Why consider using a financial planner during your life?

Sometimes it is helpful to find someone who understands where you are in life.

And sometimes, that someone is your financial planner.

John Pak is a Certified Financial Planner for the Otium Consulting Group in Los Angeles. To find the right financial planner for you, he says, consider leaving with someone of the same age.

During his 19 years working in financial consulting, he discovered that being in a similar life phase helps him connect with his clients. "I know that someone is able to work with me if the conversation is going well and that there is a good feeling," he says.

For example, Pak says, "I'm addressing generations X and Y. I mix well with those who are my age, plus or minus 10. It's because we're at the same stage of the life."

For this reason, one of the things that he says that customers should ask when they are considering meeting a potential financial planner is simply this: "Are we at the same stage of life?"

He says that not only can you better get along with a financial planner during your life, but you will also share similar experiences and challenges. "When someone comes in and talks about the cost of child care, I know exactly what they mean," says Pak, who has a young girl.

It is important that you feel comfortable with your financial planner because you will share your financial information. "If you do not feel comfortable sharing things like financial documents, it probably will not suit you," he says.

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