The best counsel our advice columnists ever received

If you’re a regular reader, you probably agree that InvestmentNews enlists some very savvy advice givers to provide you with timely columns covering industry-specific topics.

Specifically, I’m referring to Blaine Aikin, chief executive of Fiduciary360 LLC, who writes Fiduciary Corner; Ed Slott, creator of Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group, who writes IRA Alert; Bob Gordon, CEO of Twenty-First Securities Corp., who writes Tax-Conscious Adviser; and Douglas Heikkinen, president of Riley Weiss Inc., who does the Marketing Strategies column.

I’ve learned much from these four over the years, but I never really got to know them outside the confines of their columns. I wanted to find out what makes them tick (and share those findings with you), so I asked all of them some off-topic questions recently.

The first: What was the best professional advice you received early in your career?

“My father, who passed away this summer, was the source of what was probably the best advice I have ever received,” Blaine said. “He quoted Thomas Jefferson: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.’ He cautioned me to carefully consider the significance of each decision I face, be prepared to compromise on matters where reasonable people can disagree, and recognize there are circumstances that do not allow compromise without sacrificing principles that should never be violated.”

Bob said the best advice he ever got was a simple reading recommendation. He asked someone he respected what book on investing would help him in his career.

“The person advised me to read Burton Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Wall Street’ (W.W. Norton & Co. Inc., 1973),” Bob said. “It was the best advice because that book is the most evenhanded explanation of the various theories of stock investing.”

Ed said the best professional advice he ever received was — get ready for this shocker — to open an individual retirement account.

“My boss from one of the first accounting firms I worked for told me to open an IRA for my retirement,” he said. “I was in my 20s and didn’t understand why retirement was so important; I was just glad to get a job in accounting.”

Looking back, Ed said he is very happy he took the advice.

The best professional advice for Doug was short and sweet. Someone he respected told him: “Be bright. Be brief. Be gone.”

Did all four always know they would pursue a career in finance?

Blaine certainly didn’t. He wanted to be a forester. Doug wanted to be a professional football player, while Ed wanted to be the fifth member of the Beatles.

While he had no clear profession in mind at a young age, Bob said he always wanted to do something that required math skills.

Finally, I asked them to name the one person they admire most.

“Aldo Leopold is someone I hold in especially high regard,” Blaine said. “He was a nature writer and a pioneer in the professionalization of forestry and wildlife management. He introduced the concept of a land ethic about 60 years ago in his book, “A Sand County Almanac’ (Oxford University Press, 1949).”

Bob said he admires Galileo.

“Not only was he one of the greatest astronomers, he also was willing to take on the establishment, at his own peril, in order to advance man’s understanding of our place in the universe,” he said.

For Doug, it’s Muhammad Ali.

“Martin Luther King Jr. gave the civil rights movement a dream and a soul. Muhammad Ali gave it a voice,” he said.

“The person I most admired was my dad,” Ed said. “I always admired his work ethic and still cannot figure out how he got everything done at work and yet never, ever missed one of my Little League games. I don’t know how he did it all.”

Many of our columnists’ answers caught me by surprise. And all gave me better insights into them as people. For that, I’m glad I asked.

Jim Pavia is the editor of InvestmentNews.

Related Topics: ING Group, Just Thinking