Q: A friend gave me an article you had written about personal finance. You used a schoolteacher as an example, showing how we can make bad choices in our attempt to save money. I have been using a manager for about 10 years, but I now know he is probably not a good choice since he has front-load investing and management fees that don't necessarily produce what they maybe should.
    
My question to you is how I untangle my connection with him. How do I find someone who can help me without charging me crazy big fees? I am a financial moron and need someone who can lead me by the hand. I feel like I am at a used car lot here, waiting to be shown the brown car that matches my brown eyes. Can you point me in a direction? I am 55 years old and a schoolteacher. -- C.T., Flint Mich.
    
A: One of the great lines in the movie "Thank You for Smoking" is "Everyone has a mortgage," spoken a few times like the chorus of a song. People in financial sales invest their time in the expectation of making some money on sales commissions. The smaller the amount a customer is likely to invest -- and schoolteachers are not big-time investors -- the bigger the sales commission has to be to make it possible to retain a sales force. That's why high-commission products are all that schoolteachers and military personnel are likely to see. It costs a lot to have the investment come to you.
    
The solution is for you to go to the investment. Don't be afraid. And don't call yourself a "moron." You're under-informed. That's a condition you can change quite easily -- all it takes is a little effort.
    
Where do you go to invest at low cost? Here's a short list: Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, American Century and Charles Schwab. If you want to invest at the lowest possible cost, you'll have to go to Vanguard, and that will limit you to online investing. If bricks, mortar and people make you feel better, Fidelity and Schwab have offices all around the country -- find one close to you.
    
Before you go, do some basic homework. One place to start is in the Couch Potato investing columns collection on my Web site, www.scottburns.com. Your best beginning would probably be a single investment in a balanced mutual fund -- one that holds stocks and bonds.
    
Fidelity Four-in-One Index is a good start at that firm, with a minimum IRA starting investment of $2,500 and a minimum $10,000 investment in a taxable account. The fund mixes four basic asset classes at an expense of only 0.29 percent a year.
    
A good managed alternative would be Fidelity Puritan fund, with an expense ratio of only 0.62 percent a year and lower investment minimums than the Four-in-One Index fund. You can start an IRA with only $200 and a taxable account with only $2,500.
    
At Schwab you could start with an investment in its MarketTrack Balanced fund, which has an expense ratio of 0.85 percent a year and minimum investments of $500 for an IRA account and $1,000 for a taxable account.
    

    
Q: I'm 23 years old. Over the past 15 years, my mom has been getting more and more involved in the stock market. Two years ago, she decided she would add money to individual TD Ameritrade accounts as Christmas presents. She has had mixed success with the stock market.
    
I'd like to be a better investor than she is. I've been terrified of losing money. I've been so terrified, in fact, that the money has just sat there for the past two years. I have put some effort into learning what makes a business profitable for its investors. But I have failed.
    
For example: I work for a division of Raytheon (RTN). I am in the Missile Systems division of Raytheon. It's no secret how much Raytheon makes annually, but in watching the trading price of RTN over the past six months, I have not noticed substantial differences (up/downs of less than $5/share).
    
My question for you: What can I do to learn more about what influences a stock's price? I'd like to be able to use my mom's gift and my own investments to their fullest. -- M.S., by e-mail
    
A: Picking individual stocks is, as some like to say, "a long tunnel with no cheese." It isn't rewarding for the vast majority of novice investors. And most professional investors fail to beat the market -- though they may be paid handsomely by earthly standards.
    
So let me make a suggestion: Spend less time and effort, learn index investing and kick back. You'll get a better return with less effort, and you'll suffer less risk of great loss. You'll miss the excitement of a hot stock play, of course, but don't worry, it's way overrated.