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It’s time for the best articles we’ve found around the internet in the last month to help you save more, invest smarter, and retire sooner.

This month’s selections explore the latest move in the price war to lower investment fees and what it means for you. The articles also look at the challenge of getting, and giving, good financial advice.

Our selections also explore financial and personal challenges of early retirement. Then we dive into why things don’t always work out in real life the way we think they should when analyzing them on paper.

We’ll finish with an inspiring story, showing that adventure is within reach no matter where we are in our financial and personal journeys. Let’s dive in!

Investing News?

It was big news in the financial world this month when Fidelity announced the launch of two new index funds with no expense ratios and no minimum investment. Is this great news for investors, or great marketing by Fidelity?

Jim Dahle has an opinion. He wrote Don’t Obsess About Expense Ratios.

Getting Good Financial Advice

Often, the greatest value of a financial advisor is having someone to tell you the things you don’t want to hear. Allan Roth wrote 10 Tactless Things I Tell Clients.

Blair duQuesnay, CFA, CFP thinks getting good advice can be difficult because the requirements to become a financial advisor are so low compared to other professions, as she wrote in My Yoga Teacher Decided to Become a Doctor.

Unfortunately, the low standards and massive conflicts of interest in the financial industry lead to stories like the cautionary tale Tara Siegel Bernard wrote for the New York Times, Caring for Aging Parents With an Eye on the Broker Handling Their Savings.

Giving Good Financial Advice

Getting good financial advice is difficult. Giving good financial advice isn’t easy either. Mike Piper writes How to Change Somebody’s Mind About Investing.

Challenges of Early Retirement

It’s easy to think that the grind of a job is hard, and early retirement will make everything better. A couple of recent early retirees question that conventional wisdom.

Big ERN looks at the math and asks Why is Retirement Harder Than Saving For Retirement? in part 27 of his Safe Withdrawal Rate Series.

Carl of 1500 Days to Freedom gets personal and asks Could FIRE Set Fire to Your Marriage?

Finding Balance

The preceding article demonstrates that how things should work on paper and how they do work when people are involved are often not the same. This is an important truth in investing, retirement planning, and life in general. Morgan Housel explains why with Real World vs. Book Knowledge.

Ben Carlson balances technical market analysis with fascinating behavioral insights. He writes 8 Questions I’ve Been Pondering.

Get Out There

There are many excuses to not incorporate more adventure into your life. There is never enough time, or money, or perfect circumstances. Jillian, at Montana Money Adventures, shows that with the right mindset and planning you can start now. No excuses.

She wrote the inspiring recap of her family of seven taking a 10-week Ultimate National Park Road Trip.

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