Recommendations for best financial planning book or websites?

[dawnball]

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/

Y'know, I don't use a financial planner (my husband and I like to discuss new opportunities/ideas and see how they play out) but that's an incredibly biased piece.

I'd be pretty wary of taking financial advice from someone who would claim that as "analysis."

 

[vacationer1954]

A friend of mine likes to say that arguing about investment philosophy is as pointless as arguing about religion or politics.

 

[Pigeon]

Using a financial planner doesn't mean you don't have to do your homework or understand the investment instruments. Not paying attention is a recipe for disaster. My FIL did just that with a guy who came highly recommended from a number of FIL's colleagues. FIL took a bath.

 

[RitaE]

If I had to recommend one book, I'd probably go with this one

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071747052/ref=nosim/theplanningsh-20

If you request it from your library or buy it, make sure you get the 2010 edition and not the one that was published prior to the 2008 industry collapse.

If you want to know more about Dr. Bernstein and how he developed his framework of advise, Money Magazine did a profile on him last fall which you can read here.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/04/retirement/investing-mistakes.moneymag/index.html

 

[vacationer1954]

If I had to recommend one book, I'd probably go with this one

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071747052/ref=nosim/theplanningsh-20

"The dangers of actively picking stocks, as opposed to investing in the whole market".

I haven't read that book but this is something I've read everyone who isn't trying to sell something is saying.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

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.

Thank you!! Vanguard is highly respected and is what I chose for my Roth so will be very interested in the book and website!

 

[eliza61]

If I had to recommend one book, I'd probably go with this one

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071747052/ref=nosim/theplanningsh-20

If you request it from your library or buy it, make sure you get the 2010 edition and not the one that was published prior to the 2008 industry collapse.

If you want to know more about Dr. Bernstein and how he developed his framework of advise, Money Magazine did a profile on him last fall which you can read here.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/04/retirement/investing-mistakes.moneymag/index.html

thanks Rita,

One line in here that I loved....

I've flown airplanes, and as a doctor, I've taken care of kids who can't walk. Investing for retirement is probably harder than either of those first two activities, yet we expect people to be able to do it on their own.



I think it's one reason why they average Joe gets panicky and simply does nothing.

Why do they make this stuff rocket science? Actually I took a couple of areonautical engineering classes, this stuff is worse.

 

[vacationer1954]

Another related book which may be interesting to read is this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Pound-Foolish-Exposing-Personal-Industry/dp/1591844894

Olen exposes the bogus -- and well-compensated -- advice issuing from the mouths of slick celebrities like Suze Orman, David Bach, Dave Ramsey, and Jim Cramer. She blasts through the mirages of 401(K)s, mutual funds and gimmicks of the do-it-yourself retirement plan that America has foolishingly embraced, along with the real estate schemes and stock market fantasies we turn to when the numbers in our savings accounts don't add up.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Just made it through all the posts, thank you! Really good sites and discussion. Looking forward to going through these books and sites. I have contemplated going to a financial planner, but we really don't have a lot to even go to one and would really like recommendations from people I know. There was a lady from Edward Jones who kept coming to our neighborhood and she was so pushy! I really will be sure NOT to ever use her, but I know there are some good ones out there. For now, I will rely on learning from these sites and books for my little bit. Did not ever think to fully fund my HSA. Very interesting. Just thought of it as our health account not as a saving tool so thanks for that. And we could be funding our Roth more. Thanks for the interesting posts.

 

[vacationer1954]

One thing about HSAs we learned the hard way. Ask about fees before you put money in. We have one with a nice balance right now that is being eaten away by fees every month.

 

[bdcp]

One of the reasons we use the financial planner we do is they do not have their own products. They do not benefit from steering anyone towards any particular fund. It's why I would never use an advisor from an insurance company or one fund. Our guys is a certified financial planner and by law he has to look out for his client's best interests. He gets no kickback from anyone. What he does get is a percentage based fee. As I said previously we have made more than the market every year we've been with him.

In fact, we met with him yesterday (we meet quarterly) and some of our funds have gained 10+% in the last year. And none of them lost money. Company 401k's dont' generally do as well as our funds have because we have much wider range of investments available. The best thing about company 401K's that do matching is that is free money that so many don't take advantage of. Everyone who has access to a matching 401K should invest enough to get all the matching. Say your company gives a 1 for 1 match for the first 3% that you invest. That's like a 3% raise. Why wouldn't someone take that? So many people in this country are giving up that income.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

vacationer - I wouldn't have thought about that either, thank you I will see if/what our fees are.

bdcp - I really like the idea of a good financial planner. Really just feel like we don't have enough money to go to one right now. When we do go down that road, I will definitely look into one who is percentage based like you have. Glad you have a good one! We contribute what my husband's company matches for his 401K, but we don't give any more than that because ours hasn't done as well as our Roth mutual fund, which we also don't max out.

 

[preschoolmom]

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.

Thanks for these web-sites, they look great!

 

[preschoolmom]

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.

Thanks for posting this! Not the OP, but I checked it out and it is an amazing resource!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I was looking into one of Vanguard's Index funds but can't find any below a $1,000 initial investment. I'd really love one that I could contribute to each month with a $500 or lower but will keep looking. It's been interesting reading on all of these sites. Really good info!