Your financial adviser is retiring. What next?

ASK ABOUT A SUCCESSION PLAN If your financial adviser gives you a heads-up about his or her pending retirement, ask if his firm has a succession plan. And, if they do, find out the specifics

of their changing-of-the-guard game plan and which adviser they’re eyeing to take over your account. Then meet with the new adviser to see if it’s a good match. If you’re not comfortable

with the adviser you’ll be working with after your current one retires, then request to interview others at the firm, says Robert Gilliland, managing director and senior wealth adviser at

Concenture Wealth Management in Houston. In Copeland’s case, for example, she will one day hand the reins to her daughter, Nicole Horton, who is a certified financial planner with more than

10 years’ experience in the mother-daughter firm. “It is a family affair,” says Copeland. “She grew up in the business. A lot of the clients know her, and she knows them. It’s comforting for

clients to know that she is in the wings, that she is part of the process.” SHOULD YOU STAY (AT YOUR CURRENT FIRM) OR SHOULD YOU GO? To quote the Clash, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” is

the question you have to answer. This decision is completely up to you, Gilliland says. The easiest decision, he says, is to stay, as you won’t have to endure the search for a new adviser

and move all your accounts to a new firm. But do so only if “both spouses are comfortable with who they will be working with going forward and the adviser understands their goals and risk

parameters,” Gilliland says. “When you decide to stay, it is usually because you are comfortable with the team and trust they are operating in your best interest.” If you’re trying to decide

whether to stay with your current financial advisory firm, there are three things to ask yourself, says Nick Foulks, director of communications strategy and client engagement with Great

Waters Financial. * Did I have clear expectations upfront on how they would serve me? * Have those expectations been met? * What is the true reason I am leaving? Foulks notes that most

wealth management firms have an investment style or philosophy that they stick to when it comes to managing money: “So, the question becomes: is it style or the person?” If you like the

money-management style of the firm, then stay with it and connect with a new adviser there that you click with, he says. On the other hand, “if you don’t agree with the company’s investment

philosophy, then staying and finding a new adviser within the firm won’t create change.” If you’re not 100 percent happy with the service you’ve been getting, now’s the time to talk it over

with your existing firm. If issues, such as fees, aren’t addressed to your satisfaction then it’s time to explore other options.