Family? Friends? Bloggers? Gurus? Books? Message boards? Newsletters? Financial planners?
If you listen, there is a myriad of voices telling you what to do–often offering conflicting advice. Where do you get yours? How do you process it?
My favorite source is other bloggers. For example, if I want reviews of certain books or reflections on gurus, all I have to do is run a search in my Google Reader. I can often find several bloggers who’ve tackled the same subject but offered different perspectives. It hit me this morning (at least I think that’s what hit me, I kind of forgot in the meantime) how many different sources there are even for evaluating the sources I listed above–like gurus and books and bloggers and professionals.
One great place if you’re interested in books is The Simple Dollar. Trent just completed 52 books in 52 weeks and he’s still going strong. Here’s a link to his overall review of the bottom 42 books. The review has links to each book’s post. I guess the top ten are coming later. [Edit: Here’s the post on the top ten. Trent also responded to this post here about his sources of financial advice.]
Raymond at Money Blue Book warns against finance message boards, particularly if you’re new at this. You need to watch out for “pump and dump” schemes or simple bad advice. Good advice there, message boards are fun, but they’re also a free-for-all. At least with a blogger you’ve got some history.
And remember, even certified financial professionals (whether online or IRL) offer bad advice (Free Money Finance’s take and Patrick from Cash-Money-Life’s story)
While I don’t quite see the point of having a $200 subscription to a newsletter which essentially tells me to buy and hold, Silicone Valley Blogger (The Digerati Life) finds hers inspiring and useful. More power to her.
I would write more about what I do and like but my brain is trying to crawl out through my ear. I don’t know what that means either, but it hurts.
So tell me, what’s your favorite source? Do you like hearing a hodge-podge or stick with one person?
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I agree w/ FMF’s point of view, and my wife and I do everything ourselves for right now. Granted, we don’t have children yet, and our situation is fairly simple. As we go on, we may look into a financial planner, but if it happens, it would be quite some time from now.
Thanks for the mention. 🙂
I’ll like to see what bloggers say about a subject and I weigh it against my current situation. I enjoy reading Trent’s blog and JD’s blog as well. They’re well written and informative. What I like about your blog is that it take finances in the context your daily life. I enjoy reading about your plans and now your business.
Great job!
I have to admit that I make most of my decisions after consulting way too many sources. I’ve read Suze Orman books and MSN articles. I also look for bloggers personal stories with a certain comapny, fund, etc. I don’t really talk with my friends or family about my investment choices….
I go to a bunch of blogs and read things on my lunch hour or after work. But what keeps me focused is the daily Dave Ramsey show podcast, as well as the weekly Sound Investing podcast. I don’t know what I’d do without my iPod (frugality be damned where it is concerned!).
I’m a big fan of absorbing information through osmosis. I read shed loads of personal finance blogs, which I sort of synthesis into my own plans, translating into British English as necessary. For specific information (such as the current best savings account) I tend to use the money saving expert site.
Thanks, Laura. 🙂 I’m glad you see that in my blog—I hope it’s what I’m doing, but it’s good to have an outside observer confirming my opinion.
Me too, SD, I love seeing what everybody has to say. 😛
If I had an iPod, Swamproot, I’m sure I’d be doing the same thing. Not always Dave, but different PF bloggers.
I probably absorb a lot too, plonkee, even without realizing it. 🙂
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