NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Where is the best place to go for help with your investments -- to a bank, a stock broker, a financial adviser?

Well, that depends on what kind of help you want. If you're looking for someone to help you choose a specific investment, such as a mutual fund, or to help you begin building a diversified portfolio of funds, then a good stock broker or even a knowledgeable bank representative who's licensed to sell funds should be an okay choice. After all, choosing a decent mutual fund isn't brain surgery and doesn't require that all that much expertise.

Essentially, you want someone who's familiar with the world of funds, who knows how to compare the performance of one fund vs. another, who's aware of the risk levels of different funds and -- most important -- who knows how different types of funds can work to boost return and limit risk in a diversified portfolio.

One way or another you'll pay for this help, of course. If you're buying a fund through a broker or banker, you'll pay an upfront sales commission known as a "load," which typically equals 5.75 percent or less of the amount you're investing. Or, in lieu of an upfront fee, the fund may carry a back-end sales load, otherwise known as a contingent deferred sales charge. In this case, you don't pay a fee to buy into the fund, but you'll be hit with one if you cash out early. Usually, this back-end charge declines each year until it vanishes in the sixth or seventh year.

Even if you hang on until then, however, you still pay a sales fee in a different form. That's because funds with back-end loads levy a marketing fee called a "12b-1" (so named because of the SEC rule that allows such charges) that boosts the fund's expense ratio, or its annual operating charges. The 12b-1 typically ranges anywhere from 0.25 to 1.25 percent. Since one way or another you are paying for the fund salesperson's help, make sure you're getting real advice -- that is, that the person is seriously evaluating different types of funds and not just pushing the brokerage firm's or the bank's name-brand funds.

If you're looking for more comprehensive financial advice, then I think you need more than a salesperson. You should probably look for a financial planner. While a planner can usually recommend funds just as a broker or banker can, a planner can also take a much broader view of your finances, helping you with such issues as making sure that you're saving enough for retirement, that you're taking full advantage of the latest changes in the income tax and estate tax laws and that the investments you own are compatible with the level of risk you're comfortable taking and that they're the right sort of investments to help you achieve your financial goals.

The problem, however, is that virtually everyone these days claims to be a financial planner, even if they don't use that exact term. Some call themselves financial advisers or financial consultants or wealth managers -- I've even heard of some investment sales people referring to themselves with the grandiose title, "Personal CFO" (Chief financial Officer).

So you want to be sure that you're actually hiring someone who does comprehensive financial planning, not someone who is cloaking himself in the title of financial planner or adviser in order to load you up with mutual funds or annuities or insurance policies or any other investment. At the very least, the planner you hire should be registered as an investment adviser with your state's securities department and/or the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Another way to increase the odds that you're getting a bona fide planner as opposed to a product pusher posing as one is to hire someone who has completed enough course work and has enough experience working with clients to earn some sort of professional accreditation. The designation that, in my opinion, carries the most credibility today is the CFP, or Certified Financial Planner.

Many people also believe individuals are better off working with a "fee only" planner -- that is, one who accepts no sales commissions and is paid solely for the advice he or she offers. In theory I like that setup too, but in reality it may be too costly for people of moderate means. So I see no problem with working with a planner who accepts commissions or a combination of fees and commissions, as long as the planner is putting the client's interests first.

If you decide a financial planner is the type of adviser you need, you can get referrals to planners in your area by going to the Financial Planning Association. If you prefer working with a fee-only planner, you can find referrals at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.