As a committed mustachian, I manage all my investments on a DIY basis. When I talk to a lot of friends, coworkers, etc., the subject sometimes turns to investing and finances. A lot of these people are highly educated, very smart, and make good incomes, yet their investment landscape is a nightmare--they keep all their money in their checking account "because they don't know where to put it", don't max out their 401(k) or participate in other company investment programs, etc.
Sometimes they ask me what I do and they get an appreciation for how complex it can be to do it right, using the proper types of accounts (regular IRA versus roth IRA, using 401(k), 529 for kid's education, etc.). They'll say, "I wish I spent as much time on my finances are you are, because it's clear I'm probably leaving money on the table, but I just don't have the time or interest."
A few ask if I would ever be willing/able to look at their finances and see if there are ways to improve that. I'm happy to do that, but if this turns into something that becomes really time consuming, I would like to be compensated. If I was to offer financial advice like what mutual funds to use, which types of accounts to open, where to put the money first, what types of licenses if any would I need? I've done a little research and I know there are series 6 and series 7 licenses, but do I need that if I offer a simple fee for service like: "I'll look over your investments and tell you what I would do for $500"?
Any comments or insights would be greatly appreciated.