Making the most of our relationship

Communicate with your financial advisor

  • Notify your financial advisor promptly whenever you experience a significant change in your life, for example, if there are changes to your financial goals, income or net worth.
  • Tell your financial advisor about mutual fund holdings you own outside of Ameriprise Financial, so he or she can make sure you receive any applicable “breakpoint” discount.
  • Provide complete and accurate information about your financial situation, goals and risk tolerance so your financial advisor can provide you with appropriate planning advice and recommendations.
  • Review your financial plan and portfolio regularly, including whenever you experience a significant change in your life. You may also want to make appropriate changes based on the performance of your investments.

Keep your accounts current

  • Work with your financial advisor to ensure you have adequate cash holdings or available margin-buying power in your investment accounts. When buying securities, withdrawing money from your account, paying fees and having adequate cash on hand will make these processes faster and easier.
  • Review all transaction confirmations and account statements or reports carefully. If you find an error or discrepancy, please promptly contact your financial advisor or call us at 800.862.7919.
  • When things change — like your address, other contact information or beneficiary designations — let us know right away so that we can stay in touch without interruption and keep all aspects of your accounts updated.
  • Please remember, all states require financial firms to report and remit client accounts with undeliverable addresses or no sign of client activity after a state-specified period of time. This can be easily avoided by keeping your accounts and personal information current.

Use the right resources — carefully

  • Please understand Ameriprise Financial does not provide legal or tax advice. We encourage you to consult an attorney or a tax adviser for legal and tax questions.
  • Keep in mind you are fully responsible for all your financial decisions.
  • Carefully consider the validity and reliability of financial and investment information obtained from all sources, especially unsolicited information obtained on the internet.
  • The opinions of your financial advisor should never be interpreted as a guarantee of future performance or rate of return.
  • It’s important to understand the manner in which your advisor is compensated — described later in this guide — may create a potential conflict of interest. We believe it’s in everyone’s best interest to know about potential conflicts of interest up front. To that end, if you have any questions about conflicts of interest after reading this digital guide, discuss them with your financial advisor.

Inform and educate yourself

  • Seek out information by asking your financial advisor questions about your financial plan, your accounts, specific transactions, risks, potential conflicts of interest, financial terminology, commissions, sales charges and fees.
  • If you don’t understand the purpose of a recommendation by your financial advisor, ask questions until you fully understand.
  • Thoroughly read all sales literature, prospectuses, account agreements, policies and contracts, and other offering documents before making financial decisions. Carefully consider all risks, fees and other factors explained in these documents. Remember — every investment has some degree of risk, and it is possible to lose money on any investment.
  • Ask your financial advisor how you may be able to manage these risks. Some risks relate to market fluctuations, inflation rates, credit ratings of bond and securities issuers, tax issues, currency-exchange rates for international investments, the liquidity of your investments, and withdrawal rates.
  • Withdrawal-rate risks are especially critical if you are preparing for or are in retirement, and your withdrawal rate is a major factor in how long your assets will last. Even when your portfolio is appropriately structured and your investments are performing well, we recommend that you consider several factors when deciding how or when to withdraw your money. In general, your age, your life expectancy, the type and amount of your investments will help you determine the best way to access your money. Periodically reviewing your retirement income strategy with your financial advisor can help you plan for and manage this risk over time.