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Free email course on How to Get The Financial Future You Want - Russ Thornton

This is a free 5-less email course about Wealth Management and "How To Get The Financial Future You Want" - Russ Thornton

Are you counting on your investment advisor or investment manager to be able to "skate to where the puck is going to be" like Wayne Gretzky said he would try to do? Careful, it can be dangerous relying on people who imply (or claim) that they can see the future. - Russ Thornton

"Would love the copy of Problogger the book. Happy Holidays, Darren." - Russ Thornton

Well, for E Bonds issued from 1941 to November 1965, there was a 40 year maturity with the last of these bonds maturing in the year 2005. And E Bonds issued from November 1965 to 1980 carried a 30 year maturity. This means the last of the E Bonds issued in 1980 will mature and cease to earn any additional interest in June 2010. So after June 2010, if you own some of these E Bonds, you'll just have a piece of paper that's worth something, but will not longer be accruing any additional value. But what is your "something" worth? - Russ Thornton

"@giannii and the @disqus crew are top notch. I had a similar experience when trying to install Disqus comments on my Squarespace site -- @giannii saw a question I'd tweeted and reached out to me with help Disqus is a great commenting system on its own, but with proactive service like that, I'm now a perma-fan of theirs Enjoying your blog, by the way" - Russ Thornton

If you or someone you know is dealing with an advisor that doesn't clearly put the interests of the client first and foremost, then I suggest you immediately begin the search for someone that is happy to "hand you the wheel" and recognize that you're in the driver's seat -- exactly where you should be. - Russ Thornton

This is the password manager I use and love. Highly recommend it - Russ Thornton

"Enjoyed your post and recognize that we can’t always afford to be too selective when it comes to the clients we work with. Nevertheless, I was reminded of this post on Seth’s blog earlier today: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_b... Russ Thornton´s last blog ..Prefab Treehouses – Blogs – Dwell" - Russ Thornton

This is important but easy to forget - Russ Thornton

"Dylan - I didn't mean to step on your toes. I know you get it, Sheryl Garrett gets it and the rest of the Garrett Planning Network get it. This if further evidenced by your email newsletters and the language on your website. Perhaps I shouldn't have made such a blanket statement . . . However, despite the good work you do, I still see too many advisors that charge $2,000 - $5,000+ for a stand-alone plan without the ongoing follow up and availability to update things that you promote to your clients. If fact, I've encountered clients that worked with planners that charged them $5,000 to do a plan and if they wanted to update it 12-24 months later, they were told it would be another $5,000. That's not planning . . . that's ridiculous. When I left Merrill, they were beginning to downplay their Financial Foundation "plan" even after upping the price from $250 to supposedly lend it more credibility. They were beginning to promote their Private Wealth Plan with was basically a 150 page..." - Russ Thornton

"I think there are a couple of BIG issues to consider here: 1. What are advisors and planners marketing and selling to clients? 2. What do clients think they're getting when they hire an advisor or planner? I'm always skeptical of advisors that offer planning as a stand-alone service without any ongoing advice. This is usually (not always) a warning sign that they attach value to the plan itself and not the long-term delivery of advice that, when coupled with a prudent plan, offers tremendous value to a client and their family. I'm not critiquing one advisor business model vs another -- this is just something that makes a red flag go up in my mind. And perhaps the larger problem is that there are literally dozens of ways to deliver financial advice and/or planning. Regardless of how an advisor refers to him or herself (planner, broker, advisor, agent, etc.) that does little to let a client know what to expect. Add in the Wall St. marketing machine that would lead you to believe your..." - Russ Thornton

"Assumptions help us build a framework which we can use to make more informed decisions. Not perfect decisions; just more informed. For example, your #1 point above to "save as much as you reasonably can" is good advice for everyone to abide by. But we only get once chance to live our lives the best way we can. What if we're so busy saving as much as we reasonably can that we wind up sacrificing things that are important to us along the way? I've seen people (and some advisors) that operate on an absolute fear of the future. They save and invest out of fear -- not based on a rational plan. Of course, the other extreme is just as dangerous -- there are many that live for today and are ignorant of their future needs. I think the answer is to strike a good balance between being prepared for tomorrow (or 25 years from now) while being able to enjoy the fruits of your labor today. Assumptions play a role in helping find this balance. Is it perfect? No, it isn't. But until I find a better..." - Russ Thornton

"I agree that any forecast is fraught with dangers and will almost certainly prove to be wrong, but I don't think you can avoid assumptions completely either. For a well thought out and detailed paper on one approach to building the most appropriate capital market assumptions, your readers might enjoy this paper: http://www.financeware.com/ruminat...... The above paper is a follow up to an original 2003 paper which can be found here: http://www.financeware.com/ruminat......" - Russ Thornton

"Rick, There are a couple of problems with assuming the worst historical numbers. 1. What if things were to get much worse than the worst we've experienced? or, 2. What if, based on use of worst historical numbers, a family concludes that they have to save every last penny and invest more aggressively than they'd like and they have to work longer than they would like and they can't educate their children in the manner they'd prefer and they can't afford to take care of their parents in the event of a long-term illness? And what it, after making all of these “conservative” assumptions, things turn out better than they planned? Every one only gets one shot at life and that scenario potentially leaves a lot of unmet or deferred goals that they might have otherwise wanted to plan for and accomplish. Regardless of who the “assumer” is, and it's important to know who's filling that role, there is still a balance that needs to be struck between preparing for tomorrow while still enjoying the..." - Russ Thornton

"Rick, There are a couple of problems with assuming the worst historical numbers. 1. What if things were to get much worse than the worst we've experienced? or, 2. What if, based on use of worst historical numbers, a family concludes that they have to save every last penny and invest more aggressively than they'd like and they have to work longer than they would like and they can't educate their children in the manner they'd prefer and they can't afford to take care of their parents in the event of a long-term illness? And what it, after making all of these "conservative" assumptions, things turn out better than they planned? Every one only gets one shot at life and that scenario potentially leaves a lot of unmet or deferred goals that they might have otherwise wanted to plan for and accomplish. Regardless of who the "assumer" is, and it's important to know who's filling that role, there is still a balance that needs to be struck between preparing for tomorrow while still enjoying the..." - Russ Thornton

"I think the best solution is to let the free market fix the USPS. Given the fact that the USPS is a monopoly and can’t achieve, let alone maintain, profitability is ridiculous. I say let UPS, FedEx and others have a shot at first class mail delivery and let the winner(s) emerge victorious. If the USPS can get their act together to compete with private entities, then I’m all for it. While 5 or even 3 day/week mail delivery would be fine with me, I think that would be equivalent to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic." - Russ Thornton

"Whether you're talking about financial planning, investing, dieting, fitness, medicine or dozens of other topics, there's never been a shortage of information out there. Some of it is good, responsible information, but it's all still just information. Carl – your message of context and creating a plan that reflects a person's very specific and unique circumstances is where some (not all) of this information can be translated into wisdom. And while a Financial Advisor isn't required to help create wisdom from information and relate it to your personalized financial strategy, this is the true value that many of the best Financial Advisors deliver. Another great post and sketch, Carl. Keep up the great work" - Russ Thornton

"Whether you're talking about financial planning, investing, dieting, fitness, medicine or dozens of other topics, there's never been a shortage of information out there. Some of it is good, responsible information, but it's all still just information. Carl - your message of context and creating a plan that reflects a person's very specific and unique circumstances is where some (not all) of this information can be translated into wisdom. And while a Financial Advisor isn't required to help create wisdom from information and relate it to your personalized financial strategy, this is the true value that many of the best Financial Advisors deliver. Another great post and sketch, Carl. Keep up the great work" - Russ Thornton

An interesting approach to medical malpractice coverage. - Russ Thornton

Interesting questions about value of social networks - Russ Thornton

"Thanks for this list, Chris. Suggest you check out feedly.com as an alternative RSS reader. It extends Google Reader (which it's based on) in a well designed layout plus it adds some great social sharing features. As a long time Google Reader user, feedly takes some getting used to, but now I love it." - Russ Thornton

Isn't all investing, even passive index investing, some form of market forecasting? - Russ Thornton

"Good point. However, with a team of 2 that I think just expanded to a team of 4, I'll try to be patient as they roll out more functionality and integrations. Hope you're enjoying your vacation." - Russ Thornton

"Hi Chris, I've been using Posterous, too. So far I love it. From the Posterous FAQ regarding video embeds: ************************* We turn any URLs into links. But we try to do smarter things when we can. If you paste a YouTube link, like this video of Kansas playing Carry On Wayward Son: http://www.youtube.com/watch... We automatically turn it into a YouTube embeded player for your new post: We currently automatically embed players for the following sites: YouTube, Google Video, Hulu, Funny Or Die, Omnisio, MixWit, Justin.TV, Fliggo, Vimeo, motionbox, TED Talks, Viddler, Dailymotion, Blip.tv, Revver, TeacherTube, GodTube, seesmic, and Brightcove. If you'd like more sites added, let us know. ************************** So, if you haven't already, just try emailing the YouTube link to Posterous, and they'll take care of the rest. Cheers" - Russ Thornton

http://www.geocities.jp/deal_st... - Russ Thornton

"Just now got around to watching the video. Great message and great delivery. Thanks for sharing this." - Russ Thornton

via fastcompany.com (via @marionasnes) ... - Russ Thornton

View on screencast.com - Russ Thornton

via googleblog.blogspot.com Wondered if/when this day would come. ... - Russ Thornton