[RANT]
I think what I want most of Christmas is a good, cheap, trustworthy financial advisor. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but being a middle class guy trying to effeciently manage your finances requires an insane amount of knowledge and effort. I'm trying to work out my plans for next year and these are just some of the things I have to understand and decide on.
Which health insurance plan should I choose (my company offers me six options)? Should I pay for Dental insurance? Vision insurance? Supplemental disability insurance? Supplemental life insurance? Should I invest in an IRA(traditional, non-deductible, or Roth)? What about a 401K (traditional or Roth)? Should I put money in a Flex Spending Account for child care? How about one for health care? Or should I set up a Health Savings Account instead? Should I contrinbute to a Coverdell Education Savings Account? A 529 plan (pre-paid tuition or savings)? Which state's plan should I use? If I get some restricted stock grants, should I pay the taxes when I get them to lock in my cost basis, or should I wait until they vest to defer the taxes as long as possible? Should I pay down my mortgage or keep it high for the tax deduction? Should I refinance it? If so, should I get a fixed (30 or 15 year?), an ARM (10/1, 7/1, 5/1, 3/1, or 1/1?), an interest only, or a balloon payment loan? Which credit cards should I carry? Which should I use? Should I use a debit card instead of a credit card? Aside from the type of account, where should I invest my money - stocks? bonds? mutual funds? money market? international stocks? commodities? TIPS? Treasuries? How much life insurnace (term or whole life?) is enough? Should I get an annuity? How much auto insurnace, disability insurance, and home owners insurance do I need? Should I have a long term care policy? How much do I need to save for retirement? How much do I need to save for the kid's college? How often should I check my credit report? Do I need to check all three? Should I lock my credit files? Should I help the Nigerian guy that has inhereted a lot of money and keeps e-mailing me or is that a scam? Should I give PayPal my bank account information so that I'm verified, or is that a scam? Can I write my own will or do I need a lawyer? Do I even need a will? Do I need a trust? Who should raise my kids if my wife and I both die? Who should get my camera equipment? Which bank, brokerage, and insurance companies should I use? Who can advice me on these things that doesn't have a direct financial interest biasing their advice? Will their advice cost more than it saves me? It's enough to drive a person insane.
[/RANT]