In ‘Dilbert’ deserves the economics Nobel, Paul Farrell argues that Dilbert author Scott Adams deserves the Nobel Prize for Economics for his “Unified Theory of Everything Financial” that was published in “Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel”. The formula which describes his theory is:

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

The theory is sound. It’s a shame that the book didn’t sell very well. Scott Adams attributes the poor sales to the offer that he made to his readers:

“There’s been a lot of clamoring lately for Dilbert to end his long unlucky streak with women and — how should I say this? — get his necktie straightened.

I’ve decided to leave that decision to you.

Here’s the deal: If my new hardcover book, Dilbert and The Way of the Weasel,makes it to the top five of the New York Times best-seller list, then I’ll arrange for Dilbert to reach the promised land.

That’s right: I’m willing to sacrifice my artistic integrity, and sell Dilbert’s body, to get the job done. It’s called ‘marketing,’ and no one said it would be pretty.” – Scott Adams

Later he described that decision as, “what will someday be hailed as the worst idea of the century.”