Life Events, Financial Decisions, and Being S-M-R-T.

Today, I stumbled upon a gem at the Financial Planning Association's website that gives advice for most of life's major life happenings, i.e. marriage, college, school, retirement, etc. While I didn't see something for the way to fund grad school precisely (this seems to be a topic that no one talks about!), the website as a whole was impressive and seemingly sound, and even better, free! It's somewhat rare to be able hear advice from a real financial planner (as opposed to someone who just puts their personal finance thoughts on the internet for free...). If you are someone who tries to handles their finances on his or her own like I do, this is a real treat. Check out the link here.

Also at FPA's website, I found an excellent article about how to become a smarter investor. I am ashamed to admit that I do not do all of their things on the list, including a proper asset allocation. This is something I hope to work on at the start of the new year, once I can start to reinvest in my Roth again. I have a real aversion to bonds, but may have to consider at least a small piece devoted to them. It's just a matter of sitting down and figuring it all out.