investing Archives - Page 6 of 9

February 22, 2021February 22, 2021

Expense Ratio & Fees: They’ll Hose You Big Time

Expense Ratio and Fees: They'll Hose You Big Time

Fees and expense ratios are some of the most poorly understood and (unfortunately) most impactful elements to long-term investing success. While someone investing at all is ahead of the curve, we must be fully aware of the corrosive impacts of the expense ratio and other fees.

This week we explain common sources of fees and analyze just how much they are costing us. Are you paying a financial advisor? We’ve got you on this one!

Let’s go!

February 15, 2021February 15, 2021

The Frugal Professor: Let’s Get Deep in the Weeds

Alrighty, folks. This week I’m pleased to bring you a low-down-and-dirty financial deep dive with climber, writer, father of five, and lover of personal finance: The Frugal Professor. In this interview, we hold our breath and plunge into complex issues surrounding actually spending all this money we save for periods of no traditional income, meanwhile navigating the treacherous, shark-infested waters of the US healthcare system.

I’ve always said that saving and generating wealth is shockingly simple once some key concepts are understood, implemented, and doggedly followed, through thick and thin. And I’m sticking to my story.

What is not so straight-forward, however, is threading a very fine needle on living off the money we’ve saved. In a period of no traditional income⏤call it “retirement” if you want⏤we shouldn’t be just selling shares and calling it a day. We have to optimize healthcare spending, minimize taxes, and avoid early withdrawal fees and penalties meant for a much more traditional retirement.

But with a little planning, it ain’t no thang.

Let’s roll up our sleeves with the Frugal Professor and get a little dirty, shall we?

February 8, 2021August 9, 2021

Your Questions Answered: Volume One

This week I decided to dig through my emails and finish answering some questions.

In this post we take another look at investing now vs later, the dynamics of financial independence without retiring early, housing and home ownership, more on day trading and investing apps, what the hell I do with my time, and much more.

Here is what is keeping you guys up at night, or at least spurring mild curiosity.

February 2, 2021May 1, 2021

The GameStop Saga: Hedge Funds, Reddit Investors, and Why They’re All Wrong

Well, I wouldn’t normally post two posts in a week, much less two in two days! But by popular demand, I have a few words on this GameStop fiasco. What do you guys think I am, some kind of journalist?!

I hate when news stories like this come out. These sorts of headlines give rise to the kind of stock market talk that promotes the age-old myth: the entire system is run by wealthy Wall Street Fat Cats, the small people can’t get a piece of the pie (or only lose money), and boy wouldn’t it be great if we could tear it all down!

This is flawed thinking. Here’s why:

February 1, 2021February 10, 2021

The Wondrous And Fantastic Power Of Compound Growth

(And Why It Doesn’t Pay to Wait)

It’s so easy to assume that saving, investing, and even considering a retirement is something to do later. Unfortunately, well…no. We don’t need board room salaries or country club memberships to consider a retirement. But we do need an ally. And who can we put on our side of the ring? Compound growth.

Today we delve into the concerning data behind millennial retirement planning, some misconceptions on what retirement should be, and the shocking power of compound growth and how it can, quite possibly, save us from ourselves.

January 18, 2021January 14, 2022

Your 2021 Guide To Actually Saving Real Money

Hey guys. I know that 2020 was a hard year. And 2021 only seems like a continuation of that trend. It’s easy to throw up our hands or hunker in a ball, suck our filthy, calloused thumbs, and wait. But that’s not the solution.

Despite everything that happened in 2020, the S&P 500 returned over 18%. For those of you with money in the market back in the late February and March, I hope you held your breath and squeezed your butt cheeks while the sky was falling. During that time the S&P 500 fell over 30% from its recent highs, with several pucker-inducing drops of 10%+ per day! For those who stuck to the plan and avoided market timing, you did just fine.

For instance, someone with $1 million dollars invested on January 1, 2020 ended the year with approximately $180,000 in gains for doing nothing other than owning an index fund. That’s real, folks. Of course, we have to pay tribute to the inevitable years this will not be the case (where we could lose just as much as we made), but over time, history shows us that the market returns approximately 7-10% per year, on average.

These are the simple little things that we did every year. The result? We were able to walk away from paid work in our 30s.

Does financial freedom appeal to you?

Here’s how we can set the ball rolling in 2021.

November 30, 2020November 29, 2020

Lee Cujes: Super Psyched on the Long Game

This week I’m thrilled to bring you an interview with a pinch of international spice and flavor. Please welcome to the site, the legendary Australian climber Lee Cujes.

In this interview we take a hard look at the long-term aspects of finding a balance on career, lifestyle, relationships, nails-hard climbing, and future prosperity. Lee graciously shares with us how he was able to carve a career niche while climbing at an elite level, how he and his wife Sam made the big move out of the city to a small climbing mecca in the Blue Mountains, and how Lee has used the same, boring and lazy-ass methods of passive investing to build an enduring path to financial freedom. And during some of his darkest days, Lee and Sam embarked on an incredible global climbing trip. Yeah, let’s discuss that too.

Shall we?

November 23, 2020August 9, 2021

Help! My Significant Other Is Terrible with Money!

I stand up on my bike pedals in the fading sun of a late spring afternoon. Facing what feels like gale-force winds, I can’t wait to get home and have a discussion with my significant other, who just so happens to be my wife.

We’ve been texting all day, popping off with ridiculous reinterpreted and borderline inappropriate emojis. I told her about how my boss, who in a very important meeting discussing a new research project, explained to a company executive from Houston…

“Well Gary, this stuff is complicated. It’s like trying to figure out your wife.”

Fortunately, I understand my wife fairly well. She is rooted in a strong desire for security, so something like financial stability is very appealing to her. This day at work in 2015, I’ve been reading Mr. Money Mustache, like all day. I’m convinced that we can now super-charge our path to a corporate exit, and we can make work an optional part of our lives, forever. Now, I just have to do some convincing.

This should be easy, right?

September 28, 2020September 27, 2020

Mike Personick: Dirtbag Entrepreneur

Two interviews in a row?! Why the hell not? This week I am exceptionally pleased to bring you this thought-provoking interview with Mike Personick. Mike is a 5.14 rock climber, husband, dad, and former business owner. And now, like me, Mike is living the financially independent rock climber life.

In this interview we delve into the early days of Mike’s climbing in tandem with a remote job. We learn how Mike managed to become a nails-hard climber while simultaneously honing a craft that led to a breakout business, and in time, a lucrative buyout. We hear Mike’s fascinating story of meeting his future wife and traveling in Europe for a year, eventually adding a third human to the equation. Perhaps most importantly, we discuss the simple investing methods that can build financial freedom for us all, as well as the psychological challenges that can topple any kingdom.

Read this one all the way to the end. Mike delivers.

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020

There’s No Way I’m Investing in this Economy!

On August 18, 2020, against all odds, the S&P 500 hits a new all-time high. Almost exactly six-months prior, the voices of consternation—from all corners, mind you—are inciting fears of Depression-era financial instability in the global economy. Well-minded folks are selling equities for gold and cash, and the more troubled are lining up at the bank, six feet apart, to withdraw their money. Much of the devastation of the pandemic hasn’t changed, yet the stock market is back on top. Or is it?

What in the hell is going on, and should you be a part of it?

Let’s go!