Recommendations for best financial planning book or websites?

[mermaidwannabe]

Inspired by the "dumping the debt" thread, I thought I should "up" my savings for retirement. We really don't have much debt besides home mortgage and braces for two kids but our retirement savings isn't stellar. We have 401K and a Roth IRA and an emergency fund, but I really want to start some more automatic savings. Not too excited about a mutual fund as ours has done so-so (Roth IRA), and know I need a diversified portfolio but where to start? I have a really old book from Suze Orman that has some good advice, but just wondered if any DISers had a book or website that really got them on track. Thanks!

 

[jdcthree]

Inspired by the "dumping the debt" thread, I thought I should "up" my savings for retirement. We really don't have much debt besides home mortgage and braces for two kids but our retirement savings isn't stellar. We have 401K and a Roth IRA and an emergency fund, but I really want to start some more automatic savings. Not too excited about a mutual fund as ours has done so-so (Roth IRA), and know I need a diversified portfolio but where to start? I have a really old book from Suze Orman that has some good advice, but just wondered if any DISers had a book or website that really got them on track. Thanks!

Have you heard of Dave Ramsey? I haven't used his advice personally, but I've heard good things about him from friends.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Oh, I hadn't thought of him since I really thought about him being for getting rid of debt. I know Total Money Makeover is at our library so I'll look at it. Thank you!

 

[jmartinez1895]

I too would recommend Dave. He has a section in his money make over book on where to put your money once you are debt free and his plan to diversify the portfolio looks good. I hope to be at that point some day soon ( 54 months if I keep on track)

 

[DisneyBill]

You're very wise for recognizing the need for diversification and investment allocation. You also need to gain a respect for expense ratios that are underlying in all investment vehicle types that play a major role in ultimate outcomes after a lifetime of investment and saving. I suggest you obtain the book Bogleheads Guide to Investing, and also spend some quality hours on bogleheads.org (read the wiki there too)for a total eye opening perspective on long-term investing. This site is chock full of good advice and discussion and is spawned from respect of Jack Bogle who is the founder of Vanguard Mutual Funds.

 

[avance]

Dave Ramsey is what we use and he is amazing in my opinion!!!!!

 

[vacationer1954]

There are three names I see people recommend a lot: Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman and Clark Howard. They are each very good at motivating the first steps in getting your finances under control which is basically getting rid of debt and controlling your spending. However, their advice for saving up for major expenses and for retirement are not as good as John C. Bogle. He was the founder of Vanguard and he outlined a very good approach for saving for the future.

1 Develop a workable plan
2 Invest early and often
3 Never bear too much or too little risk
4 Diversify
5 Never try to time the market
6 Use index funds when possible
7 Keep Costs Low
8 Minimize taxes
9 Invest with simplicity
10 Stay the course

You can Google his name and find whole websites that describe each step in detail. One of the important things I learned from it was that you really only need three mutual funds to be diversified enough and well balanced. And to make them index funds so you're not giving so much of your gains to a fund manager who isn't going to be able to make your returns so much larger than the index funds to justify how much you're giving to him.

 

[eliza61]

Inspired by the "dumping the debt" thread, I thought I should "up" my savings for retirement. We really don't have much debt besides home mortgage and braces for two kids but our retirement savings isn't stellar. We have 401K and a Roth IRA and an emergency fund, but I really want to start some more automatic savings. Not too excited about a mutual fund as ours has done so-so (Roth IRA), and know I need a diversified portfolio but where to start? I have a really old book from Suze Orman that has some good advice, but just wondered if any DISers had a book or website that really got them on track. Thanks!

I'm going to disagree with my dis friends here.

Dave and Suzey are great for paying down debt and every day financial decisions but it looks like you have that part down.

Dave and Suzy are not financial planners. I would recommend literature from an actual professional for that.

On line, one of my favorite websites is the Oblivious Investors
http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/
The guy who runs this blog is a CPA and CFP.
His motto is that no one will look after your money the way you would so it is a very easy blog to follow.

Another one is the Motley fool. Once again it's strong suit is that you should learn for yourself what is going on.

http://www.fool.com/

These are great websites for newbie investors to understand how the market works, different investment tools, etc etc. sign up for their newsletters. Oblivious just sent out a great article on retirement and ss.


Suzy and Dave are great motivators and they serve a need especially when the majority of Americans are in debt and not saving. You don't seem to have that problem.

A guy named Ken Fisher also has great books out but they are a little dry. His investment company basically handles retirement accounts but only once you have over 500K. Hey my moto is if I'm going to take investment advice I'm going to take it from some one in the position I want to be in. I want to be that person who has 500K to invest. LOL

He's got a great book out called "10 roads to riches". Once again it's a bit dry but very interesting.

 

[rockawaybeachgirl]

I'm going to disagree with my dis friends here.

Dave and Suzey are great for paying down debt and every day financial decisions but it looks like you have that part down.

Dave and Suzy are not financial planners. I would recommend literature from an actual professional for that.

On line, one of my favorite websites is the Oblivious Investors
http://www.obliviousinvestor.com/
The guy who runs this blog is a CPA and CFP.
His motto is that no one will look after your money the way you would so it is a very easy blog to follow.

Another one is the Motley fool. Once again it's strong suit is that you should learn for yourself what is going on.

http://www.fool.com/

These are great websites for newbie investors to understand how the market works, different investment tools, etc etc. sign up for their newsletters. Oblivious just sent out a great article on retirement and ss


Suzy and Dave are great motivators and they serve a need especially when the majority of Americans are in debt and not saving. You don't seem to have that problem.

A guy named Ken Fisher also has great books out but they are a little dry. His investment company basically handles retirement accounts but only once you have over 500K. Hey my moto is if I'm going to take investment advice I'm

going to take it from some one in the position I want to be in. I want to be that person who has 500K to invest. LOL

He's got a great book out called "10 roads to riches". Once again it's a bit dry but very interesting.

Thank you for saving me all that typing- this is pretty much what I was going to say. Dave Ramsey and the rest are great for budgeting/ paying down debt etc - ie getting to the point where you can afford to invest- but not HOW to invest.

And if you have the opportunity, contribute fully to an HSA account- that's the best savings vehicle due to the triple tax advantage.

 

[bdcp]

What about a financial planner? We've been using one for 10 years and even though there was a "slump" a couple of years ago we have made money, more than the market every single year. And, yes, they charge a fee which comes out of your account cash, but, the more you make, the more they make. I just shake my head at friends who refuse to use one because they charge you. Well, it is a profession. We're very diversified and have shifted things around a few times on his advice. Our planner also advises our grown sons for free with their 401k's through their jobs. When they switch jobs and plan on rolling their money out he will help them.

We're 52 and 55 and we could live on what we currently have invested if we downsized our house (we have a large house) so right now the goal is to replace all our current income before we retire in the next 10-15 years.

As good as some people think they are about investing, there's just too much they don't know and can't know without being plugged into it with other planners and companies. We make changes based on the managers of the funds as well as the fund itself, from information our planner knows, hears, etc through his network which the individual would never hear of soon enough. It's a full time job keeping up with the markets and all the many many funds out there.

 

[scootch]

Interesting thread.... we just got a fairly large some of money with an oil lease and I am clueless where to put it. We have other investment that we manage ourselves, a bit haphazardly I will admit... and have no debt. We do have one financial planner running my old 403B account from my first employer.... he has done well, just hate to take too much risk.

 

[vacationer1954]

I have seen enough to convince me that financial planners aren't worth it.

This was interesting:
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/how-much-can-a-financial-adviser-cost-you/

 

[2disneyboys]

I agree w/ others - while Dave Ramsey & Clark Howard are great motivators for reducing debt and saving, I don't necesairly agree w/ thier investment thoughts. The one thing that I do agree on is something Dave says (the others probably have said it also, but I've only "heard" Dave say it) "you should never invest in something you don't understand" In other words, don't blindly hand your money over. Make sure you at least understand the investment vehicle.

Right now, DH & I are at the stage of taking full advantage of 401k Match programs, Fully funding our Roth's and HSA Fundings. our goal this year is we are going to meet with several different groups/professionals to develope a long term plan for our retirement investment needs. We are 36 & 37 and have been contributing to 401K's etc for 10 years, but feel it's time to diversify and expand... so this is our year of education. We are setting $ aside this year and taking the time to learn about the various things available.

 

[wiigirl]

Dave Ramsey worked for us.

 

[eliza61]

I have seen enough to convince me that financial planners aren't worth it.

This was interesting:
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/how-much-can-a-financial-adviser-cost-you/

Oh I think they are well worth it. Face it, investing, stocks, bonds, savings for the most stuff is boring, dry material. LOL.
Heck, most Americans don't read their credit card statements beyond what they owe and I gotta tell you I get prospectus in the mail and if I have insomania and want to fall asleep, try read that.....

So getting some one to do that for me? Secondly as some one pointed out there is a ton of information out there, literally thousand upon thousands of mutual funds. It is a full time job to stay on top.

Most folks who do have a 401K randomly pick their fund choices. literally doing "ennie, meenie, minie, mo".

So having a money guy can be worth their weight in gold. Considering I'd pay a small fortune to keep a good hairstylist, a good financial guy is worth whatever he charges me.

Now your article is interesting but and this is a big but, it is based on the premise that the indivdual investor will do the homework.Take me, I'm a chemist. Up until say the last 3 years I knew absolutely nothing about investing. I was one of those who saved in my 401K but had no idea about how much they cost, what % to invest in each fund or what the heck those quaterly statements meant. Not only did I not know, it's absolutely the most boringest subject in the world. I literally would rather catch a tiger by his toe than try and figure it out. So the Doctor in his argument, how knowlegable is he? how much time is he devoting to it?

I like my guy, we work as a team, I have confidence in his ability to serve my interest and help me achieve my goals and if that cost me 1/2%-1% a year I'm cool with that.

I did find it interesting that this came from a blog aimed at physicians which is another costly profession and they advocate people NOT diagnoising themselves yet they claim they could do the profession of another professional just as well....

to me it's the same principle, when I get sick I want a compentant person practicing in that area. I want the same from my financial aspect.

 

[vacationer1954]

Hairstylists sometimes try to sell you product that he gets a kickback for selling. Financial planners often do too but with lots more money. If you can find a financial planner who will let you buy your shampoo at the grocery store then that would be a financial planner worth working with. People talk about wanting to be frugal the way the economy is today and learning about money yourself is actually one of the ways you can. You wouldn't want to be your own doctor or lawyer but you learn to make your own financial decisions.

 

[DisneyEater]

The only books or articles I would look up are ones on how to find a GOOD financial planner. Everyone's economic situation and priorities are too different for any 1 book to be able to cover individual's situations.

 

[KennesawNemo]

Check with your company HR department. DH's retirement fund from work is administrated by Fidelity. They provide free consultations to all company employees. They don't get a commission from their service. You meet with the adviser, he gives you some suggestions and you go online to adjust the portfolio yourself. They might not give the most detailed plan, but it's free and a good starting point.

 

[eliza61]

Hairstylists sometimes try to sell you product that he gets a kickback for selling. Financial planners often do too but with lots more money. If you can find a financial planner who will let you buy your shampoo at the grocery store then that would be a financial planner worth working with. People talk about wanting to be frugal the way the economy is today and learning about money yourself is actually one of the ways you can. You wouldn't want to be your own doctor or lawyer but you learn to make your own financial decisions.

Oh there a gazillions. Simply ask how they are paid. Some get financial incentives from the products they sell and some charge a flat fee annually, some have a total unique way of getting paid.
Also just because they get a kickback doesn't make them "bad". I know a guy who is brillant and works for TD ameritrade. I know him personally and he will suggest a td product but only if he thinks it's a good fit for his client. He gets a kickback but he is not required to sell only TD products and he has no "quotas".

You hairstylist is a great example. My hairstylist definitely pushes her product but her primary reason is not because she gets a kick back, she hawks the stuff she uses in her shop and yes she does get money for referring the stuff but she would not have it in her salon if she didn't think the products worked. I love the product line she uses on my hair. So I absolutely have no problem with her getting a bonus. So I would not say her getting a financial incentive is a bad thing.

Op,
Also don't think there is a "one stop" all the answers type of thing. I've changed my portfolio a dozen times. for me it's a constant learning process. when I review with my planner he may suggest some thing and then I have to go look it up, research it, google the 1000 terms I did not understand then get back to him

It's a long road for me but like I said for me this stuff is like watching paint dry. I hate it.

 

[vacationer1954]

You're not giving yourself enough credit. But I understand hating it. I do all of the financial stuff in our family because my spouse is just like you.