As far as a "real" assistant goes, it can be easy to find one if you live in a city with craigslist. You can find someone to hire hourly once in a while, or bring them on full/part time with a salary if you have the means. The payment range is minimum wage up to whatever you want to pay. Whether you want something official where you run payroll, provide health insurance and everything, or just pay someone under the table - there's pretty much going to be a long list of people who will want you to hire them. I've taken out ads before and gotten over 200 responses (Chicago area). When you become directly responsible for other people's financial livelihood it can really change how you think about employment and life in general.