Because the past is known and fixed, it’s relatively easy to calculate the outcomes of various choices that investors might have made. But sometimes this analysis is too simplistic for making useful choices that will apply to the future.

Let’s face it: As parents we know we have learned lots of important lessons, and we wish our kids would pay attention when we try to impart those lessons. And let’s face it: Our kids usually hear what they want to hear and ignore what they want to ignore. (Most of us did the same thing when we were young, but let’s keep that just between us for now.)

Fear is never far from investors’ minds, especially during tumultuous times like these. Nervous investors will always find plenty of authors, gurus, prognosticators and analysts who are willing and able to feed these fears.

When I mentioned the topic of this article to some of my colleagues, they were instantly curious about what book I call my favorite. Huckleberry Finn? The Bible? John Bogle’s Little Book of Common Sense?

Nope. All of those are excellent books. But in this case my favorite book is one you can’t read yourself because you can’t buy it or find it at a public library.

With the high volatility in the stock market over the past year, emotions have been running at an all-time high for many investors. Staying on track has become harder than ever.

Suze Orman has become a familiar fixture on the financial beat, with many fans. Among those fans is Merriman financial advisor Cheryl Curran, who nevertheless believes Orman’s investment advice should not be followed. In the following article, she tells why.

I still recall the first time I went to a Merriman investment workshop. It was the fall of 1988, and I made my way to a funky meeting room in a building owned by the Seattle Mountaineers Club. The speaker was Paul Merriman, who had started an investment advisory firm five years earlier.

Whatever I had expected to get out of the session, I know that I got much more than that.