How often should you meet with a financial advisor?

The money you’re saving for different goals, whether it’s retirement, your children’s education, or buying a house, needs to be managed by someone. And that someone could easily be you. But if you want a professional’s help managing your money, it could pay to hire a financial advisor.

In this Reddit post, we have someone who’s thinking of firing their financial advisor because they’re not getting the best value. And what’s troubling is that their financial advisor doesn’t meet with them ever.

As the poster writes, “He only answers emails when I send them. I do not know my return. The app tells me daily but he has total gain/loss turned off so it tells me I can’t view the info.”

It sounds like the poster is being kept in the dark, and that their financial advisor is not as communicative as they should be. That’s a problem.

But it begs the question: How often should you be meeting with your financial advisor? The answer is, it depends.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to advisor meetings

Some financial advisors like to meet with their clients in person every quarter. Others like a monthly call to check in.

The frequency at which you meet with your financial advisor should depend on your needs and the work your advisor is doing for you. If they’re managing your retirement portfolio, you probably don’t have to meet weekly or monthly. A quarterly check-in will often suffice. But if you’re working with your financial advisor on a near-term goal, like buying a house, more frequent checks-ins are key.

It’s important to have good communication

When it comes to your financial advisor, you shouldn’t necessarily concern yourself with the frequency of your communication so much as the quality of it. The poster above says they don’t know what returns they’re getting on their money, which isn’t acceptable. It also seems like their financial advisor is difficult to reach.

A good financial advisor won’t keep you in the dark about how your portfolio is doing. They also shouldn’t blow off questions about their investing strategy or dismiss other concerns you have. If they’re doing these things, they may not be worth keeping around.

But remember, even if you only meet with your financial advisor once a year, if they’re communicative by email and via client portal updates on a regular basis, that may be enough.

If you understand how your money is invested and feel like you’re being heard, you don’t have to worry so much about how often you’re meeting. Only worry when you feel like your advisor isn’t listening, isn’t responsive, and isn’t offering you great bang for your buck.

Finally, don’t get too hung up on in-person meetings versus virtual ones. If your financial advisor lives an hour away, why drag them to your home to meet in person when you could log into a virtual meeting instead? As long as you’re getting the necessary amount of attention, there’s no sense in wasting your advisor’s time and being picky about how you meet.