Financial planners who take commissions have a built-in conflict of interest...even with disclosure, my choice would be a Fee-Only planner.

It seems like only yesterday that savers were dorks. They kept piggy banks. They drove last year's cars. They fished in their change purses for nickels while the superstars flashed credit cards. Today, values have changed. The new object of veneration is not money on the hoof but money in the bank - and the dorks all have it.

The best real-estate investments with the highest yields are in working-class neighborhoods, because fancy properties are overpriced.

It's a fact: stock investors sometimes lose money on their way to wealth. Get over it.

The rule on staying alive as a forecaster is to give 'em a number or give 'em a date, but never give 'em both at once.

Everyone needs a small-town banker. Especially in a big town.

It's daring and challenging to be young and poor, but never to be old and poor. Whatever resources of good health, character, and fortitude you bring to retirement, remember, also, to bring money.