I’m a financial advisor at Rain Dog Financial®, transitioning to investment management in 2023 after a first career in software development. I wrote Code Complete, Software Estimation, and several other books about software development.

In my first career, software estimation was the topic that led me into every other software topic. Estimating (or forecasting) a software project requires deep understanding of end-to-end software development dynamics, including how uncertainty affects forecasts and how human behaviors affect outcomes.

During Covid, I wanted to see whether my software estimation background could be applied to Covid forecasting, which is what most of my earlier Medium writing was about. It turned out that software estimation principles applied well. My Covid forecasting model was ranked 3rd or 4th most accurate of the individual forecast models, depending on which study you read.

I now apply that engineering and forecasting approach to financial planning and investment management at Rain Dog Financial in Bellevue, Washington. I'm interested in many of the same issues in financial planning that I was in software, including how uncertainty and human behavior affect outcomes. I apply the same engineering approach to financial planning that I did to software: reliance on hard data, skepticism about "the way we've always done things," and clear feedback loops that support continuous improvement.

My financial writing covers investment strategy, retirement planning, taxes, risk, and other decisions that become more complicated as wealth increases. I publish shorter pieces here and as Field Notes on Rain Dog's website. I publish more technical analyses as Decision Briefs and White Papers.

I’m also active in Rotary, watch a lot of movies, walk my dog, and take on more DIY projects than is probably sensible.

More about my financial work is at Rain Dog Financial. My software books and other background are at stevemcconnell.com.