[travelstiles]

zcaveman,
Not sure what you mean by "There are many free financial checks in TV with a free lunch."
Many institutions are willing to provide "free" introductory seminars (often with refreshments, if that's what you meant by a free lunch) or "free" initial consultations, but as you mentioned there has to be some type of pay for professional services.
I like to make an analogy to surgery - would you hire a surgeon to operate on you who works for "free?" I doubt it. But many people are penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to their investments. We've all worked long and hard for our money, so we need to do our "due diligence" when working with advisors.
As with everything else in life you get what you pay for. If you are willing to put in the time to do all of your own research, follow the market closely, read the WSJ and invest on your own, you can save a significant amount of money, but the average client doesn't have the time, resources or interest in doing this.