Personal Finance Author, Jonathan Clements

This is a special "Wealth Actually" podcast. I spoke with an author and educator that has had a major impact on financial literacy and wealth management. He is also a terrific guy to boot! Over the course of our discussion, While I felt like I was nodding my head in agreement a lot (that's the whoosh near the microphone), My guest's nuanced views on wealth and his consistent and deep writing taught me a lot about the importance of great advice, clear thinking and long-term planning. Jonathan Clements is the founder and editor of HUMBLEDOLLAR.COM. He’s also the author of eight personal finance books, including his latest, “From Here to Financial Happiness.” Born in England and educated at Cambridge University, Jonathan spent almost two decades at The Wall Street Journal in New York, where he was the newspaper’s personal finance columnist. He also worked for six years at Citigroup as Director of Financial Education for the U.S. wealth management business. You can find him on on Twitter (@ClementsMoney) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ClementsMoney) FROM HERE TO FINANCIAL HAPPINESS Background: Tell us a little bit about your background How did your career evolve? How did writing become a part of it? "From Here to Financial Happiness . . . in 77 Days" Where did the need for this book come from? "Just because it's not complicated doesn't mean it's easy!" The Power of Compounding- why it's vital. I'm impressed with the structure of the book and breaking down self-improvement steps in a series of days. How did you decide on that? Enjoyed the saving for retirement section. It has to happen first even though it's a liability that is farthest away. What works and what doesn't when trying to teach financial discipline to people whose After tax, After fee, After Inflation (spending); why is it so hard for wealth managers to frame things in these terms? Estate planning - necessary for everyone Friendly debate . . . whole life insurance as a way to save for LTC (instead of LTC insurance); The emergence of HSA's . . . Where should you expect an advisor to add value? Robo-advice, tax advice, sounding board, investment performance State of the wealth management industry . . . fee compression, business models, the role of the advisor, consolidation, service standards Humble Dollar- terrific blog on investing and general financial literacy- what can we do as a country to help make people make better decisions? Contact How can we get a hold of "From Here to Financial Happiness." How do we find out more about your other writings? How do we keep track of your whereabouts? To find my book, "Wealth, Actually", click below! https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1/dp/1619618605/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1539574775&sr=1-2&keywords=wealth+actually