GOING SOLO
“The financial world has changed enormously in the last couple of decades,” says Jonathan Clements, personal finance columnist for The Wall Street Journal and author of 25 Myths You’ve Got to Avoid—If You Want to Manage Your Money Right: The New Rules for Financial Success. “Brokerage fees used to be fixed, and no-load mutual funds didn’t exist. In short, you couldn’t save money by investigating on your own!’ Now, with plentiful opportunities to save money with discount brokers, low- and no-load funds, and online trading and other web-based financial services, it can make good sense to do it yourself.

Even so, there may be circumstances when you can benefit from professional advice. These may include:

• If you’re very busy and are willing to pay for the convenience of having a professional help you.
• If you panic over short-term market performance. Emotions play a major part in the financial decisions we make, notes Clements.
• If you’re planning for something big, such as retirement or sending your kids to college, it might be helpful to get a “financial check-up.”
• If you come into an inheritance or have some other type of financial windfall.

Don’t use a professional just because you think financial planning is complicated. “It’s not rocket science,” says Clements. And whatever path you choose, you can’t avoid educating yourself and being involved in the process: “You have to supervise your investment advisor.”