How to find a financial advisor who has your interests at heart

It's important to meet several financial advisors before committing to one, says Mary Holm. She talks about why you might want to use a financial advisor, how to make a shortlist and some good questions to ask when you meet them. no metadataIt's important to meet several financial advisors before committing to one, says Mary Holm.She talks about why you might want to use a financial advisor, how to make a shortlist and some good questions to ask when you meet them. She also answers listeners' questions about how to find good financial advice. Listen to Mary Holm on Jesse MulliganMary has a list of financial advisors that charge fees and don't take commissions on her website. Check out more of Mary Holm's money advice here. no captionAnn asks:I have some money from an estate settlement. What advice do you have regarding a process to find out options, and deciding about what to do with it? Go to a financial advisor? Mary says:Yes, but a good advisor should always:Look into your debts as well as any investments you already have, and what investments you might make.They should help you pay down any high-interest debt and talk about paying down mortgages as well in the light of other options. They should also look at when you're likely to be spending the money and your tolerance for risk.So I would say to Ann, yes.Amelia writes: I'm wondering if you can give me and my partner some much-needed advice. We are looking for help but don't know where to start.We would love to present our financial situation and options to a third party and have their opinion on what we can do to better our situation.It seems, despite constant budgeting and good income, that we can only just keep our heads afloat. It's been like this for years.The thing is I don't even know where to begin. Do we look for a financial planner? Investor? Advisor?Any advice you could give me and where to start would be wonderful. ​Mary says:Amelia's looking for someone to not just look at their finances but their whole attitude to money; the psychological side as well as about how they are handling their money - a good holistic advisor will do that.A good test of any advisor is if they first ask you about debt - any advisor who's got your interests at heart should ask you if you have high-interest debt - credit card debt, hire-purchase debt or car finance - anything with a higher interest rate than a mortgage and should encourage you, before you do anything else, to repay that.Rather than saying 'Oh, you've got $100,000 and I'll get my sticky fingers on it and make some commissions'…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details