Episode 4: Who Can You Really Trust? — Pulling Back the Curtain on the Tricks of the Trade

How often would you like your financial advisor to think of what’s best for you when giving you financial advice? Half of the time? All of the time? It almost seems like a silly question to ask; why would you say anything less than “all of the time?” The whole point of hiring an advisor is to have someone you can trust to help you make the best choices possible with your money.

The sad truth is that many financial advisors don’t view this as the primary function of their job.

Out of the 310,000 financial advisors in the US, how many do you think are required to act in your best interest? 50%? 25%? The shocking truth is that less than 10% of all financial advisors in the United States follow the fiduciary standard — which legally requires financial advisors to put your interests ahead of their own.

It gets even scarier. Of the 10% of financial advisors who are fiduciaries, many are dually registered — meaning they can act as both a broker and a fiduciary. Legally, they don’t even need to notify you of their dual status, or whether they’re acting as a fiduciary or a broker at any given time! Talk about trust issues; would you ever go see a doctor who is only required to give you “good” medical advice during half of your visit? (And she doesn’t have to tell you which half of the visit.)

If you can’t trust 90% of financial advisors to act in your best interests, and many of the remaining 10% will only act in your best interests some of the time, then who can you trust?

That’s just the question Tony set out to answer when he wrote Unshakeable. Designed as your go-to financial freedom playbook, Unshakeable gives investors the knowledge they need to be truly unshakeable — unfazed by financial winters, prepared for anything, and wise enough to know who they can trust and who they can’t.

Having someone by your side who you can count on to give you the best advice for your money is a key part in planning for the financial future you want. That’s why it’s so important that you make sure your financial advisor — even a registered fiduciary — keeps you on track, and doesn’t prioritize their own needs over yours.

Even though the numbers look stacked against you, it’s possible to find a trustworthy financial advisor. There are over 5,000 firms and individuals in the US that will act in your best interest.

In this episode of The Unshakeable Podcast, Richard Bradley sits down with Tony and Peter Mallouk to explore the process of finding a financial advisor you can trust and how to identify the ways your financial advisor may be working for personal gain, instead of for you.

This episode of the Unshakeable podcast has been brought to you in collaboration with Creative Planning, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor, where Tony Robbins is a board member and Chief of Investor Psychology. Mr. Robbins receives compensation for serving in this capacity and based on increased business derived by the company from his services.