Hello from Norway! How not to get lost as a newbie in FIRE?

[henny-penny]

Im looking forward to be debt free August 1st 2018 so very much. YAY!

Im currently reading "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, Monique Tilford. And trying to see if there is relevant information out the in the space. Im a little overwhelmed by all the books, blogs and webpages.

So, do you have any advice for a newbie here? How not to get lost in all that information, opposite arguments and how to adapt to welfare we have in Norway (and the fact that welfare is threatened by reforms).

Thanks in advance.

 

[marko]

Welcome! I actually lived in Oslo for six months back in 2007.

There is so much out there that you do have to be careful about what you follow.

This forum is one of the best places to ask questions and learn things. "Your Money or Your Life" is a good starting point and there's other books from reputable writers.

Others here will chime in but I'd stay away from websites and 'experts' who you've never heard about or just intrinsically sound shady. Try to remember that most of these people have their own profit in mind ahead of yours!

Stay with the big-name outfits until you gain more knowledge and confidence in what you're doing.

Good luck and keep checking in here.

 

[Jerry1]

Read all you can and you’ll be better able to separate the good from the bad. Keep the basic formula in mind - live below your means and save as much as you can throughout your life. Outside of some windfall (lottery, inheritance . . .), there is not much else you can do. Take advantage of all the programs your employer or in your case, the state, offers to help you save and reduce taxes.

Not sure what programs that reforms are endangering, but healthcare is the big one so keep an eye on that. It would seem unlikely that once established that a government would totally eliminate it. Maybe in your planning, budget in a higher inflation rate for healthcare. Many tools for retirement budgeting have different inflation factors for different budget categories.

 

[OldShooter]

Welcome. It is indeed a jungle out there. The tutorials at bogleheads.com can be a valuable resource although IMO the forums can get pretty crazy.

I will offer two rules that I consider overreaching:

1. Never, ever, buy something that you do not understand.

2. The more complicated an investment product is, the more likely that it was designed to make money for the seller, not for the buyer.
​

William Bernstein's "If You Can" was designed for young folks, but it is a good (and short) read and the recommended books are a good place to start. https://www.dropbox.com/s/5tj8480ji58j00f/If%20You%20Can.pdf Depending on how deep you want to dive, Bernstein's more recent books might be valuable, too. (His earlier books tend to be a bit mathematical, something that he apologizes for in his later books.)

 

[henny-penny]

Welcome! I actually lived in Oslo for six months back in 2007.


Stay with the big-name outfits until you gain more knowledge and confidence in what you're doing.

Good luck and keep checking in here.

And those big-names are? The only ones I know is Mr Money Moustache and theauthors of the book.


I hope Oslo was kind to you and you have good memories

 

[Walt34]

The books I found helpful are these:

The Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street by Allan S. Roth

These first two are the ones I absolutely recommend.

I also have read these:

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely – I found this very interesting! For example, people will almost always say that coffee served from a silver service into fine china cups tastes better than coffee served from a glass pot into a paper cup even though the coffee was brewed in the same pot!

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko. This is a classic and although the numbers are somewhat dated the principles most definitely are not.

The Four Pillars of Investing by William J. Bernstein

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky & Thomas Gilovich

Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig

The Investor’s Manifesto - Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between by William J. Bernstein

A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel – Updated frequently, this is a classic and a must-read

And if you really want to get deep into behavior issues with money– Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, the only psychologist to win a Nobel Prize in Economics. It might be more than you want to get into but I found it fascinating. It’s also a rather thick book.

 

[Red Badger]

Welcome aboard the Retirement Cruise! It's great sailing.

Stock Series
This is a good read (and free). It's US focused in a few areas, but overall a good read about why to invest in what; and, LBYM.

My great grandparents (Mom's side) immigrated to US from Norway. They homesteaded in North Dakota. A lot of ND homesteaders found year one to be fatal. As a group, Norwegians did better. They understood harsh, arctic winters.

 

[henny-penny]

Thank you all! I will save all this info for later!

 

[DrRoy]

I always recommend Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig. Also, I visited Norway in 2016 and loved it.

Reinebringen
.

 

[Milton]

Your Money or Your Life is an excellent book. Good on you for choosing it!

Charles Carlson's Eight Steps to Seven Figures (2001), is a pretty good investing book. It doesn't give specific guidance about stock-picking, but instead has a lot of tips about buy-and-hold strategy.

The "eight steps" were accurately summarized in the following list, published on Amazon by reviewer Joshua P. Sowin:

1. Start investing right now. Every day you wait is lost money.
2. Establish a goal that matters to you. If possible, make it measurable so you can track your progress.
3. Buy only stocks and mutual funds. Forget about the rest.
4. Buy only high quality stocks that are leaders in their field or, if you know the area, you are sure will be leaders. Buy what you know and when you don't use no-load index funds.
5. Invest monthly, no matter how small. It adds up through compound interest and forces you to invest when the market is down. Diversify through time, not assets.
6. Buy and hold. Sell only when necessary. Never daytrade, which just makes your broker and government rich. Buying and holding makes you rich through better returns and tax reduction. And it's less stressful to boot.
7. Limit taxes as much as possible by taking advantage of tax breaks. Hold stocks for at least a year (though the longer the better) and put in the maximum legal contributions into your 401(k) and/or IRA, or as much as you can afford.
8. Live a stable and simple life. Limit shocks to your finances - don't divorce, don't job or house hop, don't get into debt, don't have ten kids, don't daytrade. Dare to be boring.

 

[TDub]

Your Money or Your Life is an excellent book. Good on you for choosing it!

Charles Carlson's Eight Steps to Seven Figures (2001), is a pretty good investing book. It doesn't give specific guidance about stock-picking, but instead has a lot of tips about buy-and-hold strategy.

The "eight steps" were accurately summarized in the following list, published on Amazon by reviewer Joshua P. Sowin:

1. Start investing right now. Every day you wait is lost money.
2. Establish a goal that matters to you. If possible, make it measurable so you can track your progress.
3. Buy only stocks and mutual funds. Forget about the rest.
4. Buy only high quality stocks that are leaders in their field or, if you know the area, you are sure will be leaders. Buy what you know and when you don't use no-load index funds.
5. Invest monthly, no matter how small. It adds up through compound interest and forces you to invest when the market is down. Diversify through time, not assets.
6. Buy and hold. Sell only when necessary. Never daytrade, which just makes your broker and government rich. Buying and holding makes you rich through better returns and tax reduction. And it's less stressful to boot.
7. Limit taxes as much as possible by taking advantage of tax breaks. Hold stocks for at least a year (though the longer the better) and put in the maximum legal contributions into your 401(k) and/or IRA, or as much as you can afford.
8. Live a stable and simple life. Limit shocks to your finances - don't divorce, don't job or house hop, don't get into debt, don't have ten kids, don't daytrade. Dare to be boring.

Love this. Thank you for finding and posting these steps!!

 

[OldShooter]

OTOH, here is advice from the father of modern portfolio theory and a Nobel prize winner:

One of many considerations is that it is very difficult for an individual to build and manage a truly diversified portfolio. Numbers vary, but many will argue that it takes 60-100 stocks. For example: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/11/illusion-of-diversification.asp

Another is that every six months S&P publishes another SPIVA report showing that stock picking very rarely works, even for professionals.

 

[ERD50]

OTOH, here is advice from the father of modern portfolio theory and a Nobel prize winner:

One of many considerations is that it is very difficult for an individual to build and manage a truly diversified portfolio. Numbers vary, but many will argue that it takes 60-100 stocks. For example: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/11/illusion-of-diversification.asp

Another is that every six months S&P publishes another SPIVA report showing that stock picking very rarely works, even for professionals.

I like it. Concise and to the point, and it just took me longer to describe it than 'it'.

For those who enjoy the journey, here are two Nobel Laureates from U of C, discussing this (and they really are pretty down to earth), with many more words.

edit/ And IIRC, it was OldShooter who introduced me to this video.

-ERD50

 

[HillCountry]

Welcome.



Will spend two and half weeks in Norway when it is hottest here. Looking forward to that.

 

[Milton]

Love this. Thank you for finding and posting these steps!!

You're most welcome. But don't stop with the list, check out the book ... it contains some good info, and you'll find it inspirational.