Methodology

What the Advisor Scorecard measures—and what it does not.

The Scorecard is a short educational self-assessment. It helps business owners identify questions worth discussing with their current advisor; it does not diagnose misconduct, calculate losses, or recommend replacing an advisor.

Six dimensions of an advisory relationship

1

Business context

Whether planning considers the business, household, and investment picture together.

2

Tax coordination

Whether tax returns, account types, asset location, and outside professionals inform planning.

3

Decision support

Whether major decisions are modeled and discussed before action is taken.

4

Fee clarity

Whether the client can translate the fee into dollars and name the services received.

5

Household alignment

Whether the people affected by the plan understand and participate in key decisions.

6

Behavioral coaching

Whether the advisor adds perspective when emotions or short-term pressure could distort a long-term decision.

How scoring works

Each answer receives 0, 1, or 3 points. The total is converted to a percentage and grouped into “priority review,” “needs review,” or “strong foundation.” A lower result means the answers revealed more discussion points—not that the advisor caused a specific financial loss.

Results are produced in the browser. The quiz does not require an email and does not transmit individual answers through the site’s lead form.

Editorial and commercial transparency

Advisor Scorecard is an educational project. Its framework draws on established financial-planning concepts and has been reviewed by Nicky Morong, CFP®, CLU®. Some optional links can introduce visitors to Peterkin Financial or to a third-party financial snapshot tool. Those links are clearly optional and do not change a visitor’s score.

Content is general education, not individualized financial, tax, investment, or legal advice. Verify credentials, services, conflicts, compensation, and disciplinary history independently before hiring or replacing a professional.