I get a number of emails from individuals looking for financial advice. Presumably, these people read this blog and are hoping I will have some insight into their own personal finances. Even more often, I receive emails with requests for a certain topic they’d like to see me cover.
While I’m flattered, those seeking personal finance advice shouldn’t be looking for bloggers to provide it. I am not a financial advisor, and neither are 99.9% of those who write blogs about personal finance. (JLP is a notable exception, of course.) You can count them and watch the numbers grow by monitoring pfblogs.org. The truth is, if you’re taking advice from a blog, in general, you get what you pay for. Be wary of self-professed “experts” and don’t misinterpret a blogger’s personal story as advice.
Yahoo Finance is running a feature pulling together articles that deal with finding a real financial advisor. Working with a good, fee-only advisor is a good idea for anyone who wants professional help securing their future. (No, I do not have a financial advisor, but I may seek help as I come closer to buying a house.)
The feature includes articles from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the Wall Street Journal, and other providers. I’ll take a look at each of these articles and point to some additional resources in a short series of posts.
So here I am, giving “advice” for people to seek professional advice. I guess that makes me a hypocrite of some sort.
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