Consumers want help from personal finance columnists

Andrea Hopkins of Reuters explores the explosion of people seeking help from personal finance columnists and shows in the wake of the Wall Street upheaval.

Hopkins writes, “‘It is an avalanche. I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s crazy,’ said Tess Vigeland, host of a show called Marketplace Money, which runs on public radio stations around the United States. ‘Email has at least tripled, if not quadrupled.’

“With Washington and Wall Street gripped by the U.S. financial crisis and headlines screaming about bankrupt banks and insurers, financial advisers — especially those in the public eye — are being swamped.

“Teresa Dixon Murray, who writes a weekly column about personal finance at the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper, said she hasn’t gotten so many calls and emails in her 10 years as a financial reporter.

“‘It’s been pretty much my life since late March, and as far as the last week and a half — I’ve definitely seen more worry and concern from consumers,’ said Murray. ‘There’s a feeling of helplessness that nobody seems to have the answers.'”

Read more here.