Two years ago, University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack wrote his entire financial plan on an index card.
It blew up. People loved the idea. Financial advice is often intentionally complicated. Obscurity lets advisors charge higher fees. But the most important parts are painfully simple. Here's how Pollack put it:
The card came out of chat I had regarding what I view as the financial industry's basic dilemma: The best investment advice fits on an index card. A commenter asked for the actual index card. Although I was originally speaking in metaphor, I grabbed a pen and one of my daughter's note cards, scribbled this out in maybe three minutes, snapped a picture with my iPhone, and the rest was history.
More advisors and investors caught onto the idea and started writing their own financial plans on a single index card.
I love the exercise, because it makes you think about what's important and forces you to be succinct.
So, here's my index-card financial plan:
Everything else is details.
