What is Digg?33 Comments
- zirtbow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+251. Money is a tool, not a solution
2. How you spend it is more important than how you invest it
3. Love your job — or leave it
4. Put first things first
5. Know your spouse
6. Invest in your kids
7. Give now
8. Talk it over
9. Look at all-in costs
10. Set goals
11. Emphasize rewards
12. Use debt intelligently
13. Take the long view
14. Diversify, diversify, diversify
15. Plan your portfolio, then stick to your plan
16. Be cheap
17. Forget last year
18. Ignore your portfolio — selectively
19. Keep it simple
20. Look for the right fit
21. Understand how your adviser is paid
22. Consider risk
23. Ask questions
24. Beware of 10% solutions
25. Write it down - jjk5, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8JJK5's Two Tips to Becoming Wealthy:
Spend less than you earn. (SAVE)
Make your money work harder for you than you work for your money. (INVEST)
TaDa! - ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I recently heard 10 tips which I thought were much clearer and better:
DO's:
1. Work hard
2. Establish a plan
3. Avoid Debt like the plague. Obvious things like mortgages are unavoidable, but avoid loans/credit when possible.
4. Determine when enough is enough.
5. Determine your Wants Vs. Needs
Do NOT's:
6. Get involved in get rich quick schemes
7. Compete with your friends/neighbors for the best TV, car, house, yard, etc.. Just call them the winner and be happy with what YOU've got
8. Make choices without info
9. Corrupt your kids with money.
10. Make money your focus in life.
There were lots of scary statistics I heard at the same speach, but the only one I can remember right now is that 80% of the american public retires with only $250 in savings.
Other good bits of info were to put 10-15% of EVERY PAYCHECK (right when you get it) into a savings account. By the time you retire, you'll have tons :) - TriZz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6TFA seems to think that #26 is "post adverts all over your page."
- Bachist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3n8ron & armbar, Most people require a decent credit rating to exist in the modern world, thus (and unfortunately) a (paid up to date) credit card is essential. Just don't carry any balances.
- zoto, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6All of these come as "no duh" to me... My eyes hurt from all those ads.
- CaffiendCA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+35. Know your spouse
..... "When selecting a spouse, let your brain work more than your heart."
Umm, no. In this order... Heart, Brain, Dick... Try it before you buy it. Live together. Financial considerations are important for the ongoing success of a relationship, but the most financially screwed person can turn it around.
But a loveless marriage costs more than financially. - armbar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yes, that's a good way to handle having them. My point was that interest rates wil eat your money away if you're not paying at least 2 times your min payment, so don't even use them until you can afford to pay that much.
- john2kx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5It's true, a few of these are common sense, but you'd be suprised how many people misplace their priorities.
Good article. dugg. - mousky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2n8ron: I have several credit cards. I pay each in full every month. I use the points I earn to buy groceries for free, to take my family to various attractions for free and so on. If I time my purchases right, I can get a 45 day interest-free loan. Used wisely, credit cards are a good tool.
- HEpennypacker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It basically just says that instead of retiring and living off the interest of an accumulated wealth of 700k, to just find something you love and keep working at it till you die. The 35k that you would make each year in you're gray-haired days, although small, is actually more than the interest of that 700k that most people attempt to live off off.
Keep woking for what you love instead of working for money. - tmilam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yes, avoid student loans. I did, you can do it too. I made it through with a B.S. and never took out a loan.
- apply for federal aid
- get scholarships
- consider the military (not a choice for many, but *consider* it to help finance your education)
- get a part time job while you're in school
If you come out of college with 100k in debt you did something very wrong.... - tachyon2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The know your spouse tip is very important. Most people have heard the statistic that 50% of all marriages in the US fail, but what most people don't know is the second statistic that half of those failures are caused by disputes over money. Money is also consistently cited as one of the biggest stressors in people's lives. The more you can do to get a handle over it, the happier you will be overall. Note, I'm not saying money makes people happy, I'm saying that having control over your money will make you happier.
- dysonlu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2n8ron:
Didn't it ever occur to you that people might use credit card for convenience and reliability reasons??? Do you seriously think people will send cash for their online purchases? And do you ever travel? Credit card is a tool, not a curse. - goodthinking, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here’s the print page for the article - http://www.canadianbusiness.com/shared/print.jsp?content=20040729_140228_5364
- duzytata, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Great tips, but what about some advice for college students like me who will have $100,000 of debt when they get out of school?
- derosion, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2A valid #26 too, considering that is precisely what powers Web 2.oh.
- kozicka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For the past few years, well 10, I've constantly been in my overdraft. Now, this has been due to low paid jobs, college etc, but over the last 18 months since getting a relatively good paying job I've (me and my girlfriend) have been saving at least 10% each month.
We try not to use CCs but at times they are useful, and we still have a couple of loans to pay off, but once that is done we will be planning on saving around 30-40% of our income so we can purchase property, which in my view is one of the safest forms of investment. Price may go down but you will still have a roof over your head and overall value will increase over time.
Long post but I feel 10x better not living month to month and in debt all the time.
Plan expenditures etc and live within your means, simple really. - bloo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2go to a cheaper school.. unless you're going for an MBA and plan on making 6 figures when you're finished
- n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3My added point is: don't use credit cards at all. If you cannot afford to pay cash for it, then don't buy it! I don't by the old arguments about needing credit cards for emergencies, if you spend and save wisely you will never need a credit card, because you will always have enough money in savings to cover any emergencies.
- jwesley78, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A debit card can provide all of the convenience of a credit card, w/o going into debt.
And a savings account should be used for emergencies not a line of credit. - armbar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Agreed. The hard part for people that haven't managed their money well in the past is that they've racked up so much CC debt that they can't save or invest anything since they're basically living paycheck to paycheck.
My added point is: don't use credit cards unless you can afford to pay at least twice the minimum payment. - solomongrundy0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Seriously... The entire thing is just save and invest. Is it really that hard for some people to comprehend? I think the american 'lifestyle' is only as good as it is, is because we are up to our eyeballs in debt.
Grundy's tips:
1.) Spend less than you earn and invest that extra money in something rather than having it sit around in a bank waiting to be spent.
2.) Diversify your investments so incase one thing tanks you'll be able to shift your portfolio back to a stable region.
3.) Ignore your missed 'out' opportunities and focus mainly on getting out a certain percentage higher than you invested. Don't get greedy, because if you do you'll miss out almost every time.
4.) Instead of using credit cards for emergencies, only use them for online purchase and travel. You should have a more than decent amount of savings in a year's time to take care of any emergency. (Especially if you've been investing.)
5.) Educate yourself to your wants and needs and remember all of your wants are more money flying out of your pocket. Remember... Food is a need, but dining out or ordering in all of the time isn't. The same applies to clothing and shelter. Your needs must live with-in your means as well.
...and I very much agree that if you're coming out of college with 100k debt without achieving a job where you're making atleast that annually is poor planning. That just shows that the education you just recieved was totally wasted unless you achieved some higher degree. - solomongrundy0, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2*****
- empirikal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sort of common sense but often overlooked - for those in debt:
Pick your smallest bill and pay 10% of your paycheck + its minimum payment until its paid off. All other debts get minimum payment only. Once the first bill is paid - take the 10% + its minimum and apply that to your next bill + its minimum.
So if you make $1000, and your first debt minimum was $30 you'd pay $130 a month till its paid off. Then your next bill say its $45 you'll pay $175/mth
Eventually you'll get to your car payment or mortgage and you'll be paying $400 + mortgage every month.
I know 10% seems like a lot - set that number at whatever you can afford at first - and keep moving towards your goal. - kozicka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Damn, sorry tachyon2, I managed to -digg your comment when I meant to digg it. Cant see a way of changing my idiotic actions.
Sorry :D - cheeze69, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I don't get this from the "love your job" section:
"Say you can earn $35,000 a year following your bliss making stained glass, for instance, or working as a fishing guide. That's equivalent to the annual income you could expect to generate from a $700,000 portfolio of stocks and bonds."
How or what is that supposed to mean? Don't get me wrong, I'm contemplating leaving a cush job to do something that I actually have some interest in, so I 'm not knocking the concept, but where and what are those money figures? - disposal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+026. Get rid of it.
http://digg.com/software/Money_Disposal_Web_Service - 7thton, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0God, I got bored just reading that.
- duzytata, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Well right now after finincial aid I'm stuck paying just over $20,00 a year. I'm going for a B.S. in Chemistry then going to graduate school for pharmacy. I'm hoping to make close to six figures, but the debt will still be killer. Thanks for the advice.
- pegisys, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1that won't make you wealthy, just means you won't be broke
- pseudojd, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2good tips none the less.
- sdub, on 10/12/2007, -18/+4wtf.... 18 diggs on the front page?
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