I’ve had several recent conversations with people like me who have been working in the real world for several years and are earning real money.

Where these people differ from me is that they’ve been brave enough to try to manage this real money on their own. I know better. Actually, it’s that I know myself better and managing my money to ensure a safe and secure financial future is not something I feel comfortable doing myself.

I’ve had a financial advisor since high school. That is in large part due to my smart mom who insisted I save and invest some money from each of those measly pay checks I got from selling camping and outdoors equipment in high school. But I will take credit for taking an active role in my relationship with my financial advisor once I graduated college.

One of the first things I did was fire him.

He couldn’t speak to me in a way that I could understand. When we’re talking about my money and my financial future I need to understand what’s going on. So I started my search for what I eventually found – a fabulous financial advisor (let’s call him John Doe).

For those of you who think you don’t have enough money to warrant a financial advisor, or think you’re capable of managing it on your own, I’d encourage you to think again. I actually want to retire one day and that takes money. A lot of money.

I love John Doe because I can understand him, he understands my lifestyle and what I’m trying to accomplish and I feel like I can call him at any time about anything financial-related and he’ll be glad to give me advice.

You might want to love your financial advisor for different reasons. So when you’re shopping for a financial advisor – and don’t be afraid to shop – it’s best to have a list of questions that will help you decipher if they’re a good fit for you.

I recently referred John Doe to someone and she came up with a list of some really great questions for me to help her decide if my advisor is someone she could love too. Here are her questions to help get your thoughts going:

• Are they someone who understands that what worked for our parents’ generation isn’t necessarily best for us?
• Are they someone who thinks outside the financial box and develops super-creative solutions?
• Are they someone who doesn’t judge?
• Are they someone who is comfortable with both coddling and ass-kicking in equal measure?

Go ahead, start financial advisor shopping. They’re a key person to have in your life, especially if you want your life to be financially safe and secure.

Question: What is an important characteristic you’d want in a financial advisor?

The Internet has created some great opportunities for networking and marketing. Websites, blogs and other forms of communication are connecting people globally to promote themselves and their businesses.

The resulting exposure can be a boon or a bust. This depends on the type of information shared with the world, who can view it and for what purposes.

This issue became abundantly clear to me after hearing of a young woman who was terminated from a volunteer position at a public school after posting some modeling shots on a local radio station website. Parental pressure resulted in her termination and she potentially lost thousands of dollars in scholarship money through the volunteer program. It didn’t matter whether or not the woman had performed her job well.

What you post and what you say about yourself beyond your résumé and job sites can now impact your chances for employment. Be aware that recruitment firms for service professionals are now checking out social networking sites and other online resources to judge the “safety” and character of the candidates they promote.

Whether this is fair or not, it is happening. By just typing in your name on a search engine, recruiters and employers can learn a lot about you. For example I just searched for Katie Kalkman — our blog native — and learned that she attended the College of St. Benedict, that she participated in an entrepreneurial program and that she works for Ingenuity Marketing Group. I could easily find a picture of her and other details if I continued to dig.

What is floating out there about you? Just as you would carefully prepare and present your best self at a job interview, you should be mindful of how you present yourself online.

Be selective of the sites you join. Find out whether your post or profile can be viewed by anyone or if it is for members only. Even then, recruiters could join for research purposes.

Be mindful of your words. Sexual, libelous, or irreverent comments could not only hurt your chances for that next great job or promotion, they could also land you in court. Online libel is a new territory for litigation.

Be aware of the future. You may not worry about your online dating profile or a somewhat suggestive photo today, but keep in mind that online content is FOREVER. If you’ve written it, it can usually be found and downloaded and copied and shared. Keep this in mind when you think of being a parent someday or a community leader.

Be impeccable. Honor yourself and others by presenting an online image that is above reproach. There is such a thing as freedom of speech, but it should be balanced with your future goals and aspirations.

Question: What do you think about online “profiling”?