Some don't need an advisor. They can invest themselves. However many can't handle the
emotional part of investing.

For example the market has almost tripled from the March, 2009 low (only with perfect timing), but there have be a number of 5%, some 10% percent, a few 15% plus corrections along the way

Summer of 2011 say a 17-19% correction which took a month to bottom. A 15% in 2015, another 15% in early 2016, a 14% just last February, and a 6% plus just last couple of days.
How would you have handled these yourselves? Granted a lot of advisors didn't do well
either. A few did.

You have to be aware of the Fiduciary rule. Only Registered Investment Advisors are full fiduciaries (RIA). They are required by law to put your interests ahead of their own. Anyone else
only has to understand your risk tolerance, goals, and financial status; plus make sure the investment is suitable. After those he or she can choose the highest commission solution
for you. Only about 10% of advisors are fiduciaries. They are regulated by both the SEC and FINRA. They do not work at banks, insurance companies, or investment banks.

You can check prospective advisors at finra.org. Ask friends, family, and CPAs you work
with for RIAs.they have been happy with.

Financial planners can be investment advisors or only do planning and not investment.
They can charge hourly fees or a a percentage of assets.

There is a huge amount of information on the internet. Go only to objective sources like Forbes,
Kiplinger, Money magazine, msn.money.com, cnn.money.com.

The best way I've found answers, which is just the beginning, is to simple google the question and use the independent source.

It's not just investments. Social Security (ssa.gov), Medicare (medicare.gov), and IRA withdrawals can be extremely confusing and mistakes can cost many thousands of dollars.
There are tax pitfalls (even when moving from one company to another for IRAs at any age).

It is helpful to have a review with a financial advisor when you have major events you can't
understand, and especially as you get closer to retirement. (late 50s-early 60s). It's possible to get a lot of information yourself but it may take a lot of time and it may still be hard
to comprehend. A couple of hours billed by a quality planner and a separate tax advisor. (CPA if complex) will be well worth your doing, especially for retirement planning.

Oh, and no--load mutual funds still charge management fees. They can be from .5% to 1.25% or so annually. Only true index funds have extremely low fees. Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity do have these very low cost index funds, as do a few others.