Key Post: Questions to ask when you are investing

About the investment

• How does this product meet my needs?
• How long will I have to leave my money invested?
• What are the charges?
• How much would my investment need to grow each year to cover the charges?
• Can I withdraw some of my money?
• If I cash in early, what penalty will I pay?
• How much of money is actually invested in the first five years?
• How will I find out how my investment is performing?
• What information will I get and how often?
• Is there a guaranteed growth rate?

About risk

• What are the main risks with this investment?
• Is my original investment guaranteed?
• Is there any guaranteed growth on my investment?

About charges for financial advice

• Are there charges for your advice?
• Are they one-off or yearly charges?
• Do I have to pay fees if I don't take up your recommendation?
• If I don't have to pay a fee, do you get commission for the products you sell?
• Do you offer a choice of a fee-based service, a fee-based service with a refund of commission, or a commission only service?

Taken from SSIAs-Your Little Black Book by the Financial Regulator. Available (free) from www.itsyourmoney.ie; lo-call 1890 77 77 77; or consumerinfo@financialregulator.ie

Hope this proves helpful.

Key Post Refreshed

About The Financial Advisor
Ask him or her - "Have you bought this product yourself?".
If they answer, no they have not, then that speaks volumes.

About Investing
Warren Buffet (Richest Investor in World) was once asked, "where he went, when he need financial advise?" He answered, "The Mirror".

Investing money in your own financial education is probably a better bet, than buying a financial product, or putting your money with a "money manager, broker or advisor".

About The Financial Advisor
Ask him or her - "Have you bought this product yourself?".
If they answer, no they have not, then that speaks volumes.

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Good advisors will recommend products appropriate to the individual investor (goals, investment timeframe, risk profile, etc.). It would worry me if an advisor only recommended products they had personally invested in. What's more, dishonest advisors often claim "everyone in the office has invested in this".

Investing money in your own financial education is probably a better bet, than buying a financial product, or putting your money with a "money manager, broker or advisor".

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Do you have any connection with financial education providers? (It's always good to ask an advisor if they have any beneficial interest in the product or service being recommended.).