Our Most Read Blog Posts of 2017

Wrapping up our year, we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out on our most read blog posts of 2017. We also want to say a big “Thank You!” for reading, sharing, and dialoguing with us along the way. If you have any suggestions for future topics, send them to us at [email protected].

1.  6 Financial Commandments For Twenty Somethings – Stephen shared his thoughts on what every ‘Twenty Something’ should focus on. He brings insight to some obvious topics like saving and investing, but also highlights the importance of having patience and choosing your friends wisely.
2. Keeping Track of Surprise Joys – When we changed our name to Smith Partners Wealth Management after nearly 30 years as “Jonathan Smith & Co.” (more on that here) we wanted to mark the occasion with something meaningful. After some inspiration and the blessing of a dear friend (more on that in the blog post), we created and printed 700 ‘Surprise Joys’ daily journals. Amazingly, we are submitting a reorder because we gave away all but a dozen of the journals. Let us know if you’d like one (or ten!)
3. We Answer the WSJ’s “19 Questions to Ask Your Financial Adviser” – The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Zweig wrote a great list of questions to ask financial advisers along with his preferred responses. Read on to see our in depth answers, including the only one in which we disagreed with Zweig (#5).
4. Required Reading for Nearly Anyone: “Being Mortal” by Dr. Atul Gawande – Justin reviewed the best book he read in 2017. If you love someone over the age of 60, you need to read it. If you’re a client and would like a copy, let us know. We’d love to send you one.
5. Giving Back: Why Give? (Part 1 of 3) – Because Giving Back is such a core belief of ours, Stephen wrote a three part series on giving. In this first post, he highlighted the “whys” behind giving and laid the groundwork for the follow-up posts (Giving Back: Cash Vs. Stock & Giving Back: Donor Advised Fund).