LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- OK, so Dilbert didn't win the Nobel Prize in economics this year. There's always next year, right? Or perhaps a parallel universe? You may wonder whether Dilbert and his creator, cartoonist Scott Adams, have any chance, but since the Nobel committee's records are sealed for 50 years our imagination runs free.
We know creativity and science share much in common. Both science and art begin with what-ifs, unproven ideas about unknown realities, dreams of the future before it unfolds. And often all it takes is a small, simple "key" such as "E=mc2" to unlock the door.

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:

1.
Make a will
2.
Pay off your credit cards
3.
Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4.
Fund your 401k to the maximum
5.
Fund your IRA to the maximum
6.
Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7.
Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8.
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
9.
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

Adams boldly states that this is "everything you need to know about personal investing." In just 129 words, nine simple points, one page you have the unabridged "Unified Theory of Everything Financial." That's it. Everything!

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:

1.
Make a will
2.
Pay off your credit cards
3.
Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4.
Fund your 401k to the maximum
5.
Fund your IRA to the maximum
6.
Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7.
Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8.
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
9.
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

Adams boldly states that this is "everything you need to know about personal investing." In just 129 words, nine simple points, one page you have the unabridged "Unified Theory of Everything Financial." That's it. Everything!

I've actually just finished this book (http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Guide-Investing-Financial/dp/0393058549/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200593610&sr=8-9)
and it used the Dilbert material on the last page. The concepts weren't all that new to me, but its a good quick read on investing that can be done in 2 days.

I've actually just finished this book and it used the Dilbert material on the last page. The concepts weren't all that new to me, but its a good quick read on investing that can be done in 2 days.

I also recommend this book. To those who are already investment savvy it may seem like common sense. But no one ever told me the simple advice in this book. It also has simple graphs and metrics to show how these techniques will earn more money than if you invest like an average person that doesn't know any better.