Hi all,
I'm new to the area and just out of graduate school. While funds are tight and debt is large, I am interested in working with an affordable financial planner who might be able to advise on all money issues (paying off loans, investing for the future, figuring out if I will ever be able to buy a house!). Again, I want to speak with someone who is trustworthy, has experience working with people like me, and who won't cost me an arm and a leg.

Any advice and/or leads are much appreciated!
Thanks!

cheapest
http://www.simpleliving.net/ymoyl/

There is no substitute for self-educating. Try Suze Orman's books, website, & TV show.

Frankly, being young and just starting out, and (I'm therefore assuming) having very few assets, paying a financial planner may not make sense. As to a few of your specific questions:

- There are websites that can help you figure out how much house you can afford. Figure on a 20% downpayment (IGNORE the interest-only or 5% down loans -- if you can't put down a reasonable downpayment and a fixed rate mortgage, you can't afford the house!). This is likely a few years away for you, but that's not a bad thing.
- You pay down debt when you don't have a significantly better investment. For example, paying down a 7% loan is the equivalent of earning 7% on your money (b/c that's the amount of interest expense you will avoid). If you don't believe your investment alternatives can earn more than 7%, pay down the loan. If you believe you can earn 15% on an investment, you may want to go that way and not pay down the debt. HOWEVER, remember that paying down debt is a RISK FREE 7% - you KNOW what the return will be. With stocks or other investments, there is RISK. So, your other investments need to earn WAY more than the interest rate on your loan for you to invest in them rather than pay down debt.
- Investing for the future isn't difficult; the most important thing is to avoid making common mistakes (like not diversifying your portfolio, like investing in a hot tip your brother-in-law gave you in an asset that's already overpriced (as all markets tend to be from time to time)). If your job has a 401(k), max out on any free (matching) contributions they give. Save some money (after-tax, non-401k) on your own. You can use this for emergencies, your future house downpayment, etc. Invest it in a diversified portfolio of mutual funds, mostly index funds (maybe 60-70%). Split it up between US stocks, international stocks, US bonds, international bonds, REITS, and commodities. Don't pick individual stocks on your own, buy no-load mutual funds.
- If I were you, I'd avoid paying down the loan until you put away about 6 months living expenses. Then, I'd split my savings 50% between paying down my loans and 50% between investing in mutual funds. If the interest rate on your debt is particularly high or particularly low, you may wish to put more/less than 50% of your savings toward paying down your loans.

As always, good advice from Felix.

Swimmergal, check out these recent threads:

Mutual Funds and/or Money Market Accounts
How to choose a broker?

They were just discussing this on CNN yesterday. They said to be sure to work with a planner who is fee-based rather than commission-based. The commission-based planners will try to sell you the products which give them the best kickbacks and they might not be in your best interests.

The CNN website has links on finding a planner as well.

I'm in agreement with Felix with regard to self-educating. Finance writer Jane Bryant Quinn was on WHYY's Radio Times this morning, which made for a pretty interesting show. Here's the write-up:

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/radiotimes.html

Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane
Radio Times for Tuesday, January 31st

Hour 2
(Rebroadcast tonight at 11)
Personal finance writer JANE BRYANT QUINN talks with us about "Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People," which happens to be the title of her new book. Quinn writes columns for Newsweek and Good Housekeeping.

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