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What popular financial advice do you ignore?

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Carl Book
Carl Book
11 months ago

I ignore the advice to set aside savings equal to two or three years worth of expenses. My pension covers my expenses. If an emergency occurs, I can always borrow on my margin account.

Ben Rodriguez
Ben Rodriguez
1 year ago

Rebalancing. For the most part we let our winners run.

David Lamb
David Lamb
1 year ago

“Social security benefits will always be there.”

Jim Wood
Jim Wood
1 year ago
Reply to  David Lamb

I told my finance students that social security would always be there for people who fail to plan for the future. But successful investors and planners will increasingly see social security means tested out of existence.

Will
Will
17 days ago
Reply to  Jim Wood

As a 30-something, I was shocked to learn that my doctor father qualified for SS. My parents certainly didn’t need it. I assumed that the system was built as a safety net and that those paying into it hoped to never need it. Instead, we have an upside down pyramid: the richest receive the most.

ishabaka
ishabaka
1 year ago

Any economic predictions to two figures or more are bumpf as far as I’m concerned. I see a lot of headlines similar to this “Expert X predicts the market will be up 18.26% this year! Really? Why not 18.27%??? All nonsense.

Purple Rain
Purple Rain
1 year ago

“Buy indices no matter what’s in them or how they are priced”.

Scrooge_McDuck88
Scrooge_McDuck88
1 year ago

Buying Crypto’s!

Last edited 1 year ago by Scrooge_McDuck88
Laura E. Kelly
Laura E. Kelly
2 years ago

We keep far too much of our investable money in cash, due to my husband’s distrust of the stock market. Combination of minuscule interest rates, missing out on the recent bull market, and now inflation rearing its ugly head really brings home why all these years we should not have ignored the popular financial advice to mostly invest our too-large rainy day fund.

Will
Will
17 days ago
Reply to  Laura E. Kelly

I feel badly for you. We have so many choices, so many theories, so much graft, it is hard to know what to do in the moment. Only time will tell, and in your case, he guessed wrong.

ishabaka
ishabaka
2 years ago

Judging by the number of articles, the most popular financial advice consists of predicting the markets. Took me a long time to wise up, but now I know there are two kinds of market analysts:

  1. those who know they can’t predict the markets
  2. those who don’t know they can’t predict the markets
Mike Zaccardi
Mike Zaccardi
2 years ago

I have no saving goal.

I just spend small then save and invest the rest. Most people should have goals and habits because it’s so hard to keep them without some structure. For me, I get a thrill out of saving, so it’s kind of like my ‘fun money’. Which does not sound so fun, I’m sure.

Saving 10% of my salary is never something I have thought about. I can’t even tell you what my saving rate is.

Catherine
Catherine
2 years ago

Right now I am ignoring the popular financial advice that borrowing for college is worth it because college provides a double-digit return on your investment.
This is just one more instance of popular financial advice on when to borrow money and how much debt load is okay, including car loans and home loans.
Old fashioned idea, but at this point in my life, if I can’t pay in full, I won’t buy it. Amazing how my interest in purchasing things fades away when I think of real money going out of my pocket to get it.
Honestly, I had a friend from college laugh and say, “Haven’t you heard of leverage?” as he described his hobby farm, which I wondered how he could afford. He may have been correct, and he may be multiples richer than me at this point, but that is not how I roll.

Will
Will
17 days ago
Reply to  Catherine

You sound young, but wise! I am not encouraging my grandkids to automatically go to college. I am encouraging them to find their passion and fulfill it. That may involve getting a medical degree, in which case, money well-spent. Or it may involve running a specialty restaurant and no degree=money well-saved!

Rick Connor
Rick Connor
2 years ago

At this time I steer clear of the flavors of the month – NFTs and crypto. The other one is to buy gold as a hedge against Armageddon. I never understood that one.

Will
Will
17 days ago
Reply to  Rick Connor

It depends on how much gold, right? I want enough to trade for food or security when that time comes. I keep a little gold for those reasons, not as some kind of “investment”. Armageddon may come; being able to buy some time could get you through it.

William Dorner
William Dorner
17 days ago
Reply to  Will

If you need Gold to survive, we are all in very BIG trouble. I am sticking to the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq EFT’s. I am with Buffett, the S&P should get you through any stock market ups and downs.

Joe Kesler
Joe Kesler
2 years ago

I hate the click bait headlines like, “Six stocks you need to buy now!” Why would I think some journalist trying to get readers with a seductive headline would know how to beat the market? I don’t.

David Powell
David Powell
2 years ago

Many personal finance writers love to tell you to get the biggest mortgage you can afford and never pay it off. Yes, it is the cheapest debt you can buy but I still say phooey. Ignore that advice when you’re able.

Andrew Forsythe
Andrew Forsythe
2 years ago

I ignore all the pitches to invest in the latest, greatest, hottest “thing”. Even if it were a good investment, if “everybody” is already buying it, it’s too late!

macropundit
macropundit
1 year ago

Yes, but perhaps a corollary is that if everybody is saying it’s too late it probably isn’t.

R Quinn
R Quinn
2 years ago

I’m long past advice doing me much good, but I did follow the save early, save regularly and stop trying to beat the averages. Today popular advice seems to be around retirement withdrawal rates and how much one needs in funds to retire. With the wide range of advice given in both, I’m guessing ignoring the experts and using some basic math on each individual situation is best.

Will
Will
17 days ago
Reply to  R Quinn

Right. What matters is what is YOUR needed withdrawal rate, unless one is trying to time the last dollar to one’s death day.

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