It can be difficult knowing when to go to a financial advisor for help. When you are making a big decision such as whether to consolidate your credit cards and how to do it, it can be wise to get as much help as you can.

If you have friends and family that you can turn to for help then this can be a good idea. Of course, there may be the risk that they think you are hinting that you want a loan and this could cause a rift between you. If this is the case then it is better to avoid talking about it.

However, if you are prepared to be open about your financial situation and you think that they will not jump to conclusions, then it could be a great way to get help just explaining your financial situation to someone else can really help you to get the facts clear in your own head.

By putting things together, you may be able to come up with a solution and of course they might be able to come up with a solution for you as well. It can really help to put things down on paper and think about all the options that could be available to you.

If you have no family or friends that you want to discuss it with then it might be worth turning to a professional. It can be difficult telling people that you know that you are in financial difficulties. It may be possible that they are not good with money either and so they may not be in a position to help you anyway.

A financial advisor is probably the most qualified person to help with financial advice. They will be able to see what your situation is and let you know what the best plan is for you. They will look at your current debts and how much you can afford to replay and based on that try to find a repayment plan for you.

It can be worthwhile seeking help in this way because they will have more knowledge than you with regards to the possible solutions as well as the products that are available on the market.

It is possible to do the research yourself and you may want to do some anyway. However, it is there job to keep up to date with all the newest products and deals on the market and they may even be able to give you access to products that only financial advisor’s can recommend, as sometimes companies make their products only available to people through a financial advisor.

Another advantage of using a financial advisor is that you will have some come back if they make a bad decision. Recently many people have sued their financial advisor for giving them bad advice and this may be an option for you if you feel you get miss sold a product. If you make the choice on your own then it will be your own fault and there will be nothing that you can do to make things better.

It is important to be wary about using a financial advisor though. Some are tied to certain companies and then they will only be able to recommend products that the company offers. This is fine if you have a particular financial provider that you want to go with, but if you want a completely independent opinion then you will need to go to an independent financial advisor.

There are basically two types of advisor, those that you pay directly for advice and those which get commission on the products they recommend to you but charge you nothing. It is a good idea to think about the pros and cons of both of these in that the first will cost you money up front but the second may be inclined to recommend a product which makes him a good profit. However, with your rights to sue for bad advise the latter should still be doing what is best for you rather than what is best for him.

So getting financial advice is something that you need to think about hard in that you need to decide whether you want advice and then who you would rather get it from. Remember that whatever advice you get, you can still ignore it all and do what you want instead. So keep a clear head and look at all of your options very carefully.