Lumifer comments on Preparing for a Rational Financial Planning Sequence - Less Wrong

21 Post author: elharo 22 May 2013 11:48AM

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Comment author: Lumifer 22 May 2013 02:25:15PM 14 points [-]

Some notes in random order

  • There is vast amount of literature about this. Go into any B&N and contemplate the shelves full of financial self-help books.
  • You are overreaching. Career tactics? Choosing a spouse? You need to focus on a much narrower topic so that you can (a) finish this; and (b) write something useful instead of a brief overview of the surface of many things. Your outline looks to be made for a "how to live a life" book.
  • Financial planning is more complicated than you think. For example, the common "save X% for Y years and you can retire at age Z" advice doesn't have much relationship to reality (consider, for a start, that is completely ignores volatility and the uncertainty of the future). In fact, financial planning is another name for financial forecasting and if you can do that well, Wall St. should provide you with enough money to retire very quickly :-/
  • What's your edge? What makes you think you can write a better financial guide than some random planner from Fidelity or Schwab? He at least has the experience of having talked to customers.
Comment author: AspiringRationalist 23 May 2013 12:52:04PM -1 points [-]

What's your edge? What makes you think you can write a better financial guide than some random planner from Fidelity or Schwab? He at least has the experience of having talked to customers.

Professional financial planners don't have much incentive to act in their customers' best interests. Even if they have the knowledge and experience to give good advice, it doesn't necessarily mean they actually do.