Financial Planning Reading List

The Pasadena Financial Planner has written extensively about personal financial planning and investment management on a variety of websites. When I work with clients to develop their customized lifetime financial and investment plans, they often ask what they should read to improve their financial literacy.

This article provides a list of recommended reading from among the many hundreds of articles that I have authored in the past several years. Note that I have personally written all the content that you will find on the six personal finance and investment websites referenced below. You can reach us by using the contact form below.

Enjoy!

The Skilled Investor website

Note that you can find all of my other financial websites, by going to The Skilled Investor website and clicking on the red colored links in the left hand column on any page of The Skilled Investor website.

On the front page of The Skilled Investor website you will find an index of pages with major categories and subcategories. Within the subcategories there are lists of articles and the front page tells you how many articles are in any subcategory. There are many articles in addition to those listed below, which you can find by clicking on the subcategory links below that have arrows in front of them.

Here are some suggested personal financial planning and investment management articles within the major categories and subcategories. Article titles are descriptive and should help you decide which articles you want to read first.

Personal Investment Management

Asset Allocation and Personal Investment Risk Tolerance Articles

• You must stay invested in the securities markets to earn market risk premiums
• Commodity futures in your investment portfolio — Is there really any future for individual investors?

Cost Control and Investment Performance Improvement Articles

• Excessive investment costs are a huge problem for individual investors

• How much do hidden mutual fund trading expenses cost you?

• Is it worth paying higher bond mutual fund management fees?

• Pay less to get more (Part 1 of 2)

• The heavy burden of recurring investment fees (Part 1 of 2)

• Understanding one-time investment fees, such as sales loads

Investment Asset Diversification Articles — Reducing Your Portfolio Risk

• What is the cost to individual investors of sub-optimal portfolio diversification?

• Why is diversification valuable to individual investors?

• Can a limited number of stocks provide complete portfolio diversification?

• How many mutual funds are needed for a well-diversified portfolio? – Commentary

Investment Luck versus Investing Skill Articles

• Chance creates the illusion that investors can beat the stock market

• The illusion of superior professional investment manager performance

• Distinguishing between true investment skill and luck

Investment Returns and Securities Market Risk Premiums Articles

• What have average investment asset class risk premiums been over long periods?

• Asset class investment risk premiums — your reward for taking investment risk

• How stable have common stock market returns been over time?

• How are asset class risk premiums and the risk free rate of return related?

• How do return expectations of investors compare to historical stock returns and risk premiums?

Financial Planning and Investment Management Personal Efficiency Articles

• Calculating your investment wage and the opportunity cost of your time

• The value and opportunity cost of your investment time

• Passive Personal Investment Strategies are More Time Efficient with Better Returns and Risk Control

• 15 Value-Added Individual Investor Activities

Scientific Investment Best Practices Articles

• What else should you read about investing?

• A caution related to classic investment books

• How can individual investors trust, when so much investment information is rubbish?

How Stock and Bond Markets Value Investment Securities

• How investment securities are valued — snapshots in time

• Introduction to investment valuation and securities risk

• The confusing investment securities market motion picture

• What is efficient market pricing in the securities markets?

Personal Financial Planning

This is a much shortened list of available articles, because there are many other personal financial planning articles posted on The Pasadena Financial Planner website. See a selected list below.

Financial Decision Rules

• The Problem — Straight answers about personal financial and investment planning are difficult to find

• The Solution – Only follow financial strategies that are scientific, passive, diversified, savings focused, risk controlled, low cost, and tax efficient

Retirement Planning

• Traditional versus Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions

• Factors that tend to favor Roth tax-advantaged plan contributions (Part 1 of 2)

• Summary Table of Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Tax Rules

About VeriPlan — Personal Finance Software for Your Lifetime

• Executive Summary of VeriPlan

• VeriPlan’s 10 Financial Planning Tools and Financial Calculators

Financial Advisors, Investment Counselors, and the Financial Industry

Are Your Best Interests the Same as the Financial Services Industry?

• Financial science drives industry product development, but not necessarily toward the best interests of individuals

• The investment industry is not your investment partner

• How to lie with statistics: Investment performance charts (Part 1 of 2)

• Many individual investors are not fooled by an ethically challenged securities industry

• The securities industry calls marketing and selling – “advising”

Payment of Investment Advisors, Financial Planners, and Investment Counselors

• The economics of the financial advisory industry

• Does it matter how financial planners and investment advisors are paid?

• Can you really get free and objective investment advice, when you pay investment sales loads? (Part 1 of 2)

• How expensive is advisor compensation paid via sales loads?

Selecting a Financial Planning Advisor or Investment Adviser

• Preparing to interview a financial planner or investment advisor

• Questions to ask when hiring an investment advisor – Part 1 – Background and training

Regulation of Financial Advisors and Investment Advisers

• Regulation of financial planners and investment advisors — Introduction

Frauds and Scams by Financial and Investment Advisers

• Avoiding financial planning and investment advisor frauds and scams – Overview

• Avoiding financial advisor frauds and scams – The Never-do list — Part 1

Best No Load Funds website

Click “Sitemap” in top banner for a list of articles. Suggested reading:

• 7 Ways to Pick the Best Noload Mutual Funds and ETFs

To find articles that focus on each of these seven selection criteria, either click on the numbered headings within this article or go to the Sitemap.

No Load Bond Funds website

Click “Sitemap” in top banner for a list of articles. Suggested reading:

• No Load Bond Funds
• The Top 14 Low Cost Taxable United States Bond Mutual Funds (Low Minimum Deposit)

The Skilled Investor Blog

(associated with The Skilled Investor website)

You could read these selected articles:

• Where’s Waldo? – The illusion of superior professional mutual fund manager performance.
• Why only one Warren Buffett? The illusion of superior professional mutual fund manager performance.

Low Cost S&P 500 Index Funds website

You could read these selected articles:

• Top 10 S&P 500 Index Funds
• Buy an S&P 500 Index Fund with Low Costs

The Pasadena Financial Planner website

Click “Sitemap” in top banner for a list of articles.

Suggested reading:

• Your Family Financial Planning
• Your Family Financial Planning Process

The two articles above summarize “10 Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction,” a recommended personal financial planning process. There are individual articles with more details about each of these 10 steps. You can find them by clicking on the bold section headers within the two articles above, or you can find them by clicking the “Sitemap” link on any page and looking for the articles that are numbered 1 through 10.

In addition to these financial planning process articles, read:

• Living Expense Tracking Methods
• Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management

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See: Fee Based Pasadena Investment Advisor >>>

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Larry Russell, Managing Director

MBA – Stanford University, MA – Brandeis University, and BS – M.I.T.

Lawrence Russell and Company Pasadena, California 91103

(626) 399-9579

A California Registered Investment Adviser — Certificate 133101

KNOWLEDGE — OBJECTIVITY — HONESTY — DILIGENCE — SATISFACTION

A truly independent financial planner and fee only investment advisor

(Regarding compensation, I provide financial planning services only on a fixed fee or hourly fee for services basis, and solely under a contract that we agree upon. I do not charge any form of asset fee. In addition, to avoid all conflicts-of-interest, I do not accept commissions or compensation of any type from the financial industry.)

Start a conversation today — Send a message using this contact form

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Financial Advisor Pasadena

• Investment Diversification Strategy (10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see "Your Family Financial Planning." To find an in depth article for each step, [...])
• Sitemap ( Pasadena Financial Planners A truly independent financial planner and fee only investment advisor . Larry Russell, Managing Director MBA - Stanford University, MA - Brandeis University, and BS - M.I.T. Lawrence Russell and Company Pasadena, California 91103 (626) 399-9579 A California Registered Investment Adviser -- Certificate 133101 KNOWLEDGE -- OBJECTIVITY -- HONESTY -- DILIGENCE -- SATISFACTION Start a conversation today -- Send a message [...])
• Living Expense Tracking Methods (Many people do not track their living expenses and do not understand the magnitude of their consumption. Failure to monitor your consumption expenditures means that they are flying blindly regarding their future finances. If you do not understand how much you spend and how much you are saving and investing, you simply do not have [...])
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• Pasadena Financial Planner Background (Comprehensive financial planning advice informed by extensive business experience <<< Pasadena Financial Planner Background Part 1: Pasadena Financial Planning (Note that you can reach me by using the contact form below.) Receiving my Stanford MBA in 1982, I moved a few miles south to begin my corporate career in Silicon Valley. For most of my twenty-five plus years [...])
• Investment Management Fees (Step 7 of 10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see "Your Family Financial Planning." To find an in-depth article for [...])
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• Asset Allocation, Investment Asset Tax Location, and Emergency Cash Management (This article discusses personal investment portfolio asset allocation and some considerations about where to hold different classes of financial assets from the standpoint of more optimal taxation. As you move your cash, bond, and stock financial assets into lower cost, more broadly diversified investment mutual funds and/or ETFs, you should also consider how to “locate” your [...])
• Pasadena Financial Planner ( Find the best personal financial planning consultant for your family (Note that you can reach me by using the contact form below.) The Pasadena Financial Planner (Larry Russell) is an experienced business executive with a background in corporate business management, technology start-ups, financial modeling, investment management, economics, statistics, taxation, and accounting. This article provides the biography [...])
• Investment Asset Allocation (10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see Your Family Financial Planning. To find an in depth article for each step, [...])
• Privacy ( . Financial Planners Pasadena CA A truly independent financial planner and fee only investment advisor . Larry Russell, Managing Director MBA - Stanford University, MA - Brandeis University, and BS - M.I.T. Lawrence Russell and Company Pasadena, California 91103 (626) 399-9579 A California Registered Investment Adviser -- Certificate 133101 KNOWLEDGE -- OBJECTIVITY -- HONESTY -- DILIGENCE -- SATISFACTION Start a conversation today -- Send a [...])
• Your Family Financial Planning (10 Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction Families need an objective financial planning process. In addition, they need to be in control -- whether or not they have a family financial planning consultant. With a well-designed and personal financial plan, you can optimize your financial affairs over your lifetime. You can greatly reduce the waste [...])
• Insurance Risk Management (Step 8 of 10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see "Your Family Financial Planning." To find an in-depth article for [...])
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• Your Family Financial Planning Process (<<< Go Back to Part 1 (Steps 1 to 5) -- Family Financial Planning Pasadena To find an in depth article for each step, just click on the "Pasadena Financial Planners Sitemap" link at the top of this page and look for the articles numbered from 6 to 10. Note that you can reach us by [...])
• Investment Risk Tolerance (10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see "Your Family Financial Planning". To find an in depth article for each step, [...])
• About (An Objective Personal Financial Planning and Investment Management Website This website has been researched, written, and published independently. To ensure objectivity, no compensation of any kind has been paid by any third party to influence the editorial content of this website. All articles on this website were written by the Pasadena Financial Planner. Do you want [...])
• Your Personal Financial Planning Skills (10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see Your Family Financial Planning. To find an in depth article for each step, [...])
• Personal Investment Strategy (Step 6 of 10 Personal Financial Planning Steps in the Right Direction This is one of the “10 Steps in the Right Direction” that make up The Pasadena Financial Planner's personal financial planning and personal investment management process. For a summary of these ten steps, see "Your Family Financial Planning." To find an in-depth article for [...])