The Tako family had a rough day on Tuesday. We lost a soldier in our battle against household spending. After six long years of faithful service my cell-phone died on Tuesday morning. It did so with very inconvenient timing. I use my phone as an alarm clock, and that means when the phone died my morning alarm did not go off.
Yeah, I know — first world problem.
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When most young men and women start out in the workplace, they typically start at the bottom. The very bottom. Scrubbing toilets, cleaning floors, and taking on the most tedious boring work. They usually do the all the menial jobs that their more experienced elders wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.
These junior workers are (of course) loaded down with student debt, and own very little in the way of assets…
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One common piece of personal finance advice I see written all over the internet, is to not look at the market (or your account balance). “Just ignore what stocks are doing” they say. “It’s all just noise.” “Don’t look at the stock market and live a great life” write other personal finance blogs.
Depending upon how you look at it, this could either be sensible financial advice, or covering your eyes and hoping for the best…
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Volatility, otherwise known as the fluctuation that affect the prices of publicly traded assets, is a subject that strikes fear into the hear of many an investor. Yet, few investors will openly admit it bothers them.
“I’m in it for the long-run” they tell themselves.
The facts don’t actually support all this investing bravado…
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What? September is over already? When did that happen? Time really does fly! Unlike last month, the Tako family spent our September primarily at home. School started back-up and Tako Jr. #1 began the first grade!
Now that I don’t need to be watching the kids all day, I took advantage of all that extra time…
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If you spend any time around the personal finance “blog-o-sphere”, you’re bound to encounter dozens if not hundreds of articles extolling the virtues of spending less and saving more. You’re also likely to have heard the message that “anybody can reach Financial Independence” if they really put their mind to it and save 50% or more of their income.
Lately though, I’ve started to change my mind about some of these core messages…
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Something been on my mind that I need to talk about. It’s been on my mind for awhile now. The question has been bugging me for over a year — Should I “go public” with this blog and reveal our true identities for the world to see?
Or, should I remain completely anonymous and protect our true identities?
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Do you keep a summer reading list? Bill Gates sure does. Every spring he publishes his summer reading list for the world to see. I usually take a look at it every year to see if there’s some books that interest me.
Like Gates, I’m a big believer in reading and continuous self education. Whether you’re a billionaire or a mere millionaire, reading is one of the most important ways any human can learn and grow…
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How long do you hold investments for? If it’s a bond, the maturity of that investment is typically determined when the bond is written. With stocks, the answer to this question gets a bit fuzzier. Stocks are investments without a predetermined end-date.
Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying his “favorite holding period is forever”. That sounds great, but it’s probably unrealistic for most people. Why? No empire lasts forever…
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