Looking for professional financial advice

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Could anyone recommend a financial planner (for lack of a better term) in the area? I have some financial decisions to make regarding student loan deferment during recent layoff and/or enrollment in grad school in the fall. There are several different loans, so the situation quickly becomes complicated. I don't have a ton of money to throw around, but making the wrong decisions now would probably cost me more than paying for a bit of someone's time. Thanks.

Comments

I have a couple tips both free and not.

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

For free: If your loans are federal student loans from the FFELP program, then you probably have a student loan guarantor such as American Student Assistance (www.amsa.com) -- they'll help you with loan-related questions for free.

Also free: The Q&A section on http://www.finaid.org/questions/ may have many of the issues you're already wrestling with. Even if they don't answer your questions, it will probably help you figure out what to ask someone else about.

Finally, not-free: I have had good experiences with Dana Levit at Paragon over in Newton (right near the green line).
http://www.paragonfeeonly.com/about.htm

Re: I have a couple tips both free and not.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

Second the recommendation for Dana at Paragon Fee Only, she's really awesome.

Re: I have a couple tips both free and not.

[madscientist01.livejournal.com]

Did Dana Levit help either of you specifically with loan issues? Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it... if you don't mind my asking, could either of you give a ballpark estimate of what kind of cost/hr she charges? I have no idea what to expect.

Re: I have a couple tips both free and not.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

No specific loan issues here. My wife and I got an overall financial plan that helped us figure out some savings goals and things like how much life insurance to buy.

I forget the exact hourly rate, but it was in the neighborhood of $200 (3-ish years ago). If you email her with a description of your problem, she'll be able to provide an estimate.

2 Recommendations

[filigreepm.livejournal.com]

Rebecca Schrumm - MetLife Financial Advisor - 781-672-2848

Rod Laurenz - Edward Jones Financial Advisor - 617-491-1190

HTH,

-lars