More on the Availability and Need for Free DIY Financial Advice

My strong belief is that we'll all be better off as individual investors and financial planners if we take the time to more fully understand the relationship between individual earnings, savings, debt, inflation, investment returns, houses as investments, stocks, bonds, cash and the role, if any, of financial advisers, asset managers and lenders in all this.

So let's get started.

Meeting With a Financial Adviser: Read This First. is subtitled 'The first get-together is usually free. Make the most of it:'

"Thinking of taking your muddled finances to a financial adviser for some professional assistance?

Many advisers offer prospective clients an initial free meeting. You should consider meeting with two or three people to compare their approaches and your comfort level with each of them.

Here are pointers from people in the business on preparing for these meetings and then making the most of them:

BEFORE YOU GO

Decide what help you are seeking."Do you want financial planning or investment management?" asks Alan Moore, founder of Serenity Financial Consulting LLC in Milwaukee, Wis.  

The former can involve advice and recommendations on one or two questions—or comprehensive attention to your entire financial picture; the latter involves turning over one's investment portfolio to a professional. 

Some advisers provide both services, but others don't.

Your needs will help determine appropriate professionals to interview. Advisers' websites should give you an idea if that provider is a potential fit for your needs. "Good sites will explain what [planners] do, who their target client is, and how much their services cost," says Frank Boucher, founder of Boucher Financial Planning Services in Reston, Va.

Understand how each adviser is paid. You want to fully understand each person's compensation arrangements and possible conflicts of interest. Some advisers get paid only by their clients, in fees that are hourly or a flat sum or a percentage of assets under management. Others get commissions from financial-services companies for selling products, or a combination of fees and commissions.

An adviser whose compensation is strictly tied to the sale of products may be susceptible to bias. Product sellers, unlike most fee-paid advisers, may not be operating as fiduciaries who legally must put your interests first.

Lillian Meyers, president and founder of Meyers Financial in Sonoma, Calif., describes commissions as an alternative form of payment. Ms. Meyers, a hybrid fee-and-commission planner, says she may collect a commission for selling an annuity or life-insurance policy in lieu of getting paid a fee for her time.

Get organized. Some advisers ask to see pay stubs, tax returns, investment records, pension statements, even monthly budgets at an initial meeting. Others seek to keep the first meeting as casual and painless as possible by not requiring any documents at all. . . .

AT THE MEETING

Be realistic. Don't expect immediate answers to your financial-planning need or concern, says Leslie Corcoran, founder of Family First Financial Planning in Stuart, Fla. "We have just met you, and we have only glanced at your information." A good planner tries to get to know a client and to read their documents in full before making a personalized recommendation, she adds. "We don't have the answer in the desk drawer ready for you in most cases."

Susan John, president of Financial Focus Inc., a firm based in Wolfeboro, N.H., and chair of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, describes a pet peeve: clients who bring to the introductory meeting a copy of an online newsletter or investment advisory that touts extraordinary returns without regard to risk, and who ask "Can you do better than that for me?" On the flip side, experts say, be wary of any adviser who promises to deliver superhigh returns; there are no guarantees in financial markets.
 
Listen to your instincts. Relax, ask questions and get a sense of the adviser's communication style, says John Belluardo, founder of Stewardship Financial Services Inc. in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Clients "need to feel comfortable with the person because…they'll be working through very personal financial issues." . . .

Be aware that you are also being assessed. While the planners may be interviewing to get your business, they are also trying to gauge whether you are the right fit for them. An adviser may decide that your personality or your finances aren't right for his or her practice.

From the first meeting, a good adviser is also trying to get a deeper understanding of prospective clients, including issues or concerns that aren't stated. . . .

Know that an initial meeting might turn into two. The first meeting with a planner may not be enough to judge whether he or she is the right match, says Ms. Meyers. If that is the case, she recommends that prospective clients give the planner at least one more shot—even if it means paying for the second meeting."

SUMMING UP

My strong belief is that, with a little help from our friends, in the end we're better off going it alone when it comes to planning for and then investing MOM to achieve a secure financial future, including old age security.

This DIY approach to personal customized financial planning and investing is one I've adhered to during my entire adult life, and it's served me well. It can work for you, too.

And if you wish, please feel me to "pick my brain" about investing advice and financial planning going forward. I'll willingly share my thoughts and ideas and won't charge a penny for doing so.

Of course, I don't want anybody suing me down the road either, so don't consider anything I say as guaranteeing investing success or a solid financial plan. There are no guarantees in life. That said, there are better and worse ways of accomplishing our goals.

What I can say for sure is that a common sense approach of owning stocks has worked well for me.  My guesstimate is that it would work well for others, too.

And assuming we can keep our eyes on the long term prize and our short term emotions in check, it can be both a rewarding and fun experience.

Beating the so-called experts is always a fun thing to do. And when it comes to investing over time, it's absolutely not that hard to do. In fact, it's easy.

Thanks. Bob.