A Suze Orman exclusive

Financial traits: Follows the pack to avoid thinking for self. Listens to a commission-based broker who pushes whatever the firm wants sold, rather than hiring a fee-only advisor who puts your true best interests first.

Outlook: It's your money, your life. You can't afford to abdicate to others.

No one will ever care about your money as much as you do, for the simple fact that it doesn't affect anyone as much as it affects you. So it's time to step out of the pack, all you lemmings. Take charge of your finances. Stop listening to your Uncle Mo who swears he has the hot new stock, or the guys in the cafeteria who insist all you need to do to strike it rich is invest in the latest high-risk widget IPO.

You are headed for a financial cliff if you mindlessly listen to everyone around you. If you really are too afraid to handle your money by yourself, make sure you follow the advice of someone who is both knowledgeable and motivated to do right by you. Ask friends for references of good financial advisors. They should work only for a fee, not a commission. You can also search for fee-only advisors at the The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors website.

Keep in mind that investing doesn't have to be too complicated. Stick with a broad-based, low-cost index fund, like the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund, and you can rest easy that you own a well-diversified portfolio of all different types of stocks. For your investing goals that are at least 10 years off, that's all you need to do. So just tune out all the noise from everyone who tells you they know exactly what you need. Think for yourself. After all, it's your money.