Financial planner who is a friend

[peggyfromwastate]

My BFF from high school (and middle) is a financial planner. She went to college in accounting, got her CPA, worked at Ernest and young, hated it, then moved back to hometown to work in her dads new office as a financial planner. This was about 10 years ago--- her dad used to sell insurance before this. BFFs older brother is in the business too as a financial planner.

BFF is very smart, really focused (was prez of junior league, valedictorian, etc) and I have no problem recommending her to people in my family or elsewhere for financial planning.

I was wondering if I should consult with her? Mostly I need to get insurance nailed down at this point bc we are woefully uninsured. I hate even typing that because I feel like I'm tempting fate!!!

Since BFF is based here in hometown, I know this will be a place we come to at least 1 time a year, vs where we live. Plus we are state residents from hometown state (Washington) and not residents of the state we reside in (military thing there).

Wwyd? I feel like I need a Big Picture perspective bc I'm the type who goes to set up a college fund and 100 hours later I've decided on one. Then I'm out of energy for anything else. Seriously it took me about 7 weeks and lots of research to decide on a Roth plan and I'm still unsure. Ugh.

[L.Jane]

I think you need to first figure out if she is the right person for you regardless of friendship. My dad is a financial planner and a very conservative one. He tells people this when they come to him. If someone is looking for someone that is less conservative, he is not the right one for them. If you feel comfortable with her, trust her, and work well with her, then I say go for it. But then again, I have never had to look for someone since my dad is mine, so I can't say I have all that much experience in this stuff.

[yourdoctorswife]

I would try to find someone outside your social circle in an effort to maintain your financial affairs private. I've been in business and can't tell you how many times I've had friends tell me, while they love me, they are choosing to do business with someone else for that exact reason. And you know what? I can't blame them. I do the same. In this crazy world of medicine, you'll go through financial ebbs and flows and God forbid, you find yourself in a malpractice lawsuit (which is becoming the norm!). Trust me, you don't want anyone knowing all that (and they will if they are dealing with your financials) even if your husband is exonerated and never did anything wrong. I've seen it happen... My husband is Chief of his surgery department.
Ask others in your shoes for recommendations and referrals. I'm sure you can find someone worthy of your trust.
Best of luck to you!!
~Emma

[spotty_dog]

I think it is worth dropping her a line to suss out the insurance thing. If you eventually want to do more comprehensive advising with her, or have her manage your assets, I'd do a lot more investigation to make sure she's a good match. For example, you're going to want someone who's familiar with military issues. You'll also want to think hard about if bridges would be burned if, say, you decided after using her for a few years that she wasn't a good match after all, and needed to withdraw your assets from her management...

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I agree with Spotty DH and I both place a high value on the ability to fire someone should they not work out (one reason why I will never be his practice manager or work "for" him). DH also maintains fairly strict boundaries at work because he wants to be able to level with people professionally. If you/your BFF can handle it, then ok. From your post, I'm not thinking that she's been pressuring you/asking you to be a client??? If that's true, she probably has some similar reservations. In that case, I would maybe just air your concerns and see if she could recommend someone else for you to use personally.