A financial planner with 10 years of experience says there's a dead giveaway a prospective client won't be a good fit

Krista Cavalieri

Krista Cavalieri.

• Financial planner Krista Cavalieri has found that a client who's ready to sign on with her right away probably won't be a good fit in the long term.
• She advises taking time to plan for, choose, and work with a financial planner, rather than just doing it on a whim.
• That's because your finances have to be an ongoing project, and the people who are most successful with her make a deliberate choice to commit for the long term.
• Need help with your money? SmartAsset's free tool can help find a financial planner near you »

Financial planner Krista Cavalieri of Ohio-based financial planning firm Evolve Capital has been in financial planning for nearly 10 years, and she's found one trait that signals someone might not be quite ready to start working with her.

"For me, a sign that someone might not be a good fit is someone ready to sign on day one," she says. Taking your time in getting into your commitment with a financial planner is one way to show that you're truly engaged, Cavalieri says, and that you're thinking critically about your decision. After all, you are making a financial decision when you decide to work with a financial planner, so it's worth showing that planner that you can think through all money decisions clearly.

Cavalieri suggests taking your time in all parts of this choice, from deciding to see a financial planner, to choosing the right one, and ultimately committing to them.

"It's not as much what they say as what they do," says Cavalieri. A big red flag to her? "Impulsive buying they didn't think about," she says.

"Overly impulsive people tend to jump in head first, but then they fall off," she adds. In her opinion, it's important to really think it through and commit before coming in to work with a financial planner. Those who come in on a whim often don't get as much out of the experience.

"With your finances, it needs to be a long-term thing," says Cavalieri. Just like working with a financial planner, those who do the best, in her opinion, are those who can think about the big picture.

But, she finds that those who come in with purpose and those who are engaged can be very successful with a financial planner. "Someone who's already engaged in their financial picture, they tend to have the most success," says Cavalieri.

Need help with your money? SmartAsset's free tool can help find a financial planner near you »

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