First, a fair warning. There is a tremendous amount of financial information out there. Unfortunately, much of it is barely disguised marketing material or misleading anecdotes on how one individual made it big.

One of the values of having a trusted financial advisor is that the advisor wades through all this information to discern the wheat from the chaff.

This education center lists high-quality information sources that allow an individual to become educated on the basics of financial planning and investing. If you know of a source that provides additional insights please let us know! This space is a work in progress.

Articles by David B. Jacobs, President, Patherfinder Financial Services

• Keeping it in the Family (Motley Fool, September 2004). How to maximize the benefits of an inherited IRA.
• Mistaking the Odds (Honolulu Star Bulletin, October 2004). Discusses our poor ability at odds making and how it affects our investing ability.
• Don't Let the Media Distract You from Sticking with a Good Investment Program (NAPFA, May 2005).  Covers the same ground as the previous article but to a nationwide audience.

David Jacobs in the News

• Brokers Can Have Role In Family IOUs (Dow Jones, Jan 2007)
  
• Retirement Income: Think Creatively (BusinessWeek, Dec. 2006)
• Be wary of gimmicky strategies for paying off your mortgage (Humberto Cruz, Nov. 2006).
• Safety net Main Draw of Income Riders (Humberto Cruz, Sept. 2005)
  
• Asset-based-fee debate focuses on disclosure (Investment News, July 2005).  Talks about the debate on whether fixed fee retainers are a better compensation model than assets under management.
• Investment Plans: In Search of Discipline (Kimmunications, June 2005).  Kim talks favorably about my NAPFA article and ties it in with other research.
• Pathfinder Financial Services President Admitted to Paladin Registry (PR, May 2005)
• David Jacobs of Pathfinder Financial Services speaks out (SEC, Jan 2005) against allowing brokers to put themselves forward as financial advisors.

Social Security

• When Should You Start Your Social Security Benefits? (AAII Journal, November 2002). An in-depth look at when to start social security.
• The Effect of Retirement Under Social Security at Age 62 (Journal of Financial Planning, January 2004). Unless you are single or in poor health, it is unlikely you should start receiving social security at age 62.

Estate Planning

• Estate Planning Basics (National Association of Financial and Estate Planning). Basic discussion of many estate planning issues.
• The New Estate-Tax Rules. A good overview of the crazy estate planning landscape Congress has created.
• Who Should Be The Beneficiary of Your IRA. (Loden & Conahan). An overview of the different options and considerations.

Investing Beginnings

• The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio by William J. Bernstein (McGraw-Hill, 2002)
• The Successful Investor Today: 14 Simple Truths You Must Know When You Invest by Larry E. Swedroe (Truman Talley Books, 2003)

Best Investment Watering Hole

• Morningstar Vanguard Diehards discussion board. The best public forum on the web to discuss investing issues. Many knowledgeable people are regular contributors to this forum.

Investment Theory

• Modern Portfolio Theory -- A great introduction to the basic concepts that our investing philosophy is based on.
• What Do Past Stock Market Returns Tell Us About the Future? by William Reichenstein. Examines the different ways to project future stock returns, with the result being, no matter which way you slice it, they are likely to be significantly lower than in the past.
• Sucker's Bet: Overwhelming empirical evidence shows that attempting to select successful active managers is virtually impossible, so why try? (Financial Planning, April, 2001)
• Major Index Funds are Superior not "Average" (Dallas Morning News, September, 2004). An easy read on the problems with active management.
• Risk: What Exactly Is It? (August 2003). A survey of the many different kinds of investment risk.
• Lump Sum Beats Dollar Cost Averaging by Richard E. Williams and Peter W. Bacon, Journal of Financial Planning, April 1993. If your psyche can stomach it, the odds strongly favor investing the lump sum immediately [as opposed to spreading it out over equal installments].
• Optimal Asset Location and Allocation with Taxable and Tax-Deferred Investing by Robert M. Dammon, Chester S. Spatt, and Harold H. Zhang. Recommends bonds be placed in tax deferred and stocks in taxable accounts.
• Variable Universal Life Insurance: Is it Worth it? by James A. Hunt. A must read for anyone who owns or is considering a variable universal life policy and wants to understand how they work and when they are appropriate.
• John Scordo's Finance Paper Research Site. An excellent listing of new scholarly papers in Finance.

Bond Investing

• Which Risks Have Been Best Rewarded?: Duration, equity market, and short-dated credit risk (Journal of Portfolio Management, Winter 2004). Examines what return enhancing strategies work best for bond investors. The short answer is short-term corporates.
• The dark side of the muni: Municipal bonds seem safe, but buying or selling them is fraught with peril. Protect yourself (Money, August 20 2004). Unless you have a lot of money, you are often better off using funds or buying new issues.

Diversification

• How much Diversification is Enough? (Santa Clara University Working Paper, September 2002). Argues that 120 stocks is now the minimum needed for good diversification.
• The 15-Stock Diversification Myth by William Bernstein. An explanation of why owning a couple dozen stocks in a separately managed account is not sufficient.