Weekend Reading: Get Rich Slowly Edition

One of the founding fathers of personal finance blogging – J.D. Roth – returned to his roots this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Get Rich Slowly. J.D. hits the highlights in taking readers through his own journey to financial freedom, starting 10 years ago buried with $35,000 in consumer debt and living paycheque to paycheque, and quickly mastering money and the psychology behind it to reach financial independence just a few short years later.

What appealed to his readers, and ultimately led to the massive growth of Get Rich Slowly, was J.D.’s personal narrative and obsession with the behavioural aspect of money management:

“I had always stressed the importance of psychology; but as my financial philosophy matured, I became even more convinced that smart money management was all about mindset, not math.”

I have tremendous respect for J.D. and the community he built at Get Rich Slowly. We started Boomer & Echo in 2010, and I thought writing 5 days a week for two years straight was a lot of work (and there are two of us!). J.D. wrote every single day for three straight years, creating more than 1,000 articles in that time. Unreal.

Congratulations to J.D. and the Get Rich Slowly team! You can follow J.D.’s new blogging venture at Money Boss.

More on the psychology of money

The New York Times published a special section of Your Money with insights into behavioural finance and investing:

How buyers react when prices rise and fall.

Credit card encourage extra spending as the cash habit fades away.

Getting workers to save more for retirement

Does your stockbroker draw complaints? Here’s how to find out.

When not paying attention pays off.

This week(s) recap:

Last Monday I explained why indexing doesn’t mean settling for average returns.

Last Wednesday Marie shared all the reasons why you should become a member of your local library.

And last Friday a guest post by Daniel at Urban Departures gave us a Star Wars guide to investing.

On Monday this week I argued that stagnant wages shouldn’t get in the way of your financial goals.

On Wednesday Marie took a thoughtful look at you and money: what does it mean?

Finally, on Friday I reviewed the new TD Direct Investing WebBroker platform.

Over on Rewards Cards Canada I reviewed the Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard.

I also guest-posted on the Modern Advisor blog with a guide to choosing an online financial advisor.

Weekend reading:

The Globe and Mail’s Rob Carrick is doing his best to reach out to millennials and that means taking the time to stop by Reddit to host an AmA (Ask me Anything). Read the full transcript here.

At the other end of the spectrum, Carrick looks at wants vs. needs and how actual retirees manage their money.

Regulators are taking a closer look at how investment firms manage conflicts of interest when it comes to how financial advisors are paid for the products they recommend to their clients.

The U.S. wants to prohibit conflicts of interest in retirement planning. Here’s how Obama’s conflict-of-interest rule could rattle investment giant Edward Jones.

These new rules, plus a shift toward passively managed funds points to how the financial industry is having its Napster moment.

All of this means that most financial advisors need to find a new value proposition:

“I personally find it hard to believe that there are advisers out there who are not yet aware of the evidence for not using active funds. Nor do I understand how advisers can study the evidence with any degree of thoroughness or objectivity and still maintain that trying to pick future star managers is the best way to go.”

Is life insurance the next frontier for robo-advisors? A new report from global consultancy firm EY says yes.

A cool, interactive look at where your tax dollars were spent in 2014-15.

Big Cajun Man Alan Whitton shares his tax reflections for 2016.

Jamie Golombek explains what we mean when we talk about the “tax rate” – and how to figure out what yours is.

The Panama Papers made headlines last week. Here’s how the world’s rich and famous hide their money offshore.

The CRTC is set to weigh in on whether high speed internet is a basic human right (Finland made universal access to minimum Internet speeds a legal right in 2009).

Are smart phone protection plans worth the money? Consumer advocate Ellen Roseman says a plan can be worth buying in some cases.

Michael James on Money with an insightful look at how much you have to learn to be a successful investor.

Barry Choi lists the 8 rules of personal finance.

Here’s how a simple credit error can ruin your home-owning dream.

Million Dollar Journey breaks down his 2015 expenses – less than $4500/month for a family of 4.

Gail Johnson explains the downside of downsizing in retirement: leaving your friends and neighbourhood behind.

Here are 10 crazy things people in finance believe, according to A Wealth of Common Sense blogger Ben Carlson:

“10. People in finance believe that advice has to be complicated to be effective.”

And finally, speaking of complicated, Carlson looks at Tesla – one of the hardest stocks to value over the last five years.

Have a great weekend, everyone!