Best money advice you've ever received?

[BUM]

You can only spend it once!

 

[Bestwifeever]

Don't put all your eggs in one basket and cut your losses earlier, not later (both useful when company stock in 401K tanked--five years later some people are still waiting to cut those losses).

 

[redduck]

Well, it was something I've read more than a few times: (hope I'm getting this correct):

No one has ever gone broke taking a profit.

 

[Moemg]

From my grandfather ,"Be a nurse ,you'll always have a job ".

 

[martyb]

From an uncle who was a POW in WWII...

I know somebody already said it, but my now deceased Uncle Henry, who was a POW in WWll, helped build the Hoover Dam and many other things told me many times to always "pay yourself first". I believe he also told me to "use your head for something besides a hat rack"! Between he and my father, I think I got at least some of the messages.

 

[maxer]

Credit Card

Use the credit card to pay for something only if you have the cash to pay for it.

If you cant pay for it in cash, don't even think about it.

 

[streamjp]

Marry the right one

 

[Salaryman]

from Albert Einstein

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”

 

[Lancelot]

Pay yourself first (regular saving/ automatic budget)

 

[FinanceDude]

Well, it was something I've read more than a few times: (hope I'm getting this correct):

No one has ever gone broke taking a profit.

Another take on that, courtesy of Baron Rothschild:

"Fortunes have been made by selling too soon"........

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i never got a bunch of money advice. my parents taught mostly just by example. though the ol'man wouldn't let me take the boat out by myself "until you can afford to pay for the damage you might do." fortunately my bud's parents were more lenient <evil grin>. and i picked up on something else someone once said "buy the best and cry once" which seemed to hold true for a while, until the last few years when even the best is pretty much just more crap.

i gave financial advice to my sil one time when she was a worse spender than today (actually she's improved hugely). i got fed up with her attitude one day and snapped back "if you keep spending money like you do one day all the merchants in town will have all your money and you'll have none."

 

[tightasadrum]

Dad: "Pay yourself first."

Company comptroller/friend:"Get all 401k money in equities and out of those damn income investments."

Close friend: " Buy investment real estate. Use leverage with minimal risk."

Best day's work: my marriage day

 

[SecondCor521]

"Make a net worth statement and update it regularly." -- My former stockbroker.

2Cor521

 

[unclemick]

'God Looks After Drunkards, Fools, and The United States of America.'

So invest - dollar cost average, don't waste time reading a lot of stupid investment books,keep the faith AND don't do a lot of thinking, put it on auto pilot and DO NOT keep checking on it.

heh heh heh heh - I made the last part up. Hindsight says I had to make every investment mistake in the book before I got to pssst Wellesley or balanced index aka Target Retirement. Except perhaps commodities.

'Do or do not - there is no try' - Yoda.

 

[dmpi]

"The bottom line is the bottom line."

 

[calmloki]

"Pay yourself first." 'Do or do not - there is no try' - Yoda.

Those 2 statements kinda point up an issue i have with the world of today. Seems to me that a person's word is no good if it's dependent on the situation of the moment: if "pay yourself first" means "screw the lawful debts (contracts, promises) I've made - I'm getting mine first" then I have a problem with it. Seems that too many people are too willing to accept that if something is difficult or costs too much to perform that it's just fine to break the contract.
Kind of feels like a twelve step sort of thing - "everybody fails, we're all human, saying you're sorry = performance". For too many the attempt is a feeble gesture and the focus is on the payoff rather than the job at hand. The person that says they'll try to start at 8, finish the paper on time, pay the rent, land the plane at LAX - whatever - is not the person I want making the attempt. "Pay yourself first", to me, sends the wrong message to our youth, dilutes the social contract, and poisons our American culture. It's like those which one doesn't fit questions:
1. Do or do not, there is no try.
2. Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
3. Pay yourself first.

 

[tryan]

Interesting ... now if I only had a nickle for every time a tenant paid himself first.

 

[TexasGal]

To me "pay yourself first" means save, i.e. put it in 401k before you even get it home. Save it before you spend it. There may be several other meanings for that phrase, but I always connected it with saving money and being responsible.

Pay yourself first is one of the most basic financial principles there is . . . or so I thought. Maybe that is one of many meanings?

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/millionaire/2058

 

[SecondCor521]

To me "pay yourself first" means save, i.e. put it in 401k before you even get it home. Save it before you spend it. There may be several other meanings for that phrase, but I always connected it with saving money and being responsible.

Pay yourself first is one of the most basic financial principles there is . . . or so I thought. Maybe that is one of many meanings?

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/millionaire/2058

I agree with you, TexasGal.

Perhaps calmoki is confusing the phrase with "Look out for number 1"?

2Cor521

 

[Buckeye]

1. Get a college degree.
2. Read "The Four Pillars of Investing."

 

[Spanky]

Save early because of the compound effect.
Every penny counts toward saving!
Avoid debts if possible.
Pay your bill as you receive it.
Buy reliable used cars, i.e., Toyota, Honda, etc.
Resist the temptations to time the market.
Money should not be the main goal in life. Take time to enjoy life instead of focusing constantly of making money and not spending time with friend and family.

 

[Retire Soon]

Save early because of the compound effect.
Every penny counts toward saving!
Avoid debts if possible.
Pay your bill as you receive it.
Buy reliable used cars, i.e., Toyota, Honda, etc.
Resist the temptations to time the market.
Money should not be the main goal in life. Take time to enjoy life instead of focusing constantly of making money and not spending time with friend and family.

I agree with Spanky that spending time with friend and family is important. I missed a family reunion once because I didn't want to spend the money for travel and have regretted it ever since.

 

[papadad111]

Simple - pay yourself first.

 

[chris2008]

Establish the habit of saving a portion of income. Balance your investments.
Differentiate wishes from needs carefully.
Avoid debt. Repay mortgage asap.
Invest time and resonable $ to connect with family and friends.

 

[jambo101]

Cautious lot so far,any one into the "he who dies with the most toys wins"philosophy?. (flame suit on)