1) Determine how much your cost of living is in relation to your income. Most people say to try to invest 10-15% of your annual income after you've paid off the majority of your debt.

2) Tax withholdings you will need a CPA to make sure all advice given on this forum is legal and the most efficient with your current income.

Before you invest any money make sure you have one year of living expenses in the bank in a CD or money market account. If you do have that then see what your monthly expenses are, and see how much you can save. Put part of that in the bank, and part in your retirement plan. Also figure out if you have any short term buying needs - will you be buying a car/house or anything major in the next few years and take that into account.

Also allocating your funds should be based on your age, and how much you already have saved for retirement, and also how aggressive or conservative you are. There are calculators online you can use to figure some of this out. If you do plan on meeting with a financial advisor, don't just meet with one, get advise from a few so that you can make the best decision for yourself.

As far as financial advisors go, try to get a recommendation from someone you know. Most Financial Advisors make commissions based on how much and what you invest in.

rbracch,

The best advice I can give it to educate yourself about personal finance. Take some time, invest in a couple of financial books to read, and decide what is best for you.

IMO, many financial advisors are not the best option. What you have to understand is that they are people who yes "help" you with your finances; however, they are also salesman (saleswomen) for financial companies. Guess which products they recommend to you? You got it, the one's their company is selling. Is it the best financial advice for YOU? Probably not. Instead it turns out the be the best advice instead for their company.

I've studied personal finance for more than 5 years now. I've invested in real estate, stocks, mutual funds, commodities, and personal notes. I've made some money, I've lost some money.

The point - investing is like everything else in life. The best way to learn about it is by doing it (i.e., life experience).

Don't depend on "financial professionals" to take care of your money for you. What you will find is that they will take care of your money for you alright - you will wake up 20 years from now and hear, "sorry but the markets were bad this year" and find that all your money has been gambled away by some wall street suit.

So, take the time and learn for yourself about your finances. Be careful who you lend your ear to when it comes to financial advice. Friends and family members are always ready to say stuff like "investing is risky" when they have no idea - in fact, most of them have never invested in their life.

I will say this, I'm a firm believer that giving your money to someone else to invest in a "diversified" 401k plan and waiting 20 years, hoping that your will have enough for retirement is a fantasy. 90 percent of people do this and most, if not all, end up broke.

Good luck and let me know if I can help more.

hi rbracch
I understand that you are confused and looking for help and it's very common as this a very complicated matter, in my case I’m also facing the same problem in this field. So I think it’s better to do proper research before you rely on any financial advisor, there is a huge resource at internet about this. There are articles, videos and even online support like this forum which will give you all the necessary information about your Investments.


Good Luck