<prompt> Human: Im currently looking for advice on which financial advisors I should look for. What are the pros and cons of working with a financial advisor tied to a large bank ie Merrill Lynch, RBC vs a financial advisor tied to a small firm ie independent? Do you guys have recommendations for other things to look for in financial advisors? Thanks so much!Assistant: What is your situation that you need a financial advisor?Human: Ive been working at a stable job for a while and saved up a good nest egg. Im still far away from retiring so I wanted to grow my portfolio with a good financial advisor. Im debating whether to work with an advisor at a big bank or a smaller firm.  <response>: Have you already read through How to handle and where to you stand on working through those priorities? What constitutes a good nest egg? The benefits of a financial advisor on the size or your portfolio are largely behavioral - keeping you from making rash financial decisions at ties of volatility. They dont have any special investing abilities unless you have millions of dollars and even then there are many dubious ones. They can also help with tax optimization of larger portfolios. Are you already maxing out any 401ks and Roth IRA available to you?If youre hitting the point where your tax-advantaged accounts are full, you own enough house for the long-term and have a low-interest mortgage, and you have more to invest and are rounding the 1-2MM mark and want some sanity-checking then Id find a fee-only financial advisor who will meet with you for a flat fee and review your current situation and make recommendations going forward. Large firms wont generally do this if you arent buying any commission-products from them or investing large sums through them, so Id look for a small independent firm. napfa.org is a good place to start. The phone screen a couple and see who you feel comfortable with. 