Even those of modest means can afford a financial planner

"Is this someone I'd like to have over for dinner with my wife?" Mr. Jones asks himself. Regardless of whether a potential client is worth millions, or thousands, Jones relies on a "gut feeling" when deciding who to work with. One of his best clients is a woman who started out with a net worth of practically zero, he says.

Investors also could call a planning company and see if they can work with a junior partner. It takes at least three years of experience and testing to become a CFP - longer for the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation handed out by the American College. Advisers who have not yet earned those stripes might accept clients who are, like themselves, younger and leaner money-wise.

Rohall says that she learned quickly that the planner working with her in San Francisco was junior level. But he was in an office with more senior people. He also developed a plan that has helped her become a better budgeter and alerted her to the possibility of using an IRA to supplement her workplace 401(k) account.

"Even if you don't have a lot of money ... a planner can turn you on to basics such as creating a budget and five-year investment goals," says Rohall. "This is foundational work that I think every young person just starting off should know."

But planners aren't cure-alls, warns Mike Bischoff, a planner in Bloomington, Minn. The less money someone has to work with, the less there is that an adviser can do for them. People with budget problems, credit-card debt, and mortgage woes are mistaken if they think a financial planner can resolve their troubles. "We're not credit counselors," says Mr. Bischoff.

Still, if it's wealth management you're after, there are ways to form a relationship with a financial planner. It's just that if you're not Bill Gates, it might take some extra effort. "There is," as planner Jones notes, "somebody there for everybody."

On a recent blog entry on a financial advice website, the writer signed off with her name followed by these letters: CISP, CRC, CRPS, CRSP, APA.

At a minimum, this woman has spent a lot of time taking tests. More likely, she wanted to let readers know that she has credentials to back up her words of wisdom.

Each of these little abbreviations shows that she took a course, presumably to make her more expert at dishing out financial advice. That's good to know, because there is no government licensing of financial planners.

Certified Public Accountants must pass exams in states where they work, and Registered Investment Advisers need to register, but otherwise, pretty much anyone can call himself or herself a planner. They just can't call themselves a Chartered Financial Analyst, or ChFC, for instance, unless they have passed the course that is administered by The American College, a professional licensing organization.

Private education or trade groups are behind most other planner designations. They train their fellows or registrants, and see that they behave well enough to maintain their status.

Using financial advisers with one of these titles doesn't bulletproof you from bum advice. But it shows that they have spent time to learn something extra about their craft. And in most instances, they will have to take continuing education to maintain that designation.

Here are many of the more common designations that money experts might carry:

AEP - Accredited Estate Planner
CDFA - Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
CDP - Certified Divorce Planner
CEBS - Certified Employee Benefits Specialist
CFA - Chartered Financial Analyst
CFP - Certified Financial Planner
ChFC - Chartered Financial Consultant
CIFP - Certified IRA Services Professional
CIC - Certified Investment Counselor
CLU - Chartered Life Underwriter
CPA - Certified Public Accountant
CRA - Certified Retirement Administrator
CRC - Certified Retirement Counselor
CRSP - Certified Retirement Services Specialist
CTFC - Certified Trust and Financial Officer
CSA - Certified Senior Adviser
LUTCF - Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow
PFS - Personal Financial Specialist
REBC - Registered Employee Benefits Specialist
RIA - Registered Investment Adviser

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