I really do feel sorry for the 1000 financial advisors, wealth managers, retirement specialists, etc. etc. that we put through our process.  That said, less than half of them even made it through the first step ... so I don't really feel that bad.  We conducted our review between December of 2007 and April of 2008.  We reviewed financial professionals from large brokerages, independent brokerages, insurance companies, and so on.  Below, you will find the process we used to determine who was going to be Our Pick for the best financial professional.  You will also see how many financial professionals made it through each step of the process.

Step 1.  492 candidates continued past this step.
Call the candidate's office.  If able to get a live person within 2 minutes, continue as a candidate.

Step 2.  336 candidates continued past this step.
Tell the candidate that you are a prospective client.  If they seem overly salesy, remove for the list of candidates.

Step 3.  170 candidates continued past this step.
Set appointment with the candidate.  If the appointment is within the next 2 weeks, continue as a candidate.

Step 4.  88 candidates continued past this step.
At appointment, explain to the candidate that you have about $500,000 in investable assets, but are uneducated regarding investing.  If the candidate tries to immediately pull assets over, remove from the list.  If candidate gives educational material, continue to next step.  Tell the candidate that you would 'like to think about it' and will be back in contact with them.

Step 5.  20 candidates continued past this step.
Do not call the candidate for 1 month.  If during that time the candidate calls more than 4 times or is overly pushy, remove from the list.

Step 6.  13 candidates continued past this step.
Schedule a follow-up appointment with the candidate.  Tell them that you would like to go over the educational materials and would like to discuss fees, etc.  If appointment is more than 2 weeks away, remove as a candidate.

Step 7.  9 candidates continued past his step.
At the appointment, appear as if you have completely forgotten everything the candidate explained to you last time.  Ask them to spend time going through it again.  If they seem agitated or refuse, remove as a candidate.

Step 8.  8 candidates continued past this step.
Ask the candidate to explain their fees.  If they do not offer both commission and annual fee options, or if they seem to be automatically pushing one over the other, remove as a candidate.

Step 9.  5 candidates continued past this step.
Ask the candidate for a proposal.  If the candidate seems to be giving a 'cookie cutter' proposal or if the candidate gives a proposal without asking specifics about retirement objectives, etc. remove as a candidate.

Step 10.  3 candidates continued past this step.
Ask the candidate what strategies they employed in making the proposal.  If they mention market timing, market analysis, options, commodities, etc., remove as a candidate.

Step 11.  Our Pick for best financial professional is selected.
Review the proposals from the remaining candidates.  Which one attempted to best understand our personal situation?  Which one was easiest to speak with?  Which one seemed the most willing to help?  The person selected from this step is Our Pick for best financial professional.