Technology Will Improve Online Financial Advising.

IN general, Americans get poor financial advice. We take our cues from "advisers" who have something to sell, or we muddle through alone. Most quality, independent advisers target wealthier people, not the middle class.

But there's hope for more help in the future, and technology will lead the way. There are at least two opinions about how that's likely to happen.

Jaime Punishill, senior analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., expects financial firms to develop automated advice systems for the Internet. You'll be able to plug in personal data and get specific direction on what to do.

"The advice will be free," he predicts, and of much higher quality than the typical salesperson gives. If you have questions, or need help in implementing the advice, you'll pay something extra to talk with an adviser.

There's almost no truly personal money advice on the Web today. In the chat rooms, you get gossip or worse. The torrent of information on stocks is just that -- information -- with no guidance on how the stock might fit into an investment plan.

At brokerage-firm and mutual-fund sites, you'll find pie charts proposing various asset allocations (that is, different combinations of stocks, bonds and cash). But in choosing an allocation, you're flying blind.

There are also plenty of automated retirement planners, which purport to show you whether you'll be able to retire in the year you want. But they don't help you choose investments, or show you the level of risk you're taking with your money.

The services of the future will give you tailored advice you can act on, Punishill says. They'll focus on answering your questions, such as "Can I afford to send my child to college?" They'll also be objective. If a firm designs them to sell particular products, they'll fail.

For early examples of what he means, Punishill points to Financial Engines and Morningstar's ClearFuture.

Both services offer specific advice on how to invest your 401(k). You enter some personal information, the mutual funds available in your plan, and your other financial holdings, and consider the amount of risk you want to take. The programs direct you to the most suitable funds.

Financial, Engines (www.financialengines.com) has been a favorite of mine. It's the better of the two, in showing you what it means to take higher risks with stocks. Cost: $14.95 per quarter.

ClearFuture (www.morningstar.com) which started in January, costs $7.95 per quarter. Punishil praises it for helping you choose among different goals.

The job of fitting investments to your risk tolerance is a perfect example of where most financial sites (and financial salespeople) fail you today.

They might tell you to rate yourself as "conservative" or "aggressive," or ask how you'd feel if your stock dropped 20 percent.

But those aren't the questions that will help you position your investments well, says Michael Poulos, director of e-commerce for Oliver, Wyman & Co., a New York consulting firm. It's more important to ask when you'll need the money.

Here's how time relates to risk:

The longer you hold a well-diversified mutual fund, the smaller the chance that you'll lose money when you sell. From this perspective, long-term stock holdings are pretty safe.

But the longer you hold, the greater the chance that -- at some point -- you'll suffer a major loss. That's because stocks plunge from time to time (as you've recently seen).

Some stocks will take years to struggle back to a rising track (if they ever do). From this perspective, investors of a certain age need safety nets of bonds or cash.

Now for a second opinion. Expecting consumers to respond to automated financial advice is a "pipe dream," says Mark Hurley of Undiscovered Managers in Dallas, which finds money managers for financial-planning firms.

Investors understand their goals, he says. What they don't understand are the problems inherent in reaching them -- for example, risk. They don't grasp all the issues. They need someone to diagnose their problem, so they know what they're facing.

Today, this is high-priced advice -- but that's because there are more potential clients than advisers, Hurley says. As people keep entering the financial-planning business, supply will eventually catch up with demand. At that point, more planners will target the middle class, with quality advice.

Technology will make that happen faster, Hurley says. As the business grows more automated, planners will be able to take on more people.

In the meantime, however, Web-based services will sprout. And they'll give you more help than you're probably getting now.

Weigh Options on Government Loans

If you have federal student or parent loans to pay, the government has a deal for you. It's running a sale on its consolidation loans. You can save on interest and get a slightly lower payment, too.

Some private lenders are trying to talk families out of this deal, perhaps by saying things about the government program that aren't quite right So weigh your options carefully, and get the facts.

There are two main sources of federal education loans: private lenders, such as banks or Sallie Mae, and the government's Direct Loan program.

Typically, you'll have several student or parent loans, each for a different amount. You can consolidate them into a single payment.

When students leave school, they have a six-month grace period before payments start. If you consolidate through the Direct Loan program -- and during the grace period -- you'll pay a slightly lower rate.

The government recently announced yet another discount, for people who consolidate either student or parent PLUS loans. This discount goes to people who pay on time for the first 12 months.

If you've already borrowed through the Direct Loan program, you can consolidate by phone at [phone]. If all your loans came through private lenders, you'll have to call for a written application at [phone] or download it from the Web at www.ed.gov.