7 concrete questions to determine whether the person talking to you about money works for you or for someone else.
The Problem No One Explains to You
Every day, someone gives you financial advice.
The bank manager who calls you to suggest “an opportunity.” The colleague who has discovered online trading. The cousin who bought Bitcoin in 2017 (but does not tell you that he sold at a loss in 2018). The influencer who explains on YouTube how they invested their own money, with a link in the description to a platform that pays them a commission.
And, quite reasonably, you do not know whom to believe.
It is not your fault. The Italian financial system is structured so that savers almost never have the tools to distinguish genuine advice from a disguised sale. And the data confirm it: according to CONSOB, 8 out of 10 savers do not know how their financial adviser is paid. Eight out of ten.
This means that the overwhelming majority of Italians entrust their money to someone without the slightest idea of who remunerates them or why. It would be like having surgery without knowing whether the surgeon is paid by the hospital or by the company that produces the implants they want to put in you.
Yet all it would take is asking the right questions. Seven, to be precise. They work with anyone: the bank employee, the sales representative, the independent adviser, the knowledgeable friend, the finfluencer. And they work especially well with people who become offended when you ask them.
The 7 Questions to Ask Anyone Before You Trust Them
1. Who Pays You?
The first question is the most important. It is also the one almost no one asks.
Follow the money is the oldest principle in the world. It is not cynicism: it is basic economics. No such thing as a free lunch, as they teach on the first page of the first economics textbook. If someone offers you a “free” service, someone else is paying. And that someone else is not you, which means that the primary interest of the person advising you is not yours.
A bank employee is paid by the bank, with a salary and bonuses linked to the sale of financial products. A financial sales representative is a tied commercial agent (registered with ENASARCO, like someone who sells vacuum cleaners door to door), remunerated through commissions on what they place with you. An independent adviser is paid directly by the client, through a transparent and agreed fee.
The answer to this question tells you everything you need to know about the alignment of incentives. If the client pays, the adviser works for the client. If the bank pays, the adviser works for the bank. This is not a moral judgment; it is an economic fact.
Practical rule: if the person advising you cannot explain within 30 seconds who pays them and how, something does not add up.
Practical rule: if the person advising you cannot explain within 30 seconds who pays them and how, something does not add up.
2. Are You Registered with the Register?
In Italy, there is the Single Register of Financial Advisers, maintained by the OCF (Supervisory and Register-Keeping Body for the Single Register of Financial Advisers). It is divided into three sections, and the section in which the person in front of you is registered changes everything:
- Agents Section (formerly financial sales representatives): they work for a bank or a network and sell the products of the principal. There are approximately 35,000.
- Autonomous Advisers Section: they work independently and cannot sell products or receive commissions. They are remunerated only by the client. There are approximately 600.
- SCF Section (Financial Advisory Companies): like autonomous advisers, but in corporate form. There are approximately 70.
Agents Section (formerly financial sales representatives): they work for a bank or a network and sell the products of the principal. There are approximately 35,000.
Autonomous Advisers Section: they work independently and cannot sell products or receive commissions. They are remunerated only by the client. There are approximately 600.
SCF Section (Financial Advisory Companies): like autonomous advisers, but in corporate form. There are approximately 70.
The difference is structural. It is not a question of individual ability (there are excellent professionals in every section), but of the business model. Someone in the Agents Section has a financial incentive to sell financial products. Someone in the Autonomous Advisers or SCF section does not, because they are legally prohibited from doing so.
You can verify anyone’s registration on the OCF website.
Practical rule: if the person advising you is not registered with the Register, or does not know which section they belong to, stop.
Practical rule: if the person advising you is not registered with the Register, or does not know which section they belong to, stop.
3. Do You Earn Money from Selling Products?
This is the question that exposes the conflict of interest.
Trail commissions are the remuneration that asset management companies pay to those who distribute their products (banks, networks, sales representatives). This is how it works: you buy a mutual fund with an annual cost of 2%, approximately half of which is passed on to the bank and the sales representative who placed it with you. Every year, for as long as you remain invested.
It is not a secret. It is written in the information documents (which no one reads) and in MiFID statements (which few people know they are supposed to receive). But the mechanism is designed to be as invisible as possible to the saver.
The problem is not receiving commissions or being paid—long live capitalism and profit, if honest. The problem is when the commission influences the advice and the client does not know it. The Einstellung effect does the rest: if the only source of income is selling products, every problem will be “solved” by selling products.
Practical rule: ask explicitly, “Do you receive trail commissions or commissions from the products you recommend to me?” Observe the reaction.
Practical rule: ask explicitly, “Do you receive trail commissions or commissions from the products you recommend to me?” Observe the reaction.
4. Can You Show Me the MiFID Statement?
Since 2018, the European MiFID II regulations have required all intermediaries to send clients, by 30 April each year, a detailed statement of all costs and charges incurred in the previous year. In euros, not percentages. In black and white.
It is the most powerful tool available to you as a saver. Yet 42% of clients think they pay nothing for their investments, and 24% do not know how much they pay (CONSOB data).
If your current adviser, sales representative or bank employee has never shown you this document, or cannot explain it clearly, you have the answer you were looking for. And if you have never received it—which still happens far too often in Italy despite the legal obligation—ask for an explanation.
Practical rule: before making any new financial decision, ask for the MiFID statements for the last three years. Compare the total costs in euros with the net return achieved.
Practical rule: before making any new financial decision, ask for the MiFID statements for the last three years. Compare the total costs in euros with the net return achieved.
5. What Is Your Track Record Compared with the Benchmark?
Advisers do not particularly like this question because it forces them to confront reality.
A benchmark is a reference index: the yardstick used to measure whether the active management of your money has created or destroyed value compared with a simple passive investment in ETFs. If your adviser has built a portfolio of actively managed mutual funds with annual costs of 2%, and that portfolio has returned less over the last five years than an equivalent ETF portfolio costing 0.2%, the difference is the price you paid for advice that did not work.
This is not about demanding miraculous returns. It is about measuring. And measurement is the natural enemy of those who sell inefficient financial products, because it makes visible what costs conceal.
Practical rule: ask, “How much has my portfolio returned over the last 3–5 years, net of all costs, compared with an equivalent ETF portfolio?”
Practical rule: ask, “How much has my portfolio returned over the last 3–5 years, net of all costs, compared with an equivalent ETF portfolio?”
6. What Happens If I Change My Mind?
One of the most widespread traps in the traditional financial system is lock-in: contractual mechanisms that make leaving costly or complicated.
Early-exit penalties on life insurance policies and pension funds (which can reach 5–10% of the capital in the first few years). Redemption fees on mutual funds. Time restrictions on asset management services. Withdrawal clauses requiring several months’ notice.
No serious professional needs to chain you down. If the service is good, you stay because it is worthwhile. If it is not good, you must be able to leave without penalties. This principle applies to an independent adviser just as it does to a bank.
Practical rule: before signing anything, ask, “How much will it cost me to leave tomorrow, in one year and in five years?” If the answer is vague, do not sign.
Practical rule: before signing anything, ask, “How much will it cost me to leave tomorrow, in one year and in five years?” If the answer is vague, do not sign.
7. Would You Be Willing to Put It in Writing?
The definitive question. The one that separates the professional from the salesperson.
A serious adviser has no problem putting their recommendations, costs, return assumptions and risks in writing. In fact, it is a professional obligation. Personalised recommendations must be documented.
Those who back away from this request usually do so because they know that words spoken aloud carry a different weight from those written on paper. “It is a unique opportunity” sounds good when said aloud. In writing, it sounds like a promise that no serious professional would ever make.
Practical rule: if the person advising you is not willing to put what they say in writing, do not trust what they say.
Practical rule: if the person advising you is not willing to put what they say in writing, do not trust what they say.
The 4 Red Flags That Matter More Than Any Question
In addition to the 7 questions, there are statements that should trigger an immediate alarm. You do not need financial expertise to recognise them. Common sense is enough.
- “It’s free.” There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are not paying with money, you are paying with something else: your attention, your data, or your misplaced trust. Anyone offering you “free” advice is being paid by someone else—and that someone else has interests that are not yours.
- “Guaranteed return.” In the world of financial investments, nothing is guaranteed (apart from government bonds, within certain limits). Anyone promising you certain returns is either lying or does not understand what they are talking about. In either case, run.
- “You have to decide immediately.” Artificial urgency is the oldest sales technique in the world. Investments should be made calmly, after a serious analysis of your situation. No legitimate financial opportunity disappears if you take 48 hours to think about it.
- “This is a unique opportunity.” There is no such thing as a unique opportunity in the financial markets. Markets are open 250 days a year and have been for decades. If someone tells you there is a train passing only once, it is not a train—it is a trap.
“It’s free.” There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you are not paying with money, you are paying with something else: your attention, your data, or your misplaced trust. Anyone offering you “free” advice is being paid by someone else—and that someone else has interests that are not yours.
“Guaranteed return.” In the world of financial investments, nothing is guaranteed (apart from government bonds, within certain limits). Anyone promising you certain returns is either lying or does not understand what they are talking about. In either case, run.
“You have to decide immediately.” Artificial urgency is the oldest sales technique in the world. Investments should be made calmly, after a serious analysis of your situation. No legitimate financial opportunity disappears if you take 48 hours to think about it.
“This is a unique opportunity.” There is no such thing as a unique opportunity in the financial markets. Markets are open 250 days a year and have been for decades. If someone tells you there is a train passing only once, it is not a train—it is a trap.
How to Apply All This in Practice
You do not need technical expertise. You need a method.
Before making any financial decision, take these 7 questions, print them (or save them on your smartphone), and ask them one by one to anyone proposing something to you. It does not matter whether it is your bank manager of 20 years, Italy’s most highly regarded independent adviser, or a finfluencer with a million followers.
The answers will tell you everything you need to know. And if someone becomes offended, you already have your answer.
At Plannix, we are independent financial advisers registered with the Register in the Financial Advisory Companies section. We do not receive trail commissions, we do not sell financial products, and we have no exit penalties. Our clients are people who pay for a service and receive a service—not followers, fans or supporters.
We are not saying this to boast. We are saying it because we believe every saver deserves to know how the system works and to be able to choose with awareness.
FAQ
How can I check whether an adviser is registered with the OCF Register?
Go to the OCF website (https://www.organismocf.it) and search by first and last name in the “Search advisers” section. The result will show the section to which they belong (agents, autonomous advisers or SCF) and their registration status. It takes 30 seconds and could save you thousands of euros.
Can a financial sales representative really work in my interest?
They may be competent, well prepared and acting in good faith. But the business model in which they operate provides for their remuneration to come from selling financial products, not from advice. This creates a structural conflict of interest that individual goodwill cannot eliminate. It is like asking a car dealer whether taking the bus would be in your interest: they may give you an honest opinion, but the financial incentive pushes in the opposite direction.
How much does an independent financial adviser cost?
It depends on the complexity of the case and the assets involved, but generally the cost of independent, fee-based advice is lower—often substantially lower—than the hidden cost of financial products placed through the traditional model. The difference is that in the first case, the cost is explicit, transparent and agreed. In the second, it is hidden within the products and visible only in the MiFID statement—which few people read.
Do these questions also apply to financial advice found online?
Especially to that advice. Online financial education is paid for by sponsors, platforms and affiliate arrangements. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it creates a conflict of interest that cannot be eliminated. When someone offers you “free” financial education content, always ask yourself: who is paying for it? Is it the advertiser, the broker or the trading platform? If so, the content may be valid, but the incentive to recommend certain products or behaviours is real.
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