re: Financial Advisor Meeting

Depends on your confidence in what you personally understand about the market and investing. What you do early in your investing can have drastic impact to where you end up. Having said that, if you're young most people exposing themselves to the market through a low cost total market index buys you time before adopting other strategies. If you've got a nice nest egg and don't know what to do, then by all means go see one (fee only). There are independent advisors out there who do a good job. My advice is to buy some books or get a formal education regarding the market and investing. Bottom line it's like insurance -- there is no 'right' answer; just what you believe is necessary.