IN THE BAD OLD DAYS, YOU couldn’t find a planner who didn’t make a living off of conflict-raising commissions on the insurance or mutual funds he steered you into, but boy, have times changed. Now you have to search hard to find one who hasn’t adopted a client fee schedule. Even old-line brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch are switching more of their accounts to fees based on assets under management.

That’s not good enough, say the most militant of the fee-only folk, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisers (NAPFA). Members claim that competitors cloud the question of fees by calling themselves ““fee based,’’ ““fee offset’’ or even ““fee only’’ while they still get incentives from the investments they offer: NAPFA has nailed a trademark for the ““fee only’’ designation and plans this week to announce it will apply it selectively to planners who pay for the seal and meet its toughest standards. That means no commissions, bonuses, referral fees, discounts, trips, presents worth more than $100 or family ownership of the firms that make trades for them. ““Fee only is a business style, not a product line,’’ the group pronounced haughtily, noting it would treat the mark as ““a sacred trust.''

That has some rivals in a lather. Non-NAPFA members, including CPAs and certified financial planners (CFPs), say they are good guys, too, and don’t want to pay another organization to keep using a designation they’ve already claimed. They’re pressing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to revoke NAPFA’s mark.

Where does all this leave the financially challenged who are just looking for some good, clean advice? More confused than ever. Instead of asking a planner for a fee-only seal, go for the detailed interview. Does the planner accept commissions, gifts or other fees from investment companies or make trades through a company that is less than an arm’s length away? Ask for a copy of the ADV form the adviser filed with the SEC, to make sure that information is correct.

And remember that ““no commissions’’ doesn’t necessarily buy competence, honesty or affordable advice. Texas securities chief Denise Voigt Crawford has noticed an unsettling new trend: unethical advisers creating statements that falsely inflate their clients’ portfolios so they can collect higher asset-based fees.

For competence, look for a CFP or PFS (CPA personal financial specialist) desig- nation, or NAPFA membership. All three have intense continuing-education and experience requirements. For ethics, read that ADV form but keep your fingers crossed: by the time any of these groups catches up with the really bad actors, they tend to be under indictment.

IT’S BEEN EASIER TO GET licensed as a financial adviser than as a hairdresser, as the state regulators like to say, but that’s ending. Starting in July, the SEC will focus on the nation’s 5,000 biggest financial-advisory firms and states will begin overseeing the 20,000 or so that are left. This summer could find a slew of advisers falling out of SEC sights before the states are ready to review them, so look for fish big enough to fall into the SEC’s net: pros with more than $25 million under management. If you’d rather work with a smaller company, call your state securities regulator to make sure there haven’t been any complaints filed against it.

HERE’S A BIT OF HERESY: IF your finances are pretty generic, maybe generic planning is good enough for you after all. For $100 a year and a $10,000 deposit in its new Lion account, Dreyfus Corp. will give you a year’s worth of phone access to a financial planner. No-load-fund company T. Rowe Price will manage your IRA rollover for $100, including investment options and transfers, even if the money doesn’t end up at T. Rowe Price. If you’ve got $25,000 to invest, Scudder will work up a mutual-fund plan for you. Most of the other no-load- fund companies offer similar services, or are getting them ready to roll.

Does this buy you personalized handholding and the broadest array of mutual funds? No, but why pay for something you don’t need? Sure, you might have to do a little research yourself, but look at it this way: it’s getting easier to pick funds than it is to find advisers to select them for you.