Let's rewind about 22 years. There is internet... but nothing well developed like we have now. There is certainly no MMM or JL Collins. We were newly married DINKs. We made PLENTY. We looked at our savings and thought "Hmmm. I wonder where all that money went."
So, yes, we went to a financial advisor. We arbitrarily made an appointment at some chain... I think it might have been American Express Financial Services. We really clicked with the advisor and he put us in whatever high cost/front load funds AmEx was pushing. But more importantly than that, he showed us how we had nothing to show for our incomes and got us started on self examination. A few years passed and we got savvy enough to move all of our funds to Vanguard -- and haven't talked to an advisor since. (We did stay in touch with that original advisor and still trade Christmas cards. He's no longer an advisor. He's a computer nerd now.)
TL;DR: In prehistoric times, we used a FA to set us on a path. I don't think that's so important today.
I have a similar story - also 22 years ago, and self-managed accounts may have been available, but not heard of. Buying stocks cost $30 a trade, etc. Hence the rise of mutual funds.
I digress... Although we also got put into very expensive funds, I do remember the goal setting session, and on a followup session, we (1 year out of university with good incomes) got great advice about not overspending / eating out when we commented how great it was to finally not live like students.
Also -- I now realize that high fund accounts are not a big deal, in the early stages, as you build your first $50k. an extra 1% net fees is only $500.. A lot back then but we would have otherwise spent that money on entertainment or cars.
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Today, a financial advisor can be a great decision, but you need to figure out what you want from one.
-- Are you looking for investment advice / balancing?
-- Are you tired / have trouble triggering trades and rebalancing yourself, so you want to be hands off, but informed?
-- Do you want goal planning support with you and SO? e.g. planning to start a family and want to know how to achieve SAHP?
-- Do you need retirement calculation and projections, and don't feel comfortable with just cfiresim and your own checks?
-- Are you interested in learning about how to reduce taxes, net?
-- Do you want help identifying insurance strategies that are best for you? What insurance is important?
--Estate planning strategies?
-- True financial planners (certified) should also be able to look at things like "rent vs buy", "is this job offer / benefit package a good one?", "Should I move"? etc.
Obviously, most financial planners focus on the investment portion of the above, or on sales of insurance or asset management. You need to know what you want, and be prepared to ask questions to weed out the person that can help you (value for money).
Start by looking here --
Why Hire a Certified Financial Plannerhttp://www.plannersearch.org/why-hire-a-certified-financial-planner#why