by Caitlin Kenney

GQ "Men + Money" columnist Joel Lovell has a refreshingly honest column in the Washington Post today about how difficult it is right now to give financial advice. He writes:

Should you jump into the market now and buy low? Should you keep everything in cash for the next year or two or five? Should you invest in China or natural gas or gold? Beats me. I've been writing this column for about a year and a half, so I've done my research, talked to a bunch of investment analysts and made an effort to understand what's going on now and where we might be headed. But really, I can't begin to claim to know.

 

And when I think back on the advice I've given and realize that my readers would have been far better off if each month I'd said, "You know what, let's stick with Plan A and just stuff our money into a satchel and bury it beneath the swing set" — well, it makes me feel like a bit of a fraud.

Admittedly, GQ may not be the magazine people turn to first for financial advice, and Joel Lovell is not a studied economist or lifelong financial guru — a recent New York Observer article labeled him "the anti- Jim Cramer." But at a time when so much in the economy is uncertain, it's still nice to hear that someone charged with dispensing advice is having some anxiety.