financial advisor

Financial frenzies come in many flavors, most triggered by big life changes, fraught with emotion and unfamiliar challenges. But if you let those events lead you to make spur-of-the-moment money decisions, you'll often face even bigger problems down the road.

After the overindulgence of December, it's no surprise that so many people spend January trying to turn over new leaves. If you're ready to get your financial house in order, consider one of these three websites, each with a different take on helping you better manage your money.

Determining your risk tolerance before you invest is a lot like choosing a delivery plan for the birth of your child. When the contractions start, even the best-laid plans can go right out the window, because it's impossible to predict how you'll feel watching a chunk of your savings evaporate until it happens.

At least $1 trillion will move from one generation to the next by 2025, and when assets change owners, advisers usually fall by the wayside. But certain parts of the financial services industry are finally adapting they way they communicate with these wealthy, younger potential clients.

First, we covered how to manage employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s. Next, we explored what to do if you've lost your job, and with it your access to a plan. In part three, we explore options for the unemployed, self-employed and those who are otherwise locked out of employer-offered retirement plans.

Most investors don't know how their financial advisers are compensated -- many even think they are getting their advice for free. It's not a trivial matter: How you pay your adviser affects the rules they must adhere to, and the degree to which they have to put your interests first.

America is DIY Nation, but in certain financial situations, a do-it-yourself strategy can make a bad situation much worse, because in investing and money matters, most of us don't know what we don't know. Here are eight times in your life when the high stakes demand that you call in the experts.

Even the smartest people can do dumb things when it comes to money. Do you find yourself accumulating credit-card debt for goodies you don't really need -- and failing to plan for retirement? Here's one financial adviser's five-step plan to break bad habits.

If you walked into the average bookstore, you'd think that women rule the roost when it comes to personal finance. From Suze Orman's now-classic Women and Money to the more recent (and more colorfully titled) Bitches on a Budget, there's no shortage of do-it-yourself financial advice tailored to...

It's only when clients ask for financial advice that banks owe a fiduciary duty to them -- and these activities contribute just a tiny portion of banks' revenue.