Yuval Shahar: From personal finance to investments, professional advisors can help set up a practical and personal financial plan.

Some online companies will charge by the hour for you to talk to a "professional" financial adviser. With so many web based companies offering various financial services, it's really hard to distinguish run of the mill institutions from reputable ones. Always check to see if the contact information is valid; if they have a physical address, you might want to check out if it's a business or home address. You just can't be sure if these people actually know what they're talking about or are just reading off some script. It is always best to ask others about their experiences dealing with the company you have chosen to help with your finances. Call the telephone number listed, check if it is indeed a business; or better yet call directory assistance to find out to whom the phone number is listed under. 

From personal finance to investments, professional advisors can help set up a practical and personal financial plan. Once you find a decent and trust worthy online financial institution, you can choose from their wide range of services to suit your needs. They will give you advice on how to quickly pay off and lessen credit card debts; how to invest your money, whether through Bonds, Stocks or Mutual Funds; how to save your money for retirement and even how best to deal with insurance and taxes among other things. When it comes to money, trial and error isn't really an option. Again, the abilities of these online financial planners will vary; so always ask for a second opinion.  

These resources could have been written by a college student and not by a financial genius. There is also an unlimited supply of free information over the web, that you will not have time to read all of them. Some articles might also have been rewritten ten times from the original work, and would have lost most of the significant information. Financial calculators, such as mortgage calculators, insurance calculators, retirement planning calculators, are available at most financial websites you come across. However helpful these tools are, most are hard to use as some of the terms are quite difficult to understand. Further research will often lead to more confusion, thus making you more likely to commit financial blunders.
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Yuval Shahar co-founded PentaCom in 1998 ( recently acquired by Cisco) and has created one of the world's first web appliances, leading to the creation of Infogear Inc. in 1995 (recently also acquired by Cisco). Yuval Shahar held senior positions at both National Semiconductor Corporation and Motorola, where he worked on data and voice communications products and protocols. Prior to joining VocalTec, Shahar worked for developing fax, data and voice communications protocols and products. Mr. Yuval Shahar is a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor involved as a co-founder, Chairman or Board member in a variety of companies. Yuval is a highly respected executive with an extensive track record in establishing, developing and selling high tech companies. He started his career at Motorola and National Semiconductors in a variety of technology and software development and management roles. Yuval Shahar has been a Director of XConnect Global Networks Limited since November 2009.