where to find a financial advisor (insurance, credit, college)

[sandycat]

Can anyone recommend a good financial advisor in the area? I'm at a loss, I have no idea where to look for these types of people.... yellow pages? word of mouth? TIA!

[Citizen Matt]

Yes, a financial investment advisor, i.e. no retirement, college funds, etc. A 200k min.

[sandycat]

Are you saying that YOU are a financial investment advisor? I'm confused.

[Citizen Matt]

Nope, I'm not. If YOU meet the criteria for what I stated, I'll provide YOU with a name and number of a financial investment advisor I know who lives in the area.

[frogandtoad]

What are you looking for? In other words, are you just looking to have someone manage money in a brokerage account or are you looking to get a better picture of your entire financial picture and work toward filling in gaps? These are generally different people.

Someone who keeps close watch on your brokerage account spends his time doing just that--keepign close tabs on the stock market, specific funds, etc. This of course is very useful if you don't know how to/want to do this and have money. Generally only advisable for people with a fair amount of money to use ($100K being on the low end)

Then there is a financial planner who looks at the bigger picture. They can tell you where you'll be at age 65/55/whatever if you continue along your current path of savings. This can give you great insight into whether what you are doing is enough to get where you want to be. Also can work with you to look at various scenarios (will your family ahve enough to get by if you die? If your spouse dies? If you're permanently disabled, etc...so looks at life and disability insurance. Also looks at college (or other goal) savings. All the scenarios are computer-generated and can give you really good look at where you are/where you are short. Additionally can suggest investments which will lower your tax bracket when you are in retirement (which cannot be done once you're there....I can go into this more if you like, but best bet is to sit down and speak with someone). They don't look at investments daily, that's not their focus. They put you in diversified funds and then look at them quarterly.

I think these 2 people are not mutually exclusive. I'd start w/the bigger picture if you are just starting out/don't know where you stand/don't know much about finance. Then add someone to manage your accounts more actively as your money grows.

I do not work in this field (any longer--did years ago) so I am not selling anything here.

And go with personal references only--there are way too many people who are not good (as in any field) or who just pass through this field.

[playnice]

Credit unions have good financial advisors/planners.

[virgo]

Under the General Forums section, there is also this board: Business, Finance, and Investing Forum

If you search on the word "advisor" on the above board, you'll pull up past discussions. Of course, if you have specific questions about financial advisors, you can post your questions there as well. Trying to help. Good luck.