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You have to force yourself to save with every paycheck and do that throughout your working career.
Don't think of saving as a choice, but something you must do regularly no matter what your circumstances are. That's the secret.
Yes, I agree with this. Think of saving the same way you think of brushing your teeth....just something you do automatically unless you're in a really odd circumstance.
Yeah I told myself that this next paycheck I will force myself to save something even if its just 5%. The problem I keep running into is, if its not a large lump sum of money, to me I don't feel in my mind its even worth saving? I know that sounds strange but thats how my mind operates and then when I get large lump sums say for example tax money that's when I feel the need to put some away! I dont know why but thats just how i think and it gets me in trouble everytime because by the time I get a large lump sum I feel the need to pay everything off and stock up on things I have been needing for a while. Then the lump sum is spent nothing saved and im back to square one!
This is a continuous battle for me, I have to figure out a way get it right!
You have to understand at a very fundamental level that becoming rich or financially comfortable is very much a mind game. People who believe that small efforts aren't worthwhile are the people who live payday to payday or in debt their whole lives...and they have all the attendant stress and lack of choices that go with that way of thinking.
Just because you have a thought that says "it won't make a difference" doesn't mean it's true. We have a tendency to automatically believe all of our thoughts are true, even though that's not the case.
Just as an example....Saving 5% of a modest income of 30K per year in a fairly boring fund like Vanguard Wellington would yield about:
$22K after 10 years
$70K after 20 years
$169K after 30 years
$380K after 40 years
This assumes the fund's 7.54% return over the last 15 years, which is below it's longer term averages (so it's a fairly conservative assumption).
So, $125 a month saved in a fairly boring fund can yield a pretty nice amount without a whole lot of effort.
Hello I have been thinking a lot about investing lately, I don't know anything about investing or where to start, I am no rich person nor do I have a ton of money just trying to get rich and don't know how but it has to happen. I hate working for other people and I naturally have good taste in everything.
I was looking at the NYSE the other day trying to study it and learn it and was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on where I should start? Have anyone heard of any of these network marketing companies and do they really work or not exp. WordVentures, and WakeUpNow?
Also, can you suggest any ways to get rich for me I am an independent parent just trying to make it out alive. I have read al types of books and watched plenty of videos I have the law of attraction down to the tee I just need ways to take off. Thank you
Don't even think about buying individual stocks. Buy index funds that track the market as a whole or a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and commodities.
Some popular passive portfolios (you may need to Google these):
Permanent Portfolio (The Crawling Road)
60/40 Portfolio
Target Date Funds
Do some basic research on each of these and understand the strengths/weaknesses of each before deciding on one. Once you have a better feel for investing, you can customize your asset allocation further .
Don't even think about buying individual stocks. Buy index funds that track the market as a whole or a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and commodities.
Some popular passive portfolios (you may need to Google these):
Permanent Portfolio (The Crawling Road)
60/40 Portfolio
Target Date Funds
Do some basic research on each of these and understand the strengths/weaknesses of each before deciding on one. Once you have a better feel for investing, you can customize your asset allocation further .
I am currently reading this book and I must say learning about the history of finance is very helpful this book has been a life saver. Thank you so much!!!
What kind of investing do you want to do? Do you want to be more in control of your investments and do daily or weekly research or do you want to just buy something and check back once a year?
What kind of investing do you want to do? Do you want to be more in control of your investments and do daily or weekly research or do you want to just buy something and check back once a year?
I was thinking more once a year type of thing? I don't know how wise that is considering I'm just now starting out but it just seems like the thing to do.
My number one tip.
Go to work for an employer that has a 401K with a company match. These are very common and are worth a lot of jack. My employer as an example will contribute up to 4% of my gross salary as long as I do the same.
Example
$30,000 per year X 4% = $1200 per year. If I contribute $1200 per year then so will my employer. I have instantly made a 100% return on my money.
Follow this link Future Value of an Investment Account Calculator and play with the investment calculator until you learn it inside out and backwards. Especially play with the contribution amounts and annual interest rate. You will be amazed how much difference there is between a 10% annual rate and a 12% annual rate. (A tip that goes along with this is the rule of 72. Take 72 divided by the interest rate and it will tell you how many years to double your investment. Example 72 / 10% = 7.2 years to double the value)
My goal is to achieve 20% return or higher. I am about 90% in mutual funds and 10% in stocks. Stocks are definitely riskier and should not be attempted for quite some time.
Diversification......you must diversify your investments. Examples are small, mid and large cap mutual funds or US, China or international funds. If China has a booming economy then their mutual funds are as well.
Do your research. www.fidelity.com has superb tools for researching mutual funds. I always go for 4 star funds or higher.
Fees are another gotcha......If you take my advice and play with the financial calculator above you will see just how important 1% annual return can help. Keep this in mind if you when buy your investments. Many mutual funds as an example have between 1 and 2% fees while others like Vanguard Funds are usually less than 1%. This will translate into huge dollars 30 years down the road.
Hello I have been thinking a lot about investing lately, I don't know anything about investing or where to start, I am no rich person nor do I have a ton of money just trying to get rich and don't know how but it has to happen. I hate working for other people and I naturally have good taste in everything.
I was looking at the NYSE the other day trying to study it and learn it and was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on where I should start? Have anyone heard of any of these network marketing companies and do they really work or not exp. WordVentures, and WakeUpNow?
Also, can you suggest any ways to get rich for me I am an independent parent just trying to make it out alive. I have read al types of books and watched plenty of videos I have the law of attraction down to the tee I just need ways to take off. Thank you
Rich means different things to different people. First, this is probably the worst place to start. You don't know anyone here nor if they have agendas or intentions that match yours.
You said yourself you don't much about investing so why take information from strangers who could possibly, for whatever reason even if for good intent, send you in the wrong direction?
Instead, consider signing up for an adult education class in your local community where you can learn some fundamentals before putting money at risk.
Whatever you do, unless you have money to lose and it doesn't matter, stay away from Internet forums when it comes to your personal finances.
Some here talk about investing and so on but you really have no idea if they are doing what they claim or have any knowledge past what they post. This is too important an issue to leave to internet forums.
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