Lots of people think that saving money is boring and not fun. I hope you’re not one of them, but if you are then, that’s okay. I’m here to show you how to make saving money FUN and EXCITING. Many people go through the process of paying off debt and saving for some kind of financial goal, and they’re simply getting tired of it. It’s the same thing month after month. It has become monotonous […]

What caught my eye this week. Robinhood is planning to launch a publicly traded fund to enable US investors to gain exposure to unlisted companies like SpaceX and Stripe. It reminded me that this is one area where we UK investors actually have it better. Similarly, the news of another soon-to-be listed venture fund in the US from an outfit called Powerlaw. It’s an investor in the likes of OpenAI and bleeding-edge weapons maker Anduril. […]

Resetting your budget may sound overwhelming especially if money has been feeling stressful, confusing, or slightly out of control lately, but sometimes what you truly need is not more time, it is a clear and honest reset. When expenses slowly pile up, when small purchases turn into big totals, and when bills start feeling heavier […]

By Jim Dahle, WCI Founder

Don’t miss an episode of our podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors. Tune in on: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Now, here’s today’s article: I’ve struggled with this concept. I’ve seen many others struggle with it, too. Step 1: We discover a new shiny idea (…Roth conversions! …Small-cap value investing! …Qualified charitable distributions!) Step 2: This idea’s shiny appeal catapults it to the top of our priority list. Step 3: Blinded by the light, we mistakenly overemphasize this new idea to the detriment of the big picture. In various fields, this is called a “novelty effect” or “novelty bias.” It affects long-term investors and DIY financial planners, too, as they contemplate retirement and other long-term goals. What if, instead, we had a simple, prioritized list of ideas that long-term investors ought to consider? Something that wipes away bias and cuts straight to the facts. We need an “order of operations” that ensures you focus on the most important things first, before getting to the shiny new idea. Math has “PEMDAS.” Personal finance has “FOO” – the “financial order of operations.” And what we’re about to do here is “FOO-adjacent,” but much more specific to long-term investors, retirement planning and portfolio construction. The Long-Term Investor’s Order of Operations I believe that if you follow this list in order, you’ll be a better long-term investor. Don’t commit too much energy to a lower topic until all the upper topics are fully addressed. Step 1: Invest I know, I know… we start with a stunning revelation: the most important step in investing is “invest.” But the truth is, many people get caught up in small details before they’ve invested enough to make those details matter. Your stock/bond allocation doesn’t matter if you only have $100 sitting in an account. The single biggest dial you can turn is how much you choose to invest. Consider making consistent investment deposits over time (aka “dollar cost averaging.”). Focus on your savings rate, lifestyle inflation, and career capital. Step 2: Control Your Temperament Warren Buffett said, “Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.” Despite what many people think about investing, behavior dominates math. Simple steps, like automated investing and rules-based rebalancing, can be vital. We all possess biases (loss aversion, recency bias, anchoring) that can derail us. Long-term returns are achieved by staying invested during crashes, avoiding panic selling, avoiding speculative manias, thinking long-term, and choosing process over prediction. The math is straightforward. Controlling the broad spectrum of human emotion is far more challenging. Step 3: Risk Assessment & Asset Allocation Asset allocation describes splitting your portfolio across broad asset types like stocks, bonds, real estate, cash, etc. Determining a proper asset allocation is related to your personal time horizon and “need,

In this edition of the reader story, we meet a 41-year-old unmarried woman who freelances to earn a monthly income of Rs 50,000. About this series: I am grateful to readers for sharing intimate details about their financial lives, which benefits us all. Some of the previous editions are linked at the bottom of this article. You… The post How a 41-Year-Old Single Woman Built 30% of Her Retirement Corpus with 50K Freelance Income appeared first on […]

We’re in the fun phase of innovation right now. Tons of overreactions. All kinds of predictions are being thrown around. No one knows what will happen but plenty of scenarios seem plausible. Some people think it could be the greatest technological breakthrough in history. It will solve diseases and create so much abundance we won’t know what to do with ourselves. Others are worried about creating a god in a bo…

Are you looking to listen to more travel podcasts? Podcasts about travel share inspiring stories, offer insider insights and local perspectives, suggest things to do, and give us a peek into how people explore the world. They encourage us to step out of our comfort zones by sharing lessons learned and debunking myths, melting away […] The post 38 Must-Follow Travel Podcasts For Every Adventurer – Episode 121 appeared first on The Thought Card.