Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB
Numbers is hard.
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Had a co-worker last year who got all bent out of shape. I told him roughly what my raise was after determining through back-channels that everyone in the entire department received the same % increase for annual raises.
When I told him my % he went on a tangent about how he is underpaid, and being treated unfairly etc etc... how his raise wasn't as high of a %...
I said, sir, please I ask you to double check your math, I understand we all received the same % increase (I had confirmed this with half a dozen people already).
He came in the next day with his tail between his legs... 'ooh man, I feel dumb, I did the math wrong' he says.
The kicker...it's literally in our job title to assure quality. I asked for a transfer, and they honored it.
New team is MUCH better.
The cool thing about that group was I had my pick of the work... now that I am working with guys much smarter than me not so much lol....but at least we all know how to do division.
I think the most valuable thing I learned is to be consistent...put money in every week, every 2 weeks etc. But be consistent with that.
Pay yourself first...which requires some budgeting to know how much you can 'afford' to pay yourself.
Make a spreadsheet or log to track your progress, you never know where you are headed without first knowing where you came from.
Ignore the headlines in terms of introducing emotions into investing. If I operated my portfolio, like I did my social life...there would be disagreements on a daily basis. Keep the noise out of your head and furthermore the 'folio.
Re-assess on a frequent basis. One thing I never knew would come of managing my own money was the extreme peace of mind. There is something to be said about sleeping well at night, knowing you have a solid investment plan in place.
I see threads on this forum like I SOLD ALL MY STOCKS, and THE WORLD IS ENDING TOMORROW etc etc...I ignore those beyond a good laugh, I do indulge and read, but I would never act upon someone telling me THEY sold all their stocks. Everyone is running a different race, at different points in time.
Oh, and benchmark, know how you are doing against your peers, the market, the indices and your past performance.
Never pay retail.