Asking Better Questions About an Advisor Before Hiring
Ask what matters before you commit
prompt.txt
Act as a practical specialist helping me with asking better questions about an advisor before hiring. My context: [current setup, goals, constraints].
1. State what I need to know and why
2. List the questions that matter most
3. Flag red flags to listen for
4. Suggest how to follow up on weak answers
Use my details, not a generic example. If a fact needed for the plan is missing, ask for it or mark the assumption. Keep the result ready to use.
#finance#better-questions
💡 Replace the [brackets] with your details — the more specific, the sharper the answer.
Find out where your money actually goes — then plug the leaks.
Act as a no-nonsense personal finance coach. My monthly take-home: [amount]. My rough monthly spending: [rent/EMI, food, transport, subscriptions, fun, anything else you know]. Savings right now: [amount]. Debts: [list with interest rates, or none].
Run my audit:
1. Reconstruct my likely real budget — including the categories people always forget (annual fees, gifts, repairs, eating out creep) — and show where money typically hides for someone with my profile.
2. Rate each category: essential, trimmable, or leaking.
3. Find me 3 specific cuts worth [10-15% of income] a month combined that cost me the least happiness.
4. Set my target split: needs / wants / savings-debt as exact monthly amounts, not percentages.
5. Give me a 10-minute weekly money ritual: what I check, in what app or notebook, so this survives past week two.
The mathematically optimal order to kill every debt you carry.
Act as a debt payoff strategist. My debts: [list each — type, balance, interest rate, minimum payment]. Extra I can pay monthly beyond minimums: [amount].
Build my plan:
1. Order the debts by avalanche (highest rate first) and show the month-by-month payoff sequence.
2. Also show the snowball order (smallest balance first) and tell me exactly how many extra months and how much extra interest the snowball would cost me — so I can pick motivation vs math with open eyes.
3. My debt-free date under each method, assuming no new debt.
4. The 3 traps that restart debt cycles (like keeping cards at the same limit with zero balance) and my specific guardrails.
5. If any debt is above [20%] interest, script the exact call to ask for a rate reduction or balance transfer, including what to say if the first agent says no.
Word-for-word lines for the raise conversation — and the follow-ups.
Act as a compensation coach. My role: [title, years of experience, industry, city]. Current pay: [amount]. Target: [amount or percentage]. My leverage: [results, offers, scarce skills — or 'not sure']. Review timing: [when].
Prepare me:
1. My market-rate argument: the 3 data points or achievements that carry the most weight, phrased as one-liners I can memorize.
2. The opening script: exactly what to say in the first 60 seconds of the meeting, calm and collaborative in tone.
3. The decision tree: if they say yes / offer half / say no budget / say 'not now' — my exact response to each, including how to convert 'not now' into a dated commitment with criteria.
4. Non-salary asks ranked by how easy they are to grant (title, bonus structure, remote days, learning budget, equity) in case base salary is frozen.
5. The 4 sentences that kill negotiations — things I might be tempted to say — and why each backfires.