It has always been the case that brokerage accounts with, say, less than $50,000 or so were seen as a problem. On the one hand, they didn't generate revenue. It's possible that the account could grow into one that does, but that is really not likely. The fact is that all top brokerages and advisory firms would much prefer large accounts.

The big discount brokerages, however, have stepped up their offering and now provide some interesting services, according to Money. While risk tolerance questionnaires that spit out appropriate portfolios are passé now, there are more active services from the likes of Fidelity and Charles Schwab that actually allow an advisor to enter an account to choose securities and rebalance periodically. Firms like Financial Engines will essentially manage your 401(k) funds for you. These services seem to be steering a middle way between completely self-directed and completely broker-directed.

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