Q For 16 years, my wife and I entrusted an independent financial adviser to manage our mutual fund portfolio, which is currently valued at about $240,000. We've paid him a fee of 1.3 percent of the portfolio value. My and wife and I are both 42 and pretty savvy with money. We think we are wasting money on this financial planning fee.

I am an attorney and already know quite a bit about insurance and financing. I only valued the financial planner's guidance on how to invest and allocate our investments. Now that I am older and wiser, I feel less intimated about money. Should we move our money to a Vanguard index fund and/or lifecycle fund, for example, and leave our financial planner?

A I would look at the track record of the investment adviser over the years and see how are you doing relative to the 1.3 percent fee. But in reading your question I felt you made the case to go DIY on investing. I like the low-fee index fund and/or lifecycle approach to investing.

If you want to read about that investment philosophy, you could look at "The Random Walk Guide To Investing" by Burton Malkiel and "The Elements of Investing" by Malkiel and Charles Ellis.

Here's one way to think through your decision. When I got your e-mail I reviewed some advice sent to me several years ago by Ross Levin, head of Accredited Investors Inc. Levin is one of the nation's top financial planners and the note captured his thoughts on finding a good financial planner. The first section goes right to your issue: understanding your needs:

•What's the triggering event that makes you feel you need a planner? Are you changing jobs, inheriting money or do you just feel like you want more financial controls in your life?

•What type of person will you feel most comfortable with discussing issues that are very personal for you? A good financial planner will spend a lot of time trying to understand you and you'll need to make sure that you are comfortable with the person.

•What would have changed in one year with your financial life if you were working successfully with a planner? Would you have drafted a will? Would you have saved tax dollars?

I have a feeling that after you've thought through these questions you'll embrace managing your own investments. By the way, not working with a financial planner now doesn't mean you won't want to hire one in the future. For households that have accumulated assets, a planner can be a helpful guide at major transition points.

Chris Farrell is economics editor for "Marketplace Money." Send your questions to cfarrell@mpr.org.