Do you use a financial adviser to help you manage your finances? I don’t. I’m a self-educated investor. I’ve been managing my family’s financial portfolio for over a decade now, and I’ve been doing a good job – I periodically compare my portfolio’s performance to the performance of major financial benchmarks, and so far, I’m pleased with the results.
You CAN Manage Your Own Portfolio
I believe that most of us can learn the basics of investing and manage our own portfolios. I believe that investing is not rocket science, and that the basic principles are easy to understand. If you tend to be a buy-and-hold investor, viewing the stock market not as a playground but as one of the best ways to grow your money long term and fund your retirement, then you can absolutely do it on your own.
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It took Sean, today’s guest post contributor, a great deal of pain before he realized that simple money tips can go a long way…
Two years ago I burned my business to the ground and hitched my horse toward a sunset of unlimited potential. Well, okay, that’s maybe a bit hyperbolic, though my wife and I did close a successful business so I could become a full-time writer and see if there was gold in the online hills.
It’s not that we love risk, or thought ourselves invincible. It’s just, sometimes a dream is worth buying, even on credit. And unlike the Great Depression, many Americans could lean on credit these last few years. We were no exception.
With mortgages slapping the plastic of our cards, two, three, sometimes four months in a row, credit was both our saving grace and dangling noose. We blew through our savings (a decent sum), lost our house, and ended with heaping debt, all in 18 months.
But we’re hacking this debt a trio of digits at a time, and at an admirable clip.
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Between the rising cost of day to day expenses and decreases in the availability of jobs, many people are finding themselves in need of cutting costs on household bills once deemed essential. There are many ways to trim your costs, but for some reasons, we just don’t think about them. Years of being able to afford whatever we wanted make it difficult to know where to start, but don’t worry, because the process gets easier the more you think about it.
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Is it just here in Silicon Valley, or are elementary school kids throughout the country walking around carrying cell phones and smart phones? The first time I realized one of my daughters’ friends, an eight year old girl, owns a cell phone, I was taken by surprise. Since then, I’ve learned that a full third of the kids in my daughter’s class own a cell phone, and a couple of them own a smart phone.
Most Young Kids Do Not Need a Cell Phone
Why does an elementary school child need a cell phone? I can see the logic in getting a mobile phone for your middle school child. By that age they are far more independent and spend time away from you. Giving them a cell phone with a limited plan would help you stay connected, make sure they are safe and enable them to get in touch with you should something happen.
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Early in my college career, it became apparent that I was willing to go into debt for just about anything. Whether it was a new outfit, eating out, or a road trip, debt was no object. I had my trusty credit card. (Trusty credit cards by the time I graduated from college.) I really was the poster child for instant gratification and stupid money decisions.
Thankfully, I had a wake up call. Somewhere toward the beginning of my senior year in college, I realized that my credit cards were almost maxed out, and that interest was eating up most of my minimum payments. I further realized that I was still paying off that first trip to Vegas my freshman year, and quite likely those jeans I had discarded months ago. I began thinking about what was really important, and considering what I was really willing to go into debt for.
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Making do with what you already have is a time-honored way of frugality, and a great way to avoid having so much stuff you lose track of what you have.
There is nothing worse than thinking you’ve found a great deal on something you need, only to find out a few weeks later, you already had a perfectly good one at home. I’ve learned this the hard way many times. I can’t tell you how many times I had to smile sheepishly at my husband and admit that yes, I’d bought a duplicate, and no, we couldn’t return it because I didn’t discover it until too late.
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