Spiritual Financial Planning
Finding a Competent Financial Physician

Baha'u'llah, in His Most Holy Book the Kitab-i-Aqdas, counseled His believers to, "Resort ye...to competent physicians: We have not set aside the use of material means, rather have We confirmed it through this Pen, which God hath made to be the Dawning-place of His shining and glorious Cause." Sometimes we all need a little check up and it's no different with our finances. What do we do when we need a little advice? We asked a financial planner what to consider when searching for a financial planner and here's what we found out.

First, a financial planner can be beneficial, whether you just need to go in one time to get your finances straightened out (especially if you're just beginning your career and find yourself with some money for the first time) or you have a complex financial picture and need to contract with a planner regularly.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you decide to go down this road.

1) How they are paid for their services: Fee-only vs. commission-based
One is not necessarily better than the other, but you need to know the difference. The difference here is how the planner is compensated. With a fee-only planner, you pay a predetermined fee based on an hourly rate or based on the value of your assets that the planner advises you on or manages for you. With a commission-based planner they are compensated when you purchase a product, stocks or mutual funds for example, that they sell.

2) Their primary responsibility: Are they a fiduciary adviser?
An adviser that is a fiduciary is legally bound to put the interests of you, their client, ahead of their own and disclose any possible conflicts of interest in their advice. Again, while this may not necessarily speak to the value of the adviser either way, it's important to know if the adviser has any fiduciary duties before contracting with them.

3) Their certification: Are they credentialed?
A person doesn't have to have credentials to be able to help you with your money, but the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation is the industry standard, and requires significant experience, coursework, examination, and continuing education.

If you'd like to look for a financial planner these three independent leading organizations of financial planners should help:

• The Financial Planning Association
• The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
• The Garrett Planning Network

There's lots of ways to go about this, and it all depends on what you're most comfortable with. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Comments

[Geron B.]

In response to the first comment by Elizabeth on Huququ'llah, my understanding of the Law is that there are two occasions when Huququ'llah is applicable:

1) Whenever you tally up your debts and assets (maybe once a year or month), Huquq is payable when the value of your non-exempt assets exceeds your debts by 2.225 Oz of gold, and then again on the increases in steps of 2.225 Oz.

2) Whenever you spend money on goods or services that you feel are not 'necessary expenditures' (e.g. that new iPod or Nintendo Wii, that latte you buy each morning, or the cable TV bill), then Huquq is payable on the money spent.

For most young people trying to pay down school debt with a modest emergency fund savings, it may take some time when case #1 becomes applicable. But case #2 enables everyone to have an intimate relationship with this "Great Law". Through the Right of God, Baha'u'llah is asking us to keep track of our money and think about how we're spending it. It brings it down to spiritually mature day-to-day money management, whether you're a wealthy businessperson, a student in college with debt, or a villager in South America.

Whenever I'm tempted to buy something like a $6 latte, I ask myself whether I'm really willing to spend a total of $7.14 to also discharge my obligations to Huququ'llah. For such luxuries, my answer is usually no, so I save or pay down debt with the $6 instead.

This is just my understanding and interpretation of the Law of Huququ'llah. I hope it was helpful to share it. Thanks for reading.

[Elizabeth A.]

Thanks so much for all these articles on financial planning. I'm at a point in my life where I'm starting to think about my future, and how to use what little money I have wisely.

At some point, I would love to read about the role of Huququ'llah in the lives of young adults. Because so many of us live off of students loans, well into our late twenties (graduate school etc), it's difficult to know when our responsibility toward Huququ'llah begins.