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
6 months ago
Keep it simple – use three or four index funds. And remember: Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.
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
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
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
1 year ago
Reduce investment costs by using a discount broker and index mutual funds.
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.
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
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
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
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.
And these days, it’s even easier to get started. Vanguard’s target funds have $1,000 minimums — and there’s no required minimum for Schwab and Fidelity’s target-date index funds.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Keep it simple – use three or four index funds. And remember: Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered.
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.
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.
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.
Reduce investment costs by using a discount broker and index mutual funds.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And these days, it’s even easier to get started. Vanguard’s target funds have $1,000 minimums — and there’s no required minimum for Schwab and Fidelity’s target-date index funds.
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.
The fastest way to double your money is to fold it in half, and put it back in your pocket…
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.
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.