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What’s the wisest financial advice you’ve ever been given?

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Arlene Aughey
Arlene Aughey
6 months ago

One of my senior partners told me when I first began my career, “If you ever want to have money, either make or save some money every single day. What this will do is keep your focus on not wasting money.” It has really proven to be excellent advice.

tshort
tshort
6 months ago

Keep it simple – use three or four index funds. And remember: Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.

Julian Block
Julian Block
1 year ago

Julian Block

Back in the day, one of Jonathan’s WSJ columns advised readers to equally invest in three Vanguard funds, total stock market, total international and TIPs. Excellent advice that I followed and have prospered as I mostly stayed the course.

Philip Stein
Philip Stein
1 year ago

Reading Warren Buffet’s advice to his shareholders taught me to appreciate the importance of compound growth to building wealth.

If during your working years you invest in broad-based, low cost stock index funds and regularly add dollars while reinvesting distributions, compounding will virtually guarantee that you will achieve millionaire status in your lifetime.

This stands in contrast to much less certain beat-the-market stock picking strategies that involve frequent trading.

Ginger Williams
Ginger Williams
1 year ago

Read the money advice column in the newspaper every week and a personal finance book every year. It’s confusing at first, but you’ll learn a little every time. Don’t count on your husband to manage the money; some husbands aren’t good at money and some die young. Learn about savings and investing so you can take care of yourself.

Carl Book
Carl Book
1 year ago

Reduce investment costs by using a discount broker and index mutual funds.

Edwin Belen
Edwin Belen
1 year ago

Best financial advice comes from Dave Ramsey – don’t hold debt and if you have debt, pay it off as fast as you can. I didn’t follow the baby steps but this drove me to get rid of debt and has been a huge financial benefit in my life.

Carl Book
Carl Book
1 year ago
Reply to  Edwin Belen

Debt is almost always essential in order to own a home and a vehicle. It is essential to learn how to manage debt to make the most of your financial resources.

David Hoecker
David Hoecker
1 year ago

I am now retired, but remember advice given by one of my Dad’s cousins over 60 years ago. He said, if you are uncertain about selling a stock you already own, sell half of your holding. That way you can lock in some gains but still have the potential for future growth.

Bob Wilmes
Bob Wilmes
1 year ago

The best financial advice I ever got was from Warren Buffett who said invest in yourself first. By that he meant your ability to earn more is directly proportional to the skills and knowledge that you can actively employ in your life.

This can be as simple as buying and reading a new book to as complex as completing a graduate or professional degree. The more formal education you have the better your life can become.

I used my Viet Nam era GI bill benefits to finish a BS in Computer Science which helped me easily double or triple my lifetime earnings.

Mike Zaccardi
Mike Zaccardi
1 year ago

I have to go way back to high school in 2005 when I listened to Clark Howard on the radio. He would constantly preach to open a Roth IRA at Vanguard and invest in a Target Date Retirement Fund. I finally saved up enough to follow his wise words. It was December 2005 when I invested $3,000 into VTIVX (the 2045 fund). I enjoyed tracking the performance each day as I learned more about the investing world.

It really got me on the path to making finance my career. I thoroughly enjoy savings and investing (maybe to a fault because I am so thrifty now).

The fact that it was simple advice given to me at a young age made all the difference. Of course, my interest in making the most of my hard-earned grocery store cashiering money played a role too.

Philip Stein
Philip Stein
2 years ago

Index investing is often criticized as settling for average returns. But what you receive are market returns, not average returns. Earning market returns is akin to shooting par in golf – difficult for most golfers to do.

Scrooge_McDuck88
Scrooge_McDuck88
2 years ago

The fastest way to double your money is to fold it in half, and put it back in your pocket…

Sonja Haggert
Sonja Haggert
2 years ago

Buy stocks that raise their dividends every year and reinvest those dividends. In this low interest environment, it is a relatively safe and easy strategy.

Andrew F.
Andrew F.
2 years ago

Here’s one piece of advice I try to remember: Every time you trade stocks, the person on the other side of the trade is likely an institution or a pro who knows a whole lot more about the market than you do.

Tread carefully and know your limitations.

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