You should see my mailbox. The number of publications that I receive is totally ridiculous. And I'm just talking about the financial ones that I receive for free. I'm not talking about my subscriptions to Men's Health, Food & Wine and Cosmopolitan. Oops, did I say that one out loud? Let's see, the monthly magazines that I receive include: Investment Advisor, Financial Advisor, Bloomberg Wealth Manager, Institutional Investor, Money Magazine, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, NAPFA Advisor, and the Journal of Financial Planning. On top of that, on a weekly basis I receive Business Week and Investment News. Even then, I'm pretty sure I'm leaving a few out.
As you can imagine, there's no way I have time to read all of them. So, I scan the table of contents and pages for anything that catches my interest. I read some articles in full, but most get a partial read through. Based on the pile of magazines currently sitting in my inbox, I think it's safe to say that keeping current on industry publications is a talent that I have not yet mastered.
One publication that I try to give a fairly thorough read each month is the Journal of Financial Planning. The Journal of Financial Planning is the official publication of the Financial Planning Association. The content is relevant, and largely unbiased. It tends to lean more on the academic and analytical, and less on the sales/soundbite format that most magazines favor, especially the consumer oriented ones.
Upon reading the magazine, I always find that there are articles for which I have an opinion to share and nobody to share it with. Seriously, my wife is patient and a good listener, but there's only so much that I can talk about the "interesting article that I read in the Journal of Financial Planning." I've learned the hard way that the word "interesting" is highly subjective.
What better place to share my opinions without worry about whether or not anyone will care or listen than this here blog! So, I'm going to start a series in which I review and comment on articles from the Journal of Financial Planning. These posts will be identifiable by the Journal's logo as seen at the top of this post. Also, I may use some surprising words as "this is a review of an article found in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of Financial Planning." I know, totally confusing.

Recent Comments