee, or commission on products placed. Some combine them. None is automatically wrong, but each creates a different pull on the advice. Ask for the fee schedule in writing and ask what you would pay in a year with no changes.

A fiduciary must put your interests ahead of their own and disclose conflicts rather than manage around them quietly. Registered investment advisers carry that duty; brokers work to a different conduct standard that is not identical. Ask whether the duty applies to every recommendation or only to part of the relationship, and get the answer in writing.

Search the public regulator databases by name and by firm. They show registration status, the services offered, the fee schedule, and any disciplinary history. Read the firm's disclosure brochure, which spells out conflicts in plain language. Do it before the meeting rather than after, because the reading takes minutes.

Recent statements for every account, details of your employer retirement plan, pension or annuity paperwork, insurance policies, mortgage and other debts, your last tax return, and a short written list of what you want the money to do. The list matters more than the statements. An adviser cannot plan around goals you have not named.