<prompt> Human: Now that I am out of college and have a stable, well paying job, I was thinking of hiring a financial adviser to help me plan for my retirement. My question is this: Are financial advisers worth the monetary cost? How do I go about searching for the right one and what are some tools to help with that? Lastly, my 401K, in 3 months has gained only about 2.4 46 and change interest. I know this is a short amount of time and the economy is still recovering, but is it realistic to expect the 8 that all the websites are telling us to predict? I am only 23, so I am picking to be especially aggressive, and I thought this was a bit low.Thanks!  <response>: I really think you should check out The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John Bogle, he has some very simple and valuable advice to saving moneymaking money. If that seems complicated I think you might do well starting with, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley. At this point youve got a few projects to undertake before you can say, what else? Once youre at that point you can certainly have a CFP- Certified Financial Planner look at your situation. But, they do charge fees, and they can become expensive. Additionally, once your situation becomes a little more complex, utilizing a CPA is also helpful. The goal is to maximize your tax efficiency while yielding a solid return on whatever investmentssavings you have and lastly having a little fun doing it! 