THE HISTORY OF FINANCIAL PLANNING

By E. Denby Brandon Jr. and H. Oliver Welch (Wiley)

Sometimes it seems like financial planning has been around forever. The hotel-meeting origin of the movement, 40 years ago, is already wreathed in myth. But it is the youngest profession around.

There's plenty of drama in this celebratory history to savor: the struggles to establish a training program and SEC recognition, the tax-shelter salesmen, the battles between the IAFP and the ICFP, the establishment of the FPA and more. In addition, you'll find a cast of characters that is still familiar-in fact, many of them attended October's FPA national meeting. Authors E. Denby Brandon Jr. and H. Oliver Welch, two eminent, veteran practitioners, cite many of today's top planners, consultants and observers. To name them all would be impossible. (Full disclosure: I was interviewed for the book and am quoted.)

Brandon and Welch describe planning as a pursuit that rapidly evolved into an intellectual and business discipline full of vitality and idealism. They cover the spread of planning worldwide and the development of ever-higher standards of practice. At the end, they also see a bright future-and challenge the industry to make it real.