The role of a financial advisor is to render investment advice and financial planning services to the client. Whether dealing with an individual or a business, the job is the same: maximize the client's net worth with as little risk as possible using proper asset allocation. In other words, the financial advisor advises where the money should be invested.

The money can be put into stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and insurance products..

One of the biggest jobs of the financial advisor is retirement investing. A strong knowledge of budgeting, forecasting, taxation, asset allocation and financial tools is necessary to set goals that are realistic and put a plan in motion to reach them using tools such as 401k, Roth accounts, and IRAs in addition to the tools mentioned above.

In order to achieve the desired result, the financial advisor will take into account such things as the expected inflation, tax liabilities and projected return on investment. Using that information he will determine how much, in terms of percentage, of the available income is needed to reach a minimum amount by the target retirement date..

Investing is another major role of the financial advisor. In the matters of both long term and short term investing, the financial advisor must determine the clients' goals and risk tolerance in order to recommend the proper investments. Generally, when dealing with long term investing, the approach is more aggressive and risky.

Less volatile, lower risk means are used for short term investments..

The financial advisor is compensated for his time by collecting a commission from the client, based on the services and products provided.

Finance : Financial advisor