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.
Updated February 6, 2012 and originally published March 15, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
