<prompt> Human: I feel like Im about to get thrashed here, because for the duration of the time that Ive subscribed to and read comments in this sub the one nearly universal theme is that advisers are at best useless and at worst nefarious and corrupt. Perhaps Im part of a small minority, or through self-selection the people who subscribe to the sub are less likely to want help from a professional because they are do it yourself people, but the role my adviser has played in my life has been nothing short of life altering.I began to work with my advisor when I was 24 and I was getting my first job out of graduate school. I was not making all that much, and I think its fair to say my adviser was not making much from my account, but I was an investment for him. That was 13 years ago, and since then my assets have grown from nothing to something in the mid six figure range, and we now own a house, and carry no non-asset linked debt. I didnt just start off knowing nothing: I had terrible spending habits, and I didnt know how to save. I didnt know how to budget. These are all things that my adviser advised me on, because to my adviser ... thats professional advice.In the years between age 24 and 37, I have no idea if I beat the market. To be honest, I wasnt really paying attention that much. When selecting funds fees and expense ratios were discussed, as was tax optimization something I never see discussed in this sub, and fund manager performance several times I exited a fund because the manager changed, and that sort of thing can be transparent to the client unless the adviser is paying attention and takes action. My account includes more than just funds; when we had children we included life and disability insurence. There is a mix of cash, taxable , IRA and Roth IRA accounts in my portfolio. Its a hollistic approach to my finances as a whole. Our conversations were not huge or frequent, but the real value did not come from me spending money for time, it came from my adviser knowing what was the right topic to discuss at the right time. Could I have figured this stuff out on my own? Probably, although I doubt I could have done all aspects of it combined nearly as well working on my own. But the resources are all out there. Just like technically anyone can teach themselves how to change their own brakes, and do basic plumbing and electric in their own home. But even though I know for a fact it costs more Im still going to use a mechanic and a contractor, even though I have been overcharged by both on many occasions.My view on this may be simplified, and I may have just gotten lucky, but what I see in the sub seems too simplistic as well. If you are going to an advisor as a stockfund picker, youre doing it wrong. Thats not what they are supposed to be doing, and if its all they talk to you about, fire them. An adviser is there to help guide you toward having more savings, and if you have more savings youre investing more, and if you invest more the gods of compound interest will take you much further than focusing on minimizing that one data point. If you dont believe me go run a simple calculation: 758 for 30 years, or 1007 for 30 years. If you have gotten to the bottom of this, I thank you for your time.TL;DR - My advisor has been invaluable. Through professional advise I went from having a zero to a sizeable and growing net worth through smart savings and hollisitc financial planning. It frustrates me to see them demonized here and in the news.  <response>: Your story would be 1000 different if you wrote this in 2009 ..13 years ago, dow was around 10,300 - now its 20,900Generally speaking - putting your money into any well rated funds, any blue chip stocks, any of the broad index or etf funds 13 years ago would have netted you wonderful results over the last 13 years. 