| What is an Independent Financial Advisor? Financial Advisors consult with individuals or families who are in need of various financial products and services to meet their long term and short term financial goals. The advisor will recommend products and services based on these goals and in consideration of risk tolerance, tax exposure, liquidity, cost, and other factors. Many of these products and services provide fixed guarantees in terms of cash values and require no securities licensing or employer sponsorship, as is required to sell risk based investment products. Independent Financial Advisors are not tethered to or employed by a specific provider company but, rather can recommend a wide range of products and services from a variety of service providers. The advisor must have a contract with the provider companies in order to offer these products. Often, the advisor will affiliate with an Independent Marketing Organization which provides marketing support, provider contracts, training, product access, and management support in exchange for commission overrides. Because of the financial guarantees offered to the client, some of these products are insurance regulated contracts and require the advisor to have a state insurance license. Other products may be finance type products and have varying state requirements in terms of licensing. Sales ability is not a prerequisite for this position, which more resembles the job of an educator or an accountant. Rather than working with numbers from the past, the advisor works with future numbers or "illustrations" based on a set of assumptions. Good mathematical skills are a prerequisite. Advisors may be "fee based", receiving compensation direct from the client or may be "commission based", receiving compensation from the product providers or carriers. Most clients prefer the latter form of compensation as they need the assistance of the advisor to acquire the recommended products and services even though they are aware of the potential conflict of interest. What kind of financial products and services can an Freedom Equity Group Financial Advisor provide?
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What is an IFA?
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