Taking financial advice from a writer

Brett Arends, who writes a column for WSJ.com and Marketwatch.com, questions Wednesday why readers take financial advice from writers.

Arends writes, “Here’s the thing. Six years ago, just before I returned to the United States, an investment manager in London asked if I wanted to join his team as an analyst. He is a brilliant investor and runs an incredible firm. I’d have made good money, maybe great money, doing fascinating, intellectually stimulating work. I said no.

“Foolish? Definitely. But — here’s the weird part — I don’t regret it. I genuinely don’t. I absolutely love writing about finance and markets and money. Like so many people in this business, I’m just going to keep going as long as I can.

“Journalism isn’t really a job or a career. It’s more of a personality disorder, like obsessive-compulsive behavior, alcoholism or kleptomania. Instead of graduate schools, we need treatment centers.

“So should you really take financial advice from anyone silly enough to write for a living? Well, of course, it depends on the advice. But here’s a partial defense of writers: The thing to understand about us is that we’re not stupid. We’re just a bit crazy.”

Read more here.