You need to become educated so that you can make educated decisions on your own. In most cases an investment advisor will severely put a large constraint on any earnings you can make. I would suggest opening an account with Fidelity or Vanguard. They are investment houses that offer no load, low expense mutual funds and exchange traded funds. Mutual Funds are funds that hold a collection of stocks. You buy into a fund by buying shares, and the share price is determined at the end of the day, based on the underlying stocks. Exchange traded funds (ETF), are similar, except they are sold like stock and so their value fluctuates through the day, and their value may sell at a premium or discount to the underlying stock. You want to buy into a no load fund (no sales charges to buy into or sell out of the fund, typically called front end charges and surrender charges, respectively). You also want to avoid funds with high management costs. Costs have come down a lot, so look for something around 0.2% or lower. I've seen funds as low as 0.07%. I use to think 1% or lower looked good. You can see all this on the Fidelity or Vanguard web site. Just starting out, you would want to look at indexed funds, meaning they are tied to an index, not actively managed by an administrator. A broad based fund based on the S&P 500 index would be a good place to start. Once in a fund, you really do not want to trade in and out. You will have good days, and bad days. Just do not sell on the dips, only to get whiplashed and miss a gain. At your age you have time to recover if you hit a rough spot. At these near historic high prices, this may seem like a risky time to buy in, but the only risky thing would be not to start. At the low returns available from many investments, the percentage or two going to an "investment advisor" will severely eat into any gain you may have. The only person really looking out for your own self interest is you.

Yes some good certifications to look for are the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) or CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst). These certifications indicate a higher level of training - in fact no training, only a basic licensing exam, is required to become a financial advisor.

One way to determine whether or not an advisor is "skilled" is to ask for the advisor's investment track record. However most advisors actually do not actively manage your money. Instead they offer guidance on what mutual funds or index funds might be right for you to invest in and help set you up with the right ones. They also help you plan for your financial goals by figuring out how much you should be setting aside in savings right now to reach those long term goals.

In rare cases, a financial advisor might provide advice on individual stocks, hedge funds, or other "securities", but this active management approach is usually only offered to wealthier clients or to those clients who have an intense personal interest in the stock market and how it all works.

Finally it is really important to understand how your financial advisor is paid. If your advisor is paid a commission up-front for recommending a certain mutual fund or other investment be very cautious. The advisor might be motivated to offer the highest commission product rather than what might actually be the best choice for you. This can happen EVEN if the advisor has good certifications.

What is best is to look for an advisor who is paid on a fee basis only. These advisors, classified as "Registered Investment Advisors" are only legally allowed to charge you on an hourly basis or at an annual rate based on the amount of money you are investing (for example 1% per year). This payment structure is better because the advisor is not given a commission incentive to offer you any specific investment, so the advice tends to be much less biased. Before you select an advisor be sure to ask how they are paid.

Good luck!

Advisors , like any other business are trying to make commission although there are rules governing suitability. As you know life is all about risk and reward. If you put money in the bank the risk is that the interest will not cover inflation: the risk is very low and the reward is very low or non-existent.

The next risk level is corporate bonds. An investment grade bond might yield about 3-4% with very low risk. That is risk of not being able to pay the interest or the capital. The idea is to buy corporate bonds from a variety of issuers (companies) to spread any risk. If your risk appetite is slightly higher then you could add in some slightly higher risk bonds yielding 6% or even some diversified equities giving small yield but possibility of capital appreciation.

It's all about diversification and flexibility. Don't buy an investment bond where you are locked in for a number of years but rather ones that can easily be traded. Like in UK we have the Retail Bond Market (ORB)

If it is large sum you may consider wrapping the investments into a tax efficient vehicle suchs as ISA or SIPP (UK).

I wou;d say a Financial Advisor is more likely to recommend collective instruments or non-tradeable investments whereas a stockbroker will be advising on tradeable instruments, whic I think is better.

It would be nice if you mentioned how much money was at stake.

Everybody makes mistakes, but not maintaining control of your money is a mistake that you should consider best avoided.

Best free advice is to put the money in a bank, like you originally decided, while you spend some time learning about your options and goals. It's good to know what you want and have a financial advisor to do the work for you - but you need to know and understand what they are doing and why.

Otherwise you can't tell the good from the less good.

Get a personal referral to a good CFP (Certified Financial Planner).

Contact the most financially successful people you know on a first name basis. Explain your situation but leave out the details. See if they can give you a good referral.

Get 2 or 3 recommendations, set appointments with each and conduct an "interview". You should feel comfortable with the CFP.

The CFP should talk "your language". The CFP should have experience. The CFP should offer references. Do your "Due Diligence" You don't want to be dealing with the next Bernie Madoff.

After selecting one, write down goals and objectives and follow up, when necessary, to make sure you are on track.

Cheated? Only if you let them write checks, balance the check books, and give you vague reports like, "we're doing good"! (well, there are other ways to be cheated, so watch out)

Good Luck!

I am currently in a probate case this is finally going to be wrapped up soon. I originally thought that I would put the money in a bank that had a 3% dividend rate. However, that same bank, is now only offering a rate of 1.75%. I am considering investing the money with a financial advisor. What are some indications that they are skilled at what they do? (for someone new to all of this). And, is there a type of organization they must be certified through that I can research an advisor for? I am 21, and I don't want to make any mistakes or be cheated by the advisor. Please tell me anything and everything that you think would aid me.