Lots of questions on AAM seem to end up with the general answer to "seek advice from an independant fee-based financial advisor". How does one go about finding one of these creatures, and is there any formal qualification I should look for as a basic first step? A friend has told me they should be a QFA but I have no idea what this means. Is it a formal qualification from some academic course, and if so, what body validates it, and is there a body which monitors standards, or can act as an ombudsman? Is there a list or panel of QFAs one can look up, or do you have to find your own?