If you decide to hire an investment professional to invest your money for you, one thing you might want to discuss with prospective advisors is the Investment Policy Statement (IPS). The IPS is drafted between you and the advisor that outlines the rules they are to follow when investing your money.
The advisor will typically ask you many questions about your investment goals and objectives, as well as risk tolerance. The IPS will describe the strategy that will be used to achieve these goals. Included in your IPS will be information about risk tolerance, asset allocation, and liquidity needs. The IPS helps to set expectations, and provide guidelines that the advisor is allowed to follow. The relationship between advisor and client often gets strained, especially during bear markets, or if the client has concerns that investments were a match for him or her. Communication is key, and the IPS is a good tool to begin the relationship with, and to refer to when meeting with them for reviews.
