Do-it-yourself or get help? This question, a dilemma for many, will occur early and often during the course of your financial life. As your personal finances become more complex, you will inevitably need help from an investment professional. The following tips will help you make an informed selection:

* Determine your personal finance objectives and think about the services that will meet these objectives. For example, are you saving for retirement, protecting against risk, preparing your estate, or putting money aside for the education of your children? These are just a few of the potential questions that will help determine the financial services you are seeking. Financial services fit into an array of disciplines, including financial planning, estate planning, retirement planning and preparation, tax planning, investment management, college financing and planning, and insurance. Investment professionals may specialize in one discipline or offer services in several areas. Don’t worry if you can’t think of a complete list of financial services to meet your needs, because, after all, this one important reason for getting help.
* Ask trusted sources like friends and relatives for the names of investment professionals. Keep in mind that everyone’s financial situation is unique, so what is good for your neighbor, may not be good for you.
* Don’t use titles or generic terms to make your selection. According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (”FINRA”), the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States, titles like Financial Adviser or Financial Planner can be used by investment professionals that may not “hold any specific designation.”
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Last January the Security and Exchange Commission sent letters to chief financial officers of major auto manufacturers informing them that their current accounting practices did not comply with generally accepted accounting principles. The SEC’s plan was to change these methods from dealer finances and leases. Instead the SEC wanted the automakers to account for these leases correctly in the future by operations and also present three years worth of back information of past impact.
Automakers such as Ford and General Motors must now have their accounting methods approved by the Security and Exchange Commission before employee benefits can any longer take place. However, last year the automakers during negotiations with United Auto Workers agreed to take a specific amount of money to a health care fund which would be responsible for retiree healthcare funds. The result of this would be removing these liabilities from their books. By having this argument between the SEC and companies the automakers are the ones who are feeling the effect of this problem the worst. For employees who work for a percentage of their funds to be given to them through healthcare it is important to know that these funds are available and sufficient. The past method involved gave the automobile companies an advantage by having the healthcare funds constantly available. With the SEC cracking down the ways in which these companies are reporting, the automobile companies are feeling an effect. (more…)