How do I find a personal financial planner?

[Anonymous]

We need help with our finances- how to save and invest, how to go about buying a home, how to save for DC college, etc. everything basically. Recommendations? And how much does it generally cost?

[Anonymous]

www.napfa.org for a list of reputable, fee only financial planners.

I think there is a list on there of what you should ask at your first consultation (usually free), but understand how they are paid and what they will provide.

i've heard ranges of everything from $600 to thousands, depending on what you need, but just meet with somebody to get some quotes/get started.

I'm an MBA so for better or for worse I do our own finances, but probably should see one of these people!

[Anonymous]

I'm an obsessive Learnvest User. I took an online survey, and was then connected to a real person. This real person went over everything with us - debts, goals, income, spending, etc. He then gave us a year-long plan with the exact amounts to spend on things.
Everything is trackable online, and I check it every day.
We have paid off a bunch of cc debt, and paid for 3 vacations (family weddings) this year with cash. He made us up our retirement spending, our life insurance, and made us get wills. I believe it was like, $350 and then is $19 a month. I adore it. I feel like we are actually in control of our finances and how to plan for the future. There is also an option for investing as well. Use my link and I think you get $50 off https://www.learnvest.com/mylv/referrals/lcxKTlzc

[Anonymous]

I am really intrigued by this-but I worried that it's a little sketchy. I love Mint and have used it for years, but it hasn't really done much for our finances, other than let me know how we aren't doing a good job of managing much of anything. I'd love to believe that this might be a good next step for our finances.

[Anonymous]

I am trying to build a book of business, professionally (and it is a challenge). So, I am currently looking for new clients. I work at the firm that was just featured on the cover of the most recent Barron's so if you'd like contact information, let me know.

[Anonymous]

22:32: I was a bit nervous at first too, but you first talk with your financial planner, and you can decide if you are comfortable with that person. Mine is pretty great - and I was able to google him and make sure he existed and didn't have any obvious issues (ax murder, etc).

LearnVest operates a lot like Mint, but and gives you folders to budget with. It also gives you a monthly road map, with changes. For example, this month, we had to increase our 401K contributions, which meant contributing a bit less to debt payment.

This system has gotten us to realize the absurd amount we spent on food - we were literally eating our debt repayment money. I also love looking ahead each month and seeing exactly what happens as I follow the plan - we'll have half of our cc debt paid off at the end of the year. Nothing so motivating as to see exactly what will happen.

I'm a huge fan - and it is working really well for us.

[Anonymous]

As someone noted above, the general advice is to go with fee only advisors -- those who charge fees and do not work on commissions. But lots of advisors charge fees and work on commissions, often without disclosing the latter so be careful. We used a financial planner for a little while a few years back and it definitely was not worth it. It may have been if we wanted someone to just take over, but I don't mind doing our finances, I just wanted to find someone who would do better, and that can be hard to do. It sounds like, however, that you also want help with budgeting and that sort of thing, whereas most financial planners focus on investing with some attention paid to mortgages insurance etc. and for that one of the websites or programs mentioned above might work fine. Fees can be kind of high or look high -- 1-2% of assets, and you can also pay someone to just make you a plan (generally in the neighborhood of $1,000). Choose carefully and good luck with it.

[TinaChan]

In fact, there are many ways that you can use. For instance, you can choose to turn to a moneylender that can give you a financial assistance.

[Anonymous]

Deborah Bowles at Wells Fargo on Wisc Ave in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Get and read a basic Bogleheads or Suze Orman book before you talk to any financial planner. Too many are just there to skim money on commissions, and it can be hard to know where they are really coming from. There's simply no way to protect yourself without acquiring some solid foundational knowledge. No matter how highly recommended, you just can't passively rely on professional advice in this area. (It's not just the commissions issue--it's just not an area of your life you can hire the right person and let it be. Come to the table with some of your own thoughts and plenty of skepticism.)

[Anonymous]

I agree with 23:41 -- Suze Orman is fine to start with; I liked a book I read some years ago called Get a Financial Life (the author's name is escaping me but she's easily found); and of course there's an endless list of good websites that decent reputable money advice. And best of all, all those resources are free! (If you go to the library.)

You really may not need a planner, because your needs as you've described them are not very complex. At the very least, doing your homework ahead of time will allow you to get the most out of your time with a planner, which will prevent you from wasting $$$ asking questions that you could have figured out on your own.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Call Bernie Madoff at the Butner Federal Corrections Facility.

[Anonymous]

Download some episodes of APM Marketplace Money, and you'll learn a lot.

The recommend this network I think:
http://www.napfa.org/

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/your-money/whiteboard/explainer-how-choose-financial-planner

http://www.fool.com/investing/brokerage/2010/06/24/3-things-your-advisors-too-scared-to-tell-you.aspx

And I think these are legit, but I am less certain:
http://garrettplanningnetwork.com/

Partly b/c I trust marketplace more than fool.com