On Tue Sep 30 2014 at 1:41:56 PM skn <[email protected]> wrote: > I was wondering how my fellow Silkers (is that how we are collectively > called?) have been (or have already) preparing for financial > independence in the later years? What are the good financial principles > to live by?
Here are mine: - Invest automatically. Setting up automatic withdrawals from your incoming money makes sure that you are tempted into skipping saving for retirement for a few months or years. - Keep an eye on the fees associated with your investments. Management fees have a way of taking significant chunks out of your savings. Choose the lowest cost funds you can find. - In the medium to long term, you cannot beat index funds. Find low-cost, passive index funds - Simplify: Create a portfolio of 2 to 3 index funds that span stocks, bonds, REIT, international exposure, etc. - If you are tempted to speculate in individual stocks (your comment about dabbling in BTC comes to mind), don't do it with your savings. Set aside a small chunk of gambling money and use that, and only that. - Define your goals to yourself clearly. Is your goal not to run short of money in your retirement? Do you want to leave some money behind when you are dead? Making these clearer to yourself helps you figure out exactly how big your nest egg needs to be. - Rebalance your portfolio once or twice a year Thaths > Some of the things I have been trying to get my head around > are about property as an investment, (long term) investing in company > shares vs. index funds vs. mutual funds, % income to save vs. how much > to invest vs. how much that can be spent (given I have very young kids) > etc. etc. > > Any insights, life lessons? > > -skn- > >
