Sound Financial Advice by David McPherson, founder of Four Ponds Financial Planning LLC, Falmouth and Mansfield, Mass.

A savings balancing act: Retirement and college

Today on ABCNews.com, I advise readers it's best to focus on saving for retirement first and college second. This principle is widely accepted within the financial-planning world, yet many parents find it hard to accept.

The bottom line is you can't afford to wait on saving for retirement.

Laid off with 401(k) loan due

In today's ABCNews.com column, I explain the rules requiring most laid off workers to pay off any money due on a 401(k) loan or otherwise get hit with taxes and penalties. The column responded to a Michigan woman's question about why she would be classified as in default if she doesn't come up the money to pay off the loan she borrowed from her former employer's 401(k) plan.

During the course of my research, I came across a quite interesting paper from the Federal Reserve that challenges the conventional wisdom among financial planners that taking out a 401(k) loan is always a bad idea. I may be writing more about this paper in the coming weeks.

Catching up

I've fallen behind on posting updates to my recent ABCNews.com columns. Here are links to the two latest columns:

• Cashing Out Retirement the Less Painful Way / July 7, 2009
• It's Never Too Early to Save for Your Kids / July 21, 2009   

I'm looking to return to a more regular posting schedule this week. 

On the Money Bus with NAPFA

I spent the day in Boston yesterday, offering free financial help at an event on City Hall Plaza sponsored by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. The Your Money Bus tour is an effort by NAPFA to improve financial literacy. The tour, sponsored by T.D. Ameritrade and Kiplinger's magazine, has been under way for about a year. It came to Boston for a two-day visit.

I fielded questions about how to roll over a former employer's 401(k) into an IRA, deal with credit card debt and develop savings strategies.

Here's an article on the event that appeared in today's Boston Metro.

TIPS for inflation

This week's ABCNews.com column explained the pros and cons of buying Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) as one way to battle inflation. I wouldn't devote an entire portfolio to TIPS, but they certainly deserve a spot, particularly if you believe higher inflation is on its way.

Last week's column suggested utilizing total market funds as an easy way to get started building a broadly diversified portfolio. I dubbed this strategy the "Two-Fund Solution, a simple yet elegant way to construct a portfolio that can overcome the forces of procrastination and indecision." 

Study those account statements

Today's ABCNews.com column responded to a reader question about how to read investment account statements. The reader's question came in response to an earlier column about fraud allegations made against two financial planners.

Last week's column featured a "Financial Checkup" for a Michigan couple worried about their job security.

Thoughts on crooked financial planners

Ron Lieber's New York Times column on crooked financial planners that I recommended yesterday inspired my column this week for ABCNews.com. Lieber's column resonated with me, and I decided to write about it from a planner's perspective.

Crooks who steal from clients is an uncomfortable topic for planners like me, but I felt a need to address the issue. I didn't come up with any sure-fire ways for investors to avoid scam artists, but I offered some tips and acknowledged it's a real issue for prospective clients. 

On the radio with NPR's "Here and Now"

As a result of my recent ABCNews.com columns, I had the opportunity yesterday to appear on the National Public Radio program "Here and Now." I discussed some of the things people should be doing in light of the current economic and investing climate. I also reviewed some of the government programs that have emerged to help individuals cope with these tough times.

"Here and Now" is produced at WBUR in Boston and airs on NPR stations across the country from Alaska to Alabama. 

Click here to listen to the interview.

An endorsement for fee-only financial planning

Liz Pulliam Weston, one of the best personal finance writers out there, has declared dead the "era of the do-it-yourself investor." In a recent column for MSN Money, Weston describes "an epidemic of panicked behavior that shows how unprepared people are to manage their retirement funds."

More Americans need professional guidance, she says, and she advises readers to seek out the help of a fee-only financial planner. In particular, she suggests the Garrett Planning Network (to which I belong) as one resource for help.

Weston also picks up on an interesting idea being pushed by Robert Shiller, the noted Yale University economist who correctly predicted a few years ago a collapse in an overvalued real estate market.

Shiller, in a recent New York Times opinion piece, proposed government subsidies for Americans to receive personal finance advise. Weston suggests a simple tax credit as another solution to encourage Americans to seek out financial-planning help.

I'm not counting on either a subsidy or tax credit to boost my business, but it's nice to see some independent experts recognizing the importance of professional financial planning.

The Financial Checkup: A low-cost financial planning option

More than ever, people are worried about whether they will have enough money to retire, send their children to college or achieve other financial goals. That's why many people want the help of a fee-only financial planner. However, they're also watching expenses as they worry about their job security.

For those reasons, I've been working to refine the Financial Checkup session I offer to clients. The checkup session is something I've been doing for a while, particularly with younger clients who don't have a lot of assets but want to be sure they're making smart financial moves.

I figure in these tough times it's a service that might be appealing for many prospective clients, both young and not so young. I'm trying to make it a great value for clients while at the same time making it profitable for me.

It's a service I'm offering online as well as in person. With advances in web conferencing technology, the Financial Checkup can be offered quite nicely to clients from near and far.

I've added a new page to my web site highlighting this service and bought a new URL to direct prospective clients there. That web address is www.YourFinancialCheckup.com.

Take a look, and let me know what you think by emailing me at david@FourPondsFinancial.com or commenting below this post. Suggestions to make it even more appealing to prospective clients are welcome.