The basic math behind financial independence is actually not that difficult to understand. The more you save, the quicker you get there regardless of what the stock market does. In other words, controlling what you can control in the form of your savings rate will also be the most impactful that you can do. While… Continue reading The Power of an Increasing Savings Rate
Category: The Basics
Your Personal Inflation vs. CPI
The Consumer Price Index (CPI, or CPI-U as the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers is the primary CPI measure used) is something of an enigma to most people. There’s sizable confusion about what it is and what it isn’t, which may be due to the sheer enormity of it (the CPI-U has 393… Continue reading Your Personal Inflation vs. CPI
What’s Your Number?
For those of you not in the investment profession, let me share a little secret: Most of us are not very happy at our jobs. Many people outright hate them, yet the pay is so good that they can’t fathom leaving for something else. To many who sit on trading desks or as an investment… Continue reading What’s Your Number?
Protecting Your Assets from Creditors and Lawsuits
Protecting what you already have is an important, and often overlooked, aspect of building wealth. It’s an unfortunate truth that we live in a litigious society and the target on your back only grows as you earn more wealth and status. That’s why practicing stealth wealth is one of the best strategies around!
You Get Paid Based on Value, Not Time
Face time, putting in hours, burning the midnight oil. Do any of these matter when trying to achieve a top quartile paycheck? To some extent, putting in face time, especially early in your career, is important. But as you move up the food chain, your job becomes less and less about the hours spent and… Continue reading You Get Paid Based on Value, Not Time
Start Your “Get Rich” Account
Great Families often have great fortunes attached to them. Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and Rothschild are all family names that are well-known to most. However, great fortunes can also be much more stealthy and still be substantial. We don’t need to compare ourselves to the .00001%. Imagine the good that you can do for generations of your… Continue reading Start Your “Get Rich” Account
Hit Your F-You Number in Your 40s or 50s
As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been doing a series about the different steps to take at different points in your life to ensure that your family becomes a Great Family. As you move into your 40s and 50s, your life settles down and you begin earning the largest paychecks of your career. However, your obligations,… Continue reading Hit Your F-You Number in Your 40s or 50s
Pour the Foundation of Your Financial Fortress in Your 20s
Much like how the foundation of your home is what holds up the roof and walls, your financial foundation holds the walls and towers of your financial fortress together. From a financial perspective, the goal of your 20s is to build the skills and knowledge necessary to construct your fortress in your 30s and expand… Continue reading Pour the Foundation of Your Financial Fortress in Your 20s
Read Long Form Writing
Long form writing has seen a bit of a rebirth in the last few years. The difference between long form and short form writing is best illustrated by the difference in a single, local newspaper article and a 10 page New Yorker article. Beyond the different lengths (1,000 words seems to be the accepted cut-off… Continue reading Read Long Form Writing
Family Money and Inherited Wealth
We Americans tend to fear and diminish family money. We also confuse it with inherited wealth, two terms that I like to keep separate. “Old money”, “Trust fund baby”, “Rich snob”, “Spoiled rotten”, “Bum. These are all things we’ve heard people with inherited money called. In other parts of the world, particularly European countries, society… Continue reading Family Money and Inherited Wealth