Introducing HuffPost's New Financial Advice Column

I am delighted to announce the launch of the Huffington Post's financial advice column, to be written by Dan Solin. Dan is a longtime securities arbitration attorney and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read. Since he started blogging on HuffPost this summer, Dan's weekly posts have become a go-to source for financial information -- and among the most frequently emailed items on the site. Now, along with his regular posts, Dan will be doing a weekly column every Wednesday, answering your money questions with what he promises will be "straight talk about financial matters." So post your questions on all things financial in the comments section of Dan's brief introductory post. And, starting next week, check HuffPost's Business section every Wednesday for Dan's insights, advice, and guidance.

And for advice and guidance on getting the most out of the rest of your life, be sure to check out our newly redesigned Living Now page, including tomorrow's column by Christine Hassler featuring advice for twenty-somethings (and anyone in their lives).

Comments

[dadw5boys]

Let's see the U.S. Government creates huge debt which increases the money supply and a few Companys take that extra money out the system as a profit and bank it.
Sounds like a shell game to me!

[bc3389]

Mr. Solin offers some very good advice but I feel he goes way offer the top in terms of criticizing the work of financial advisors/brokers. It seems he is against the use of such professionals and recommends people manage their own funds by using index funds.

This makes sense to me but I do find him to be rather hypocritical as he is a VP of Index Fund Advisors (www.ifa.com) " a fee based investment advisory firm. Could it be that the company he is affiliated with is the only group in the country qualified to offer financial advice? This group charges a fee to manage index portfolios. This is a valuable service that many advisors do in fact offer. You will not earn market returns as there is a fee involved which is clear and transparent - you will earn market returns less the fee. This is a valuable service that is available by many advisors across the country. Because you may very well pay over 1% with this strategy, a mutual fund platform can easily compete with such a program especially for portfolio"s over $1m where even using a "loaded share". It is possible to pay expenses of well under 1% using a broker at this level as any up-front charges are waived.

I look forward to Mr. Solin"s column and hope he will be balanced in his discussions. Ben Stein has a column on Yahoo that is of excellent quality and valuable for people at all wealth levels. He too advocates index funds but does not attack all advisors as know nothing money-grubbing pigs.

[frost]

p.s.

i have Zero personal debt and have six months(i know, not enough but i make 45k and am putting 2 daughters through college) of ready cash for emergencies..

how did i do it..

i don't spend what i don't have..
.

[frost]

.

excellent idea..

it should be noted that the citizens of this country have a negative savings rate..

and that this country's dollar has been eroded by republicans turning us into a DEBT whore..

and spending like drunken gamblers at a table with no limit.. but pretty soon the house will stop extending credit and will want to get paid..

the country's economy is at a fragile place and the country has made virtually no investment in ourselves(infrastructure, labor training, education, etc.)..

perhaps Mr. Solin will provide some truth as well as advice..

thank you Arianna..
.

[sammy333]

Ariana, may be we can learn how to bet on the neocons starting the second war soon. All the signs are there, just a few adjustments

- Sarkosy/France replaced Blair/UK,
- even less direct authorization to war than the infamous Iraq vote (e.g. Hillary, - we did not know what they meant.. ). Lieberman-Kyl essentially does it.
- forging "proofs" and reasons (that is the same as before)
- back to heavy bombing without invasion. Lieberman/Cheney really dream of going nuclear.

The press will be silent,.. just one day we will learn that the heavy bombing started..

[DaDenMan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy-fD78zyvI&feature=PlayList&p=D8B8EAC323DC2524&index=0&playnext=1

For those wanting to understand the Monetary System. WATCH THIS SERIES.

[curiousasheck]

Snip

Remember what Henry Kissinger used to say, and he was right, "Nothing consolidates wealth like higher commodity prices."

[jrg]

Congratulations Dan!

I"ve been a fan since he started posting. Dan does a great job explaining how to avoid common financial services scams. He also does a great job pointing out the all-too-common conflicts of interest that can burn ordinary investors.

You don"t need to be a financial wizard to make prudent decisions, but you do need to educate yourself before some unscrupulous fund manager, financial adviser, or CEO does.

Money can be a boring topic to those of us who have other things to do, but a little time spent learning about money can keep you from losing your hard-earned savings.

Ignore Dan"s advice at your own peril!

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

With realistic, cautious goals and awareness of the smoke and mirrors among the greed and fear that is Wall Street, there are blue-chip and red-chip investments that make the effort worthwhile. Take care not to fall victim to your own fear and greed. Here's hoping Dan Solin's column will serve small investors by revealing the advantages insiders routinely utilize. Never forget that the rise or fall of the US dollar matters in all your dollar denominated investments!

[researcher]

The best financial advice I can give is stay far away from Wall Street. The greatest con going in American is Wall Street.

Wall street management groups now control many corporations and they are running them into the ground. 20 years of management consulting taught me the horrible greed of Wall Street with no concern for the American worker or the long-term success of the company. Quarterly profits rein supreme.

Greed is good Wall Street is destroying the American dream for the middle class.

[mountainmama]

I am not a fan of the new Huff Lite. I have been waiting in vain for this blog to offer straight talk about workers. A whole strata of America is never heard about on this blog: for example, what is it like to be a coal miner without a labor union to represent you and your fellow workers while you do one of the worst job in the world? OSHA is in Republican hands, remember. And the mine owners--are all at their computers just waiting for Huff Lite's straight talk abour financial matters. Bet the miners are not, however.

[robinhood1]

A nice addition. I expect to be a regular visitor to his blog.

[dictatortot]

"There are two kinds of people who shouldn't speculate in the markets: those who can't afford to, and those who can." --Mark Twain

http://www.prestoncoleman.com

[SensibleAmerican]

Awesome Arianna! I have seen your site evolve from a far left rant and rave website to a beautifully well balanced and comprehensive source of news and opinions!

It is efforts such as yours which are making traditional media redundant: slowly ... but surely! Keep it going and keep it growing!!

[SensibleAmerican]

The best financial advice that I can give after reading the usual stuff posted here is, stay away from greed! Wall Street thrives on it! But blaming Wall Street is like blaming ciggarette companies for the fact you smoke!

Plus, the Nader-herds' messiah has almost $4Million in stocks and hedge funds! Now, now, how can you attack the very altar which he worships on!

[gcallaghan]

there are two kinds of people in this world: those who divide people into two groups and those who don't.