Red Flags · The Checklist
Is this normal?
See for yourself.
39 red flags of a bad advisor relationship. Including the quiet ones nobody warns you about. None of them requires a villain; most are ordinary, legal, and structural. Check everything that sounds familiar.
Consumer education, not investment advice. Paul Powell is not currently a licensed financial advisor.
Fees & costs 01-09
Conflicts of interest 10-17
Sales tactics 18-24
Products 25-31
Standards & accountability 32-39
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Check everything that sounds like your advisor. Or the one you’re considering.
Go deeper
The full Library →
Every flag, translated.
What you see is one thing. What the money is doing underneath is another. Each piece walks the trail, with receipts.
Start here
How to read your advisor statement
Read →Tool
The Fee Translator. Your fees, in dollars
Run it →Family
Worried about your parents’ advisor?
Read →Fees
Why is the fee a percentage of your money?
Read →Plain Language
What is a fiduciary. And what doesn’t it protect?
Read →Fees
The fund fee you never see on a statement
Read →Fees
Why you’re paying your advisor twice
Read →Fees
What’s inside your “all-inclusive” wrap fee
Read →Fees
Same fund, three prices: the share-class game
Read →Fees
Paid every year you hold that fund
Read →Fees
Paying 1% a year for nothing to happen
Read →Conflicts
Why you keep seeing the same five funds
Read →Conflicts
Why the firm’s own funds end up in your portfolio
Read →Conflicts
Why your advisor suddenly changed firms
Read →Conflicts
Who really paid for the trip to Hawaii
Read →Conflicts
Why they want all your accounts in one place
Read →Conflicts
Why they want your 401(k) out of the plan
Read →Conflicts
The TSP rollover pitch, translated
Read →Tactics
Why is the financial plan free?
Read →Tactics
Who’s really buying at the steak-dinner seminar
Read →Tactics
The “free second opinion” on your portfolio
Read →Tactics
Who pays for “find an advisor” matching services
Read →Products
Why annuities get sold, not bought
Read →Products
Why you can’t get your money out for 7 years
Read →Products
The “no-fee” annuity: where the cost hides
Read →Products
Indexed universal life, pitched as retirement
Read →Products
The “cash value” pitch, translated
Read →Products
The teachers’ 403(b) scandal nobody covers
Read →Products
What a “lifetime income” rider really guarantees
Read →The Rules
“Fee-based” and “fee-only” are not the same
Read →The Rules
“Best interest” is not fiduciary
Read →The Rules
The CFP letters don’t settle the fiduciary question
Read →The Rules
You waived your right to sue, remember?
Read →The Rules
“SEC-registered” is not an endorsement
Read →Plain Language
“Moderate risk” is not a number
Read →
The next step
Counted more flags than you’d like?
A flag is not a verdict. It’s a question that deserves a written answer. The Method gives you the questions, the order, and the email to send them in.