At the heart of any working relationship with a financial planner is trust. Trust is built on two factors: the planner acting in your best interests, and full disclosure of the planner's background, business practices and other issues.

Full disclosure means the planner is forthright in providing answers about his or her work experience, compensation, methods of planning and so on. For example, what business relationships does the planner have? These might be relationships with companies whose products the planner sells, or referral fees the planner earns by referring you to certain professionals.

Disciplinary Actions

The financial planner also should disclose any disciplinary actions that may have been taken against them by various government regulatory agencies and professional associations. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) (888.CFP.MARK) can confirm whether disciplinary action has been taken against a particular CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) (CFP(R)) professional. If you do not receive full disclosure from a financial planner, that is a sign you should take your financial planning needs elsewhere.