Financial Authors: Make Sure You're Reading What's Relevant to You.

Cover via Amazon

A few days ago, Drew McLellan shared in this post how social media has changed his world.  I thought I'd take a minute here to share how it's changed mine.  What I find most interesting is how, when I syndicate my blog content onto Twitter and Facebook, the conversations go in seemingly divergent directions and then end up on a topic that I'd been wanting to get to but didn't know how.

A recent Facebook conversation started somewhere else and came around to the topic of financial authors and their target audience.  For example, high income households already living comfortably within their means probably should ignore Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey lest they end up squandering their youth. 

One the other hand, if you're waiting on your income tax refund to have the money to take a class on real estate investing based on the writings of Robert Kiyosaki, you may want to consider waiting until you've got a little more of a cushion.  Don't run 'til you've learned to walk.

The one exception I will make is Spend 'Til the End: Raising Your Living Standard in Today's Economy and When You Retire by Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Scott Burns.  This book is a must read for everyone.  It is an economics-based method of financial planning that is based on finding and maintaining you highest possible standard of living. 

Using their proprietary software, you will be able to determine if your are over-saving or under-saving, over-insured or under-insured, and how much or how little impact life and financial decisions will have on your standard of living.

There are only a handful of planners using this software.  You can find a list by clicking here.  There is also a stripped-down free version that you can try here to get a feel for the process.