Lists of Bests: Dilbert's "Unified Theory of Everything Financial" http://www.listsofbests.com/list/18504 Quietly hidden in Adams' groundbreaking work is a financial formula so simple it rivals Einstein's E=mc2. In its original form Adams' formula was apparently so heretical and so explosive that no major house would touch it when he proposed publishing it as a one-page book. After initial rejections, he announced sadly that "if God materialized on earth and wrote the secret of the universe on one page, he wouldn't be able to find a publisher" either. Fortunately for America's 95 million investors, Adams' secret nine-point formula was finally revealed in "Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels." Notice its simple brilliance in the exact reproduction of his formula: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:54:30 GMT en-us 0 50 9 0 0 make a will http://www.43things.com/things/view/50571 <div id="position">1</div><div id="num-active-people">158</div> pay off my credit cards http://www.43things.com/things/view/2509 <div id="position">2</div><div id="num-active-people">1131</div> Get term life insurance if you have a family to support http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117347 <div id="position">3</div> Fund your 401k to the maximum http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117349 <div id="position">4</div> Fund your IRA to the maximum http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117350 <div id="position">5</div> Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117351 <div id="position">6</div><div id="num-active-people">1</div> Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117353 <div id="position">7</div> Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117355 <div id="position">8</div> If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio http://www.43things.com/things/view/1117357 <div id="position">9</div>