I like what jane Bryant Quinn says in her book concerning the fact that investing should not be this exciting pastime. Rather it should be something that we do on automatic pilot, being disciplined over the long haul.

I can in all honesty say that this is absolutely true. When I was in the go-go atmosphere of an investment firm, it was the time in my life that I made the worse financial decisions I had ever made. Why? All day long all you heard everywhere in the office was the next 'big thing' the one that would get away if money wasn't put into it now.

The atmosphere was intoxicating, exciting, a real high, and quite honestly: stupid. It may sound funny but investing in a responsible way is just not that invigorating.

Dave Barry and Jane Bryant Quinn contrast a couple of things in their new books that can help to keep those thrill-seeking, ego-enhancing drives to a minimum.

I am quoting from Bill Virgins article again as he reveals two different scenarios that the authors talk about.

Their advice is often remarkably the same and not all that different in tone.
Consider, for example, Quinn on how to afford a college education for the young'uns: "When judging college by cost, keep telling yourself this: More isn't better. Brand-name colleges raise prices to the sky because brand-besotted parents equate cost with quality. But many lower-cost schools will provide an equally good - and sometimes better - program for your child."

That's not much different from the advice Barry offers: "We know that sending your child to a good school will cost a lot of money. What does this mean? It means that, as a responsible parent, you need to start planning now. I don't mean planning how to pay for a good college. I mean planning how to get your child to go to a mediocre or actively bad college."

They both go on to talk about their take on if we need what it is that Wall Street is selling.

Says Quinn: "You don't need 99.9 percent of what Wall Street is selling. It's expensive, unsuitable or stupid. Most investments are designed to profit the brokers, banks and insurance companies, not you."

Echoes Barry: "The unique strategy that the stockbroker is going to tailor for you will involve selling you stocks, because, duh, he's a stockbroker. His job is to sell stocks. If he were in the cattle business, trust me, the unique financial strategy he'd tailor for you would involve heifers."

They are both correct. If you take away your ego in your financial plans and make sure your brokers are looking out for you, there shouldn't be any problem with enjoying your retirement years - both financially and with what you've planned to do.