Free Financial Advice, but Act Fast

(MoneyWatch)  Need to know whether you'll have enough money to retire; if you've invested wisely; or where to go to get a better mortgage? Just need somebody to hold your hand during these tumultuous days in the stock market?

My friends at Kiplingers Personal Finance Magazine are teaming up with fee-only financial advisors to provide two days of free help to anyone who calls in or visits their web site. This is the ninth year Kiplingers has offered the service, which usually attracts thousands of consumers with questions. Nothing is being sold. They're simply providing for free what you'd normally have to pay up to $300 an hour to get--unbiased advice aimed at helping you negotiate some of life's more complicated financial challenges.

"Month after month, we offer our readers solid advice on how to manage and invest their money," said Kiplinger's Personal Finance editor Janet Bodnar. "We are delighted to be able to go the extra mile by providing one-on-one financial advice through our partners at NAPFA." (NAPFA stands for National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and it's the top trade group for financial planners who earn their living based on charging fees, rather than selling you something that pays them a commission.)

The first free day is tomorrow--Jan. 22--starting at 9 a.m. Eastern Time (6 a.m. Pacific) and going until 6 p.m. Eastern. The second will be held next Tuesday, Jan. 26, during the same time slots.

To get access to the free advice by phone, call 888-919-2345. If you would rather do a live chat on the web, the addresses are: www.kiplinger.com/links/jumpstart/ or http://www.napfa.org/