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• Financial consultants provide expert advice on a wide range of topics, like estate planning and wealth management. 
• Financial consultants and advisors offer similar financial services, but they have different credentials. 
• Before hiring a potential financial consultant, make sure to research their credentials.

When searching for professional money and investment advice, you may have come across titles like "financial consultant" or "financial advisor." Although these titles sound similar, financial consultants and advisors aren't the same thing. 

If you're looking for an expert to help you create a personalized financial plan based on your current situation, you're probably looking for a financial consultant.

What is a financial consultant? 

Financial consultants create personalized financial plans based on a client's whole financial picture, including factors like debt, assets, living expenses, and investment goals. Although financial consultants typically offer similar guidance and advice as financial advisors, the two jobs require different credentials.

Financial consultants typically have a degree in finance or a related field and can be designated as chartered financial consultants (ChFCs), which is a certification currently only offered through the American College of Financial Services. Financial consultants must also have at least three years of financial planning experience to earn the ChFC designation.

Keep in mind that there are financial consultants who do not have the ChFC certification.

"As long as they have passed the appropriate state and federal licensing requirements, they can use any name they want — advisor, consultant, planner, wealth manager — provide any range of services, and charge in different ways," says Brent Weiss, CFP and head of financial wellness at Facet. 

While these non-certified financial consultants and advisors may still offer useful advice, you won't get the same level of guaranteed expertise that you would with a certified consultant. You also won't get the same degree of trustworthiness as you would with a CFP or fiduciary.

People seeking professional financial advice should do their best to identify and recognize the different financial licenses and certifications, explains Weiss. 

"These credentials not only represent a profound understanding of financial principles, but also a commitment to ongoing education and ethical standards," states Weiss.

What does a financial consultant do?

A financial consultant's main job is to create a customized financial plan to help you reach your goals. If you need help coming up with goals, a financial consultant can help with that, too. And depending on their specialties and experience, a financial consultant may offer a variety of services, including: 

"In general, financial consultants offer a range of services tailored to individual client needs," says Weiss. "They may look at one aspect of your finances, offer a one-time consult, or review your entire financial picture and develop an ongoing plan. You need to know the right questions to ask to determine the services they will provide."

Ensure that the financial consultant you're meeting with specializes in the courses you need guidance on. For example, if you need help with estate planning, make sure you are meeting with a financial consultant who specializes in estate planning strategies. Someone who specializes in tax strategies won't be as useful for your situation.

What is a financial consultant vs. financial advisor?

While "financial consultant" and "financial advisor" are often used interchangeably, they don't mean the same thing. Financial consultants are a type of financial advisor. All financial advisors are financial consultants, but not all financial consultants are advisors. The best financial advisors are either fiduciaries or CFP-certified.

It's not uncommon for financial experts seeking further education to be certified as both a ChFC and a CFP (or other financial certification like a CFA). 

Certified financial advisors earn their titles from The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) after years of education in over 70 financial specialties. To be a certified financial planner (CFP), financial advisors and planners must have extensive practical advisor experience and follow high ethical standards.

"While a ChFC has more education and experience than many others in the field, it's really more like a CFP-light," Weiss says. "The CFP Professional designation remains the gold standard."

Most CFPs adhere to fiduciary duty regulations. This is a legal and ethical duty that requires financial advisors to put the best interest of the client first. ChFCs can earn fiduciary status, but they are not required to. So if you came down to picking between an advisor with ChFC credentials versus a certified CFP, the CFP is typically the better option. 

However, financial consultants and ChFCs can still provide knowledgeable financial advice on a range of topics. If you or someone you know,has had a good experience with a financial consultant, there's no reason to switch to someone else. Strong customer reviews, recommendations, and years of experience can speak to the quality of a financial consult almost just as much as certification can. 

What fees do financial consultants charge?

How a financial consultant charges you can vary. Some financial consultants may charge a flat rate, hourly rate, project fee, or a percentage of your assets under management (AUM). When considering a potential financial consultant, one of the first questions you should ask is how they charge. 

"Try to avoid fee models that create conflicts of interest, like commissions and paying a percentage of how much you invest. You want your advisor to offer unbiased advice and sit on the same side of the table as you," says Weiss.

How to find a financial consultant

The easiest way to find a financial consultant is through referrals from friends, family, or colleagues. However, you can also find consultants online through organizations such as:

On these websites, you can access a wide range of advisors, planners, and consultants with varying certifications and credentials on different financial and investment topics. Make sure to thoroughly look through your options to find the one that best fits your needs.

"When meeting a potential financial consultant, ask about their qualifications, experience, areas of expertise, and fee structure. It's also important to understand their approach to financial planning, how they tailor their services to individual client needs, and the types of clients they work with," says Weiss.

Financial consultant — Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Should you hire a financial consultant?

Financial consultants are finance and investment experts who provide a wide range of services to clients like estate planning, wealth management, retirement planning, insurance strategies, and general financial planning. Anyone with a bank account and financial goals can benefit from meeting with a financial consultant. 

However, "financial consultant" is a general term that doesn't guarantee a level of trustworthiness or expertise. Technically, anyone meeting state and federal licensing standards can call themselves a financial consultant or financial planner. For that reason, make sure to do your research on all potential financial consultants and advisors. 

While non-certified consultants can still offer beneficial advice, certified ChFCs have the reputation, experience, and training necessary to get you where you need to go. 

Community partners and veteran organizations came together Dec. 9 to host the inaugural Military Financial Wellness Summit at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.

The focus of the summit was to assist their active military, as well as their veteran community, in learning how to make informed financial decisions and avoid certain financial pitfalls.

The program covered a variety of financial courses including bankruptcy and consumer law, budgeting and credit management and information for first-time home buyers.

“Just one seemingly small financial mistake can lead to lots of stress, health issues and the bankruptcy court,” said U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jay Brown, who helped to plan the Jacksonville event.

“We want to arm their veterans with the knowledge and skills necessary to make solid financial decisions that promote their financial stability and well-being.”

Emceed by Melissa Ross, director of strategic initiatives for Mayor Donna Deegan, the program began with brief presentations from several local veteran affiliates. 

Attendees heard from Harrison Conyers, director of the city Military Affairs and Veterans Department; Tiffany Cummins Nick, assistant U.S attorney, Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division; David Walton, senior vice president of VyStar Commercial Services; Patty Dodson, chief of staff and general counsel at K9s For Warriors; and Judge Brown.

“At VyStar, their military community has a special place in their business. Providing heroes and their families guidance and support in personal and business is what they do. The Military Financial Wellness Summit will provide another outlet that professionals in finance, legal, accounting and others can meet in one place to provide free advice. They are proud to be a part of the event and look to support in the future as it grows,” Walton said.

The program included video messages by Major General and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chuck Walker and U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean.

After the presentations, attendees had lunch and were able to meet one-on-one with volunteer attorneys and financial advisers.

More than 30 pro bono attorneys, several financial advisers and many volunteers took time out of their Saturday to assist with the summit.

In addition, local veteran organizations were present at the event and provided information.

More than 150 people attended the summit and given its success, it will certainly be an annual event to support their local military and veteran community. 

This event would not have been possible without the support of the city of Jacksonville, VyStar Credit Union, the Veterans Council of Duval County and the Bankruptcy Law Educational Series Foundation Inc.

Other partners include Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, the Jacksonville Bar Association, the Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association, the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, Florida Blue and the Chester Bedell American Inn of Court.

America’s high school and college students are lagging in terms of basic financial literacy, according to a new study from the SPARK Institute and Corporate Insight Inc.

The research, released Friday and intended for annual publication, found that among 956 high school students and 910 college students, many showed limited knowledge of personal financial topics, and the majority showed little faith in school systems to teach them about finance.

Among five multiple choice questions in the survey—covering credit scores, loans, retirement savings, investing and interest accrual—only 39% of the college students got more than half of the answers correct, while high school students fared slightly worse, with 37% getting at least half right.

Looking Ahead

The survey is an early step in what SPARK [Society of Professional Asset Managers and Recordkeepers] Institute President Tim Rouse says will be a core focus for the industry group in the years ahead.

He notes that most of the member firms in SPARK have “independent financial literacy programs,” which prompted SPARK to look for ways to combine forces. One early step was conducting research on young people’s financial literacy.

“We wanted to have a baseline of what high school and college students know when it comes to financial literacy,” Rouse says.

The institute will be bringing the findings to policymakers in hopes of implementing programs that can engage both public and private actors, Rouse says. One group he noted in particular is the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, run out of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and tasked with developing a national strategy on financial education.

More immediate potential vehicles for growth, however, are state governments, many of which are already either mandating or providing financial literacy programming to students, Rouse says. SPARK recently spoke with policymakers from Maine, who introduced a law to have financial literacy taught in high school and some levels of middle school.

“Ideally, the goal here is that they can help support those efforts at the state level to get this type of curriculum into the school,” he says.

Rouse says SPARK also envisions a role for member groups in “training the trainers”—providing teachers with the financial education and tools they need to teach students.

“One of the things they found out in the conversations with the state of Maine is that a lot of teachers are not confident that they can teach these courses,” he says.

Rouse notes that SPARK member groups are well-positioned to help educate teachers, both through expertise and via financial education tools and products in which they’ve invested for their businesses.

Currently, 25 states guarantee a “standalone personal finance course” for high schoolers, according to a tracker by Next Gen Personal Finance. Only eight states have fully implemented such an offering, with the other 17 in progress, according to the nonprofit that provides personal finance educational programs.

Education Matters

The SPARK and Corporate Insight researchers found some bright spots for high school students, as those planning to go to college tended to do better. But students who do not plan to go to college did not fare well, indicating an issue when they budget, plan and save in their working lives, according to the report.

“The financial services industry spends significant resources on educating employees on how to save and invest for the future,” said Snezana Zlatar, chair of SPARK’s financial literacy committee, in a statement accompanying the report. “However, there is not enough focus on providing education to high school and college age students build good financial habits early in life.”

The education level of a students’ parents also played a role: Students with parents who attended college got more than half of the answers correct, at a rate of 70% for high school students and 66% for college students. Of students whose parents did not attend college, only 30% of high schoolers got half of the answers correct, and 58% of college students got half right.

“You’re going to start to see this growing gap between the more affluent and the less affluent, which is a big concern,” Rouse says. “Poor minorities are likely to suffer more, simply because their parents aren’t in the position to provide the right information, and they’re not getting it from schools.”

Behavior to Match

The majority of college students (55%) have plans for a “large expense” in the near term, but a number of them are not exhibiting the best behaviors to meet that goal, according to the study.

Over the past six months from when the survey was taken in July, 29% of college students surveyed reported overdrafted their checking accounts, and 16% said they missed credit card payments.

When asked to do a self-assessment of their financial know-how, just 18% of high schoolers and 26% of college students said they have a “somewhat high” or “very high” knowledge of finance. Looking ahead, only 46% of high schoolers and 55% of college students marked that they know enough to reach their financial goals.

Finally, the researchers asked students about the schools themselves. In that case, just 11% of high schoolers and 18% of college students said their schools did “well” or “extremely well” in preparing them to make personal finance decisions.

The survey was conducted by the SPARK Institute in partnership with Corporate Insight Inc. in July, examining aptitude, behavior and confidence levels of 956 high school students and 910 college students regarding foundational principles of personal financial management (the ABCs of Financial Literacy).