The goal of achieving financial freedom is to have the opportunity to only do purpose

[Sabrek]

Hi, I'm Sabrek, I'm 29 years old, and I'm new to the forum.

I would like to improve my personal investment skills. I read articles already and listen to podcasts on these topics. My wish is to eliminate the financial factor from my life at some point (I hope by the age of 35) so that I can/may only do projects that bring me purpose. I would like to learn/ improve my skills on how to grow my money, especially through stock investments. This has worked very well in recent years, but my approach has always been more of a gut feeling. So it was probably luck. Now I want to learn to understand the numbers as well.

The forum here seems to be a great place to discuss this, so I'm happy to be here.

Cheers,
Sabrek

 

[Teacher Terry]

Not only is this a great forum for financial planning and investing but Mr Money Mustache is another one that has a lot of young retirees and many threads on money saving ideas and how they accomplished it.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Here is a good resource to get you on your way: https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf

 

[monte1022]

I tell new people to saturate themselves with financial information, but be skeptical of all of it. Eventually you will learn fact from fiction and know which sources you can trust. If you can go to bogleheads.org and efficiently determine the difference between good advice and "fan boy" advice, then you are well on your way. This site is a great resource. You will get excellent, unbiased, and experienced advice as opposed to a regurgitation of some theoretical investment nonsense. Real life! That's what the people here live and they will share that knowledge. Welcome aboard!

 

[VanWinkle]

Here is a good resource to get you on your way: https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf

+1

 

[HI Bill]

Welcome! Save (as much as you reasonably can, starting at 10%, increasing as you get raises, living a little along the way), Invest in a Bogleheads 3-fund portfolio. Don't try to time the market nor buy individual stocks. Repeat for 20-25 years. FIRE!

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio

 

[Koolau]

My suggestion (not advice - I have no qualifications) is to keep it simple and invest in mutual funds or ETFs. Keep trading to a minimum. Re-balance at regular intervals. If you must "play" the stock market, do so with 10% or less of your total stash. If you do well, take your winnings off the table occasionally and add them to your mundane, slow-and-steady investments.

As you can tell, I'm not one for going after big returns. I prefer steady, more or less predictable returns while limiting the downside risk. BUT, you have to decide for yourself what your risk tolerance is and how to "play the game."

Best of luck. Check back often. Lots of folks here with varying opinions on every topic and most are very willing to help (within the bounds of our non-paid advisory status.) Always remember that YMMV.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

Keep it simple... it is simple, just not always easy.



I'm a big fan of The Simple Path to Wealth as a textbook for achieving FI. Largely set and forget and the way many of us got to FI.


I just read Pathfinders but lost interest in it. It might be inspiring to someone earlier on the path though.

Back in my day Millionaire Next Door would have been my recommendation. I'm guessing it's held up well but haven't read it in two decades. Atomic Habits, although not a finance book, is also a good read and has broad application across many domains of life including managing your financial life.

 

[Gumby]

..... Largely set and forget and the way many of us got to FI......

Exactly. As Warren Buffett advised about trading in your account, you should shoot for "lethargy bordering on sloth." For a fortunate few of us, indolence comes naturally. Others have to work to achieve it.

 

[Koolau]

Exactly. As Warren Buffett advised about trading in your account, you should shoot for "lethargy bordering on sloth." For a fortunate few of us, indolence comes naturally. Others have to work to achieve it.

Yeah, I haven't even pulled up my Vanguard year end statements yet. Shockingly lazy on my part.

 

[pacergal]

The "If you can" pdf is a good one, referenced above.
Go to bogleheads forum and read/particpate, they have a great reading reference wiki, read those books
This forum is wonderful for learning and asking questions.

LBYM, put your savings on auto, avoid lifestyle creep.
But do have some fun along the way.

 

[LateToFIRE]

Another vote for the If You can pdf - looks like good material in plain language. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Earn/Save/Invest model (many variations on this theme but I attribute the phrase to a blog I used to read dedicated to millionaires, or folks who want to become millionaires). The premise is that all three legs are necessary to achieve enough wealth to FIRE.

Earn: Unless you're starting out on 3rd base, the funds to save and invest have to come from somewhere. Striving to maximize your earned income is a key component of wealth creation.

Save: This refers to LBYM (Live Below Your Means). If you don't, all your work will be in vain because you'll be living hand to mouth and dependent on a j*b forever.

Invest: This one is pretty obvious. The earlier you can begin investing, slowly, steady, over an extended period of time, the more time compounding has to work its magic. Most folks here advocate a simple, set it and forget it approach. I've taken both active (real estate investing) and passive (siphon max funds into 401k/IRA) approaches. The passive formed a base layer and the active provided the extra juice.

You don't have to be great at all of the above, just at least decent at them. Some folks will be better at some parts than others - there is more than one road to FI.

Me? I started from scratch. Graduated with a mountain of student loans before that was a thing to complain about. But, I'm an ambitious workaholic, so I was really good at the earn part of the equation. And I have not been too bad at the invest part either.

But, if it wasn't for DW, I would have been horrible at the Save stuff. I grew up in a hand-to-mouth family. If the car broke we were in dire straits. Friends and neighbors constantly borrowed from each other because nobody even knew the words "emergency savings". To me, spending every dime of salary and then some was a natural way to behave - wasn't the point of hard work so you could enjoy the money.

What my DW, who never made anywhere near as much income taught me was that income is secondary to saving - that you can save no matter your income - its a matter of discipline and delayed gratification. Her parents were excellent Millionaire Next Door role models in this regard and I also learned a lot by watching them.

At first I was puzzled by their behavior. Why didn't they upgrade to bigger house when they could clearly afford to? Why didn't they buy nicer cars? Why didn't they [fill in the blank, spend more money]? Why did they act like they were kinda poor when they clearly made six-figures [back when that was a significantly more meaningful sum] and had a nicely padded nest-egg? Well, they're gone now, but the lessons live on and I understand now. They were classic LBYM-ers.

DW and I achieved FI some years ago, but I'm always learning and this board has proved invaluable. I got the FI part down, but these folks have really helped with the RE part.

Anyhow, welcome! You're in the right place to pick up some great info.

 

[Jerry1]

Thankfully, I did well Earning and even better Saving. I, unfortunately, did not do well Investing. I wish in my early years I would have been less conservative. Couple that with some terribly timed moves and I cut my profits drastically. Still did alright, but not as good as I would have with a consistent 60 to 70 percent stock portfolio on auto pilot.

 

[frayne]

You have a long time horizon. My advice would be to stay out of debt and invest at least 10% or more of your income in a no-load S&P 500 index fund and sit back and enjoy life. That plan worked for me, retired at 54 years of age, 19 years ago.

 

[LateToFIRE]

Thankfully, I did well Earning and even better Saving. I, unfortunately, did not do well Investing. I wish in my early years I would have been less conservative. Couple that with some terribly timed moves and I cut my profits drastically. Still did alright, but not as good as I would have with a consistent 60 to 70 percent stock portfolio on auto pilot.

Hey, you live, you learn. My 30 year track record on speculative angel investing is zero - like lost every single dime - multiple times. You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but nope, just recently wrote off some stuff. But, real estate, I just keep hitting home runs. Luck or skill? I'm not sure.

Can't win em all. I think if you've got most of the basics down, you're in good shape over the long run.

 

[LateToFIRE]

^^^

With respect to "stay out of debt" you'll hear that from most folks here. I'm a bit of a contrarian on this one - there's bad debt and good debt. I have utilized millions in debt to invest in r.e., sometimes borrowing against one property to buy another. Is there risk? Of course. Debt amplifies risk, but also amplifies rewards. I've taken significant educated risks, and it's paid off. The downsides could have been very painful.

I will admit that in hindsight, if all I wanted was a low-key FIRE lifestyle, those risks were probably way overkill - I didn't need to take so much risk and work so hard because I could have reached a reasonable savings figure from earnings over time that would have allowed for a very reasonable lifestyle in a LCOL/MCOL region. But, I was [perhaps naively] aiming for FatFIRE, which was going to require some extra effort and extra risk.

So, this is all to say that you should absorb and tailor all the advice you get here into your own goals and objectives. The only right answers are the ones that specifically fit your ambitions. The beauty of this forum is the variety of perspectives and roads that have been traveled.

 

[HI Bill]

...Her parents were excellent Millionaire Next Door role models in this regard and I also learned a lot by watching them.

At first I was puzzled by their behavior. Why didn't they upgrade to bigger house when they could clearly afford to? Why didn't they buy nicer cars? Why didn't they [fill in the blank, spend more money]? Why did they act like they were kinda poor when they clearly made six-figures [back when that was a significantly more meaningful sum] and had a nicely padded nest-egg? Well, they're gone now, but the lessons live on and I understand now. They were classic LBYM-ers.

LBYM is essential to gaining the wealth needed to be FI for those of us who don't inherit wealth, win the lottery, or make really great market timing investments. But once you're FIRE'd and have 25+ times your annual desired spending invested, and your investments continue to grow, it's time to shed your LBYM skin. Either by charitable giving, helping out relatives, or by increasing one's lifestyle (travel, housing, cars, etc.). Upon FIRE, I went from living in a shabby 800SF condo to living in a house that's 2600SF on a 0.8-acre lot with a partial ocean view, and a few fruit trees (this may not sound like much to mainland folks, but it's a dream to me in Hawaii). I added a scuba diving compressor, a nearly world-class home theater, and late last year, a fun sports car (Toyota GR Supra). Today, I ordered a moderate office sound system. After watching a best friend die at 62, and seeing how many of my high school class-mates are already gone, I decided it's time to BTD (blow that dough) and start living as much as possible. My wife gets to buy the fancy purses, fancy clothes and jewelry she likes now, too! I have no desire to the be richest person in the cemetery, but I still anticipate leaving millions to charities.

P.S. My $500K in house debt has 'gained' me $600K in net worth since the house appreciated over the past three years, and the interest rate on my loan is now at a lower rate than what money market accounts are paying.

 

[LateToFIRE]

LBYM is essential to gaining the wealth needed to be FI for those of us who don't inherit wealth, win the lottery, or make really great market timing investments. But once you're FIRE'd and have 25+ times your annual desired spending invested, and your investments continue to grow, it's time to shed your LBYM skin. Either by charitable giving, helping out relatives, or by increasing one's lifestyle (travel, housing, cars, etc.). Upon FIRE, I went from living in a shabby 800SF condo to living in a house that's 2600SF on a 0.8-acre lot with a partial ocean view, and a few fruit trees (this may not sound like much to mainland folks, but it's a dream to me in Hawaii). I added a scuba diving compressor, a nearly world-class home theater, and late last year, a fun sports car (Toyota GR Supra). Today, I ordered a moderate office sound system. After watching a best friend die at 62, and seeing how many of my high school class-mates are already gone, I decided it's time to BTD (blow that dough) and start living as much as possible. My wife gets to buy the fancy purses, fancy clothes and jewelry she likes now, too! I have no desire to the be richest person in the cemetery, but I still anticipate leaving millions to charities.

P.S. My $500K in house debt has 'gained' me $600K in net worth since the house appreciated over the past three years, and the interest rate on my loan is now at a lower rate than what money market accounts are paying.

+1, for all my talk about FatFIRE, blah, blah, blah, I actually have trouble emotionally pulling the trigger on major BTD level spending, lol. You're right, once you get so used to the saving and investing, you can be very resistant to spending it. But, I do intend to follow your example, soon!

 

[HI Bill]

+1, for all my talk about FatFIRE, blah, blah, blah, I actually have trouble emotionally pulling the trigger on major BTD level spending, lol. You're right, once you get so used to the saving and investing, you can be very resistant to spending it. But, I do intend to follow your example, soon!

Seriously, are you still w#$king? You should be able to BTD at my level X3 or more!

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Sabrek, welcome to the forum. To even be really thinking about this stuff at 29 puts in the perfect position to win. Well done!

You'll get a lot of advice here. Three suggestions:

1 - read threads on this forum that don't seem to apply to you. They will. And quite often you will get a very good discussion of key financial principles that will allow you to learn from others. Many key principles get applied over and over and over again. I can't tell you how much I learned from reading threads on this site.

2 - Ask specific questions. You will get well informed perspectives.

3 - Read the Millionaire Next Door. You need to mentally adjust the numbers for inflation, but the core principles are still really solid.

Good luck!

 

[DrRoy]

I always recommend "Your Money and Your Brain" by Jason Zweig.

 

[LateToFIRE]

Seriously, are you still w#$king? You should be able to BTD at my level X3 or more!

Lol, I'm getting there, slower than I'd like.

 

[Sabrek]

Here is a good resource to get you on your way: https://www.etf.com/docs/IfYouCan.pdf

Thanks!

 

[Sabrek]

Many thanks for the warm welcome here in the forum! I can already see that it has been worthwhile to register. All the tips are very helpful and I now have material to read, think about and try out

 

[street]

You are in good hands here on solid advice. Like other have mentioned there is a couple other ER sites that you may want to visit also.

The one thing I can tell you is when starting young and ER goals is a recipe for success. Save and save some more early at younger age is the power of compounding plus years.

I hope you stick around and I have read many stories of people that had lower paying jobs, but they were great savers from day one. They became FIRE because of the power of compounding and sticking to it.
Ask questions and just your interest in being FI will get you where you want to be someday.