What about personal finance personalities (like Suze Orman or Dave Ramsey), newspaper columnists, authors, and bloggers. They make money by selling stuff -- books, seminars, newspapers, courses, ads. They often endorse specific companies and get paid for it. Odd as it seems, even when you call or write in with a specific question they don’t call it financial advice. The reason? The answers you get are generic, considered to be general education or entertainment. You didn’t pay to get personal advice.