If you want to get your big picture finances together, find a “fee-based” financial planner. This is someone that you pay by the hour for their unbiased advise, rather than a broker (who is actually a salesperson). I invested about $50k with my CPA, who also happened to be a New York Life insurance agent and NYLife Securities broker, who also happened to be my wife’s friend. She was paid a commission on the investment vehicles that she steered me into, and as it turns out, the investments she steered me into were not appropriate for my financial situation, but were the highest commission products available – variable annuities. (http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/investing/index.cfm?story=wrongannuities)

And I thought I was a pretty experienced investor. Her pitch about tax deferral made sense at the time, but now that I read up on variable annuities, it’s pretty sickening that I didn’t do my homework @ the time.

In any case, my wife still refuses to believe that her friend steered us wrong and completely balked when I wanted to spend $125 an hour to get independent advice. But now I’ve got a much bigger portfolio, and this is the only way to get professional advice without getting taken to the cleaners.