I'm a little confused by the terms you're using. Is your Estate Planner the Elder Care Attorney you mentioned?
If he is recommending a financial adviser to you, then what you need is someone with
fiduciary duty to his/her clients. There are over 6,000 various titles of "financial adviser" floating around but there are only THREE that count. Any broker or adviser with Series 7 or 65 license can invest in stocks on your behalf. But ONLY RIAs can draw up a financial plan for you (which used to be called "estate plan" but legally is now called a "financial plan"):
•Certified Financial Planner
•Chartered Financial Consultant
•CPA with Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation
There is a legal difference in saying: “we can help you plan for the future” (from anybody; I could say it to you without breaking any laws) vs “We can prepare a
financial plan for you” (only those 3 titles listed above).
You may or may not need an actual financial plan. Be prepared to pay separately for one if you do. You MUST vet the advisers you interview. There are bad CFPs just as there are bad doctors. NEVER use an adviser who has you make any investment money checks out to him/her or their firm. Your portfolio should always be held at a financial institution: Bank of New York, Charles Schwab Brokerage, American Funds, Ameriprise, etc.
Although financial institutions all offer CFPs on staff, I think most people are best served by independents. It can be difficult to find the best ones because really good CFPs seldom do any hard advertising (like TV ads or big splashy sidebar ads on Net pages). They are "word of mouth" people; their customers are next generation family of older customers, or get referred to them by active clients.
Both the CFP, NAPFA, and Garrett Planning websites have very good "interview questionnaires" for use in interviewing CFPs. The first interview is free but it really won't tell you anything beyond the superficial. A CFP has to know a great deal of detail about your financial situation in order to work effectively for you and in concert with your legal and tax advisers. That takes time, so the research you do beforehand is all the more important.
Any CFP will want some idea of the size of your investment portfolio as well as a general idea of net worth. You want someone whose other clients fit roughly with you because that will be the firm's major focus when investing in the markets. You will want to have the names of at least 2, preferably 3, clients who are willing to be referrals for the CFP firm (this takes time to arrange, easily 1-3 months).
You want to see a redacted copy of a couple of financial plans,
if you are considering buying one. Almost all are done by computer programs that run Monte Carlo simulations. A cheapo version runs a few hundred simulations. A top-notch software will run retirement scenarios in five-figure analyses to obtain a more substantive report.
CFP Board:
https://www.cfp.net/ (most are fee-based)
NAPFA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors):
https://www.napfa.org/
Garrett Planning Network:
https://www.garrettplanningnetwork.com/ (all are independent CFPs who work hourly rates)
I think there's one or two other independent CFP groups similar to Garrett, but I have to leave the house so don't have time to look right now. Anyway, hope that helps.
