Lately, it's become more difficult to feel like the captain of my fate—unless my fate is to be cast adrift in a small rubber dinghy on an ocean of economic chaos. No Somali pirates, thankfully—but the collapse of financial and media revenues is certainly raising the stakes on every decision.

Here in the office we often feel like we're bobbing along on the currents of change. At the same time, we're creating new ways to pass along the vital information that will help you navigate the future. Some of that information appears on these pages. But wait—there's more.

Over the past five months Financial Planning has added all kinds of new online content to supplement what appears in our printed magazine. We have incorporated AdvisorMax into our site and we're running business-building web seminars and podcasts regularly. Also, we've just inaugurated a daily email and beefed up our "Planner's Weekly" e-newsletter with a forward-looking research roundup called "Looking Ahead." It's a well-informed way to start the week, incorporating ideas and forecasts from the industry's best.

In addition, quite a few of you are already following Financial Planning's Twitter feed (twitter.com/finplan) as well as my own (twitter.com/marionasnes). I've been having a lot of fun as I learn this new medium and try to assimilate the skills that will help me thrive in the new world we'll inevitably discover as we all find our way to shore.

In the meantime, though, we've got plenty of great stories on these pages. Please be in touch; let us know how you're doing.

Marion Asnes became the editor of Financial Planning magazine in 2005. Financial Planning is the leading professional magazine for independent financial planners and has a circulation of 115,000. The topics covered on its pages range from industry news and trends to sophisticated discussions of portfolio management, estate planning and philanthropy. Asnes is the first female editor in chief of Financial Planning in the magazine's 38-year history.

Before joining Financial Planning, Asnes was a senior editor at Money, participating in the magazine’s coverage of personal finance, retirement, investment and health care issues. Her areas of expertise included retirement and 401(k) planning, asset allocation, estate planning and the particular financial challenges faced by women. In addition to her regular editorial duties at Money, Asnes co-edited Money for Women, an annual special issue that was featured exclusively on “The Today Show” on NBC.

A 27-year service journalism veteran, Asnes has contributed to a long list of national publications including Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, More, Mirabella, Working Woman and Lear's. She has spoken at conferences and symposia ranging from the National Endowment for Financial Education’s Retirement Summit to the National Football League’s Rookie Symposium. In addition, Asnes has appeared on national television programs as an expert on financial and economic topics including CNN, CNN Headline News, NBC's Today, ABC's 20/20, PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.

Asnes graduated with a B.A. from Cornell University.