Best money management books according to redditors
We found 324 Reddit comments discussing the best money management books. We ranked the 104 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 324 Reddit comments discussing the best money management books. We ranked the 104 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
It may be a bit much for 3rd years, but during 4th year I think everyone should read White Coat Investor, Medical Student Loans if they have student loans, and
The Millionaire Nextdoor. Those that have any interest in finances will take them seriously and continue to read beyond these. Those that don't really care will have at least been given a quick Finances 101 course for doctors and have somewhere to turn. I think a large problem is many medical students have no concept of what a dollar is even worth. Many grow up in upper-middle class America with parents supporting them through college if not further and then have essentially unlimited loans during medical school. We know nothing about finances in general and these give a good baseline for which older physicians can then build on. I would also recommend every 4th year start a budget, either on pencil/paper, Excel, Mint, YNAB, or something to at least track their expenses and have better money management skill in residency that lend themselves to later in life when they are making more money.
Careers in Medicine is also a decent resource all most medical students should have access too
https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296
also
Stop Over-Thinking Your Money by Preet Banerjee
There are a bunch of good Canadian finance reads but I would start with those 2.
Hello! Also from Ontario Canada! The best advice I can give you is.... Spend less than you make (create a budget and stick to it), pay off all your credit cards in full every month, try to keep the life style creep to a minimum, and live in a low cost of living (LCOL) area (if you can).
In terms of buying vs renting there are calculators for that and it's personal choice, but try not to buy more house than you can handle (we live in the GTA so house prices are crazy right now...) If you can live with your parents for a while, you can save a lot of money that way too (just contribute to the household!! If not in cash, at least do the dishes and laundry or something...!).
If you want to buy and do nice things, budget and save for them! Striving towards FI doesn't mean you have to live like a pauper... But be reasonable and have your ultimate goal in mind.
Some nice books to read (that are Canadian!) Would be Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam and The Wealthy Barber/The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton (you can just borrow from the library as an e-book or actual book!).
Since you are unionized and have a pension, I would say max out your TFSA first (check out the index fund model portfolios from Canadian Couch Potato and then your RRSP (whatever room you have left after your pension adjustment) and once you still have money left over open a marginal account (if you you are married by then,max out both those accounts for your spouse before you open any marginal accounts).
Also, read the side bar and the stickied posts. Enjoy your journey to FI. It's important to plan for the future, but you shouldn't forget to enjoy the present as well!
invest $30 in this first. https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=millionaire+teacher&qid=1569609307&sr=8-1
the ussr never attempted to even adopt proper communism. There is an incredible book called "The most popular delusions and madness of crowds" it pretty much outlines how the ussr was able to use the guise of communism to take control. Hope and Fear my droogs. Hope and fear.
EDIT: it's actually ['Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds'] (http://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Popular-Delusions-Charles-Mackay/dp/0486432238) thanks! u/Aut0graph
I highly recommend reading Ben White's book on student loans. It answers your question and many others. Medical-Student-Loans-Comprehensive-Guide
To get $0 monthly payments, you would need to be in an IBR payment plan (Forbearance or deferment do not count as "payments" with regards to PSLF, although technically you could use them for a $0 monthly payment; although this is likely unwise).
The cost of monthly payments is determined by 15% (IBR) or 10% (PAYE or REPAYE) of your discretionary income divided by 12; discretionary income = (adjusted gross income - 1.5*federal poverty limit). Under IBR/PAYE/REPAYE you can have $0 monthly payments if your income is low enough (remember that REPAYE includes spouses income).
For these plans, you have to certify your income annually. One trick to getting the guaranteed $0 payments is to consolidate your loans right after graduation. This immediately enters you into repayment (no grace period), but allows you to certify that you have no income. This has the benefit of allowing you to truthfully check that you have no income (not technically employed until July 1st) and allow you to build up extra $0 payments should you choose to pursue PSLF in the future. If in REPAYE it also allows you to halve your interest rate effective immediately, which will save you money in the long run.
My school had a AAMC representative speak to us regarding student loans and she confirmed that this was a legitimate strategy that many people use.
TLDR: Definitely still a viable option
> No major debts except a mortgage, but I'm a complete newb with money.
You're doing fine, keep it up!
This is a great starter: https://www.amazon.com/Dave-Ramseys-Complete-Guide-Money/dp/1937077209
Most people borrow too much and use credit cards they can't pay off the same month and get buried. Just don't do that and you're 15 years ahead of most people.
For insurance and investments, there are SO MANY to pick from it's dumb to take advice from people who don't know your goals, background, history, etc.
Sure, if we all stopped consuming 50% of what's being produced, this would make half the production obsolete. The twist in thinking is that this is a good thing and not a bad one as the growth imperative would suggest.
I see the way out through going back to more self-sufficiency. The alternative to a consumer society is a society of mostly self-sufficient people. This is the basis of freedom from economic pressures as it decouples your well-being from the ups and downs of the market economy. Then, how would you get such economically free people back into wage-slavery? In fact, this was the situation prior to the industrial revolution. There's a nice book on the subject of how initially economically independent farmers were systematically robbed of their means of self-sufficiency to drive them into the factories, basically the ironically very forced birth of the "free" market capitalism. There was also a recent article posted about the book.
So basically it is not that we simply stop consuming and then how do we get our food? Instead we go back to more self-sufficiency and no longer require neither wages nor the products of wage-labor. This way, each person can individually step out of the vicious circle that is our current economic system.
For more detail on how to do this - practically, you may want to read "Possum Living", "Early retirement extreme" or "How to live without a salary".
More mainstream are books like "Your money or your life" or "Work less, play more."
Thanks! Yes, both kids get allowances. We set something up similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/First-National-Bank-Dad-Foolproof/dp/1416534253
Even the 4yo gets it. He gets excited when he gets his interest. The other day at Target he picked up some BS toy and I said “you’ll have to spend your savings to buy that” and he put it back down.
(It’s not always that easy)
And seriously consider taking a junior or community college class in personal finance.
Also: there's good books on personal finance that are highly recommended.
Find out when Suze Orman's show is on your local PBS station and watch the fuck out of that show. She cares a great deal about the little guy and knows the typical traps that novices fall into.
The First National Bank of Dad is a very similar book, and I think OP might enjoy reading it for ideas.
Ich habe jedes dieser Bücher gelesen und kann es empfehlen. Ich würde jedes davon wieder kaufen und wieder lesen.
Check out the Money Steps and then go to Indigo and buy The Millionaire Teacher. 20$ very, very well spent.
Keep in mind you can invest in a TFSA as well. Investing (eg. in funds of stocks and bonds), due to market volatility, is only appropriate for long-term goals (eg. retirement) hence my question about goals. Any money that you don't have a short-term idea for, can be invested to build long-term wealth. This book and this blog cover most of what you need to know about investing. In my opinion this is an area worth putting a bit of time in learning, as the stuff the bank sells has hefty fees.
Regarding money going into a HISA TFSA, don't settle for the interest rate at your local bank. Try something off this list.
Regarding RRSPs, depending on your annual income, you may be better served investing in a TFSA. Or possibly not. Complex topic but I will trigger the bot that dumps some info just FYI. !TFSARRSPTrigger
Yeah, a year out of school and just needing a budget is no reason to even think about bankruptcy! You borrowed money for school, so now you pay it back--and yes, that either means you pay a little bit for a loooong time, or more faster.
It's not exactly the same because this is US-centric, but the broad strokes of the /r/personalfinance introductory wiki sound like the right place for you to start in terms of figuring out how to balance expenses, debt, and savings. Step 1, make a complete budget and stop using being "irresponsible at money" as an excuse! You're an adult with a job and it's on you to do some research and learn how to handle your finances. There are a lot of books on the subject that could help sorting out the more technical stuff as well as just figuring out how to get your financial house in order.
Here is a good reference: http://www.amazon.com/The-First-National-Bank-Dad/dp/0743204808
We do this with our kids. The kids can spend or save whatever they want. The Bank of Dad pays 5% per month. This teaches them that delaying gratification pays off. And they learn what it's like to make bad decisions, which is a great thing to do when they are little and the stakes of bad choices are pretty low.
Just read this 0.25 cents used book, very concise, how to prepare and make it happy
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/141330835X
You should check out First National Bank of Dad.
Wow. How much money? She needs to talk to a lawyer. Your wife can put it in a trust with an institutional trustee and designate the money be limited for certain purposes/ages. For instance, you do want the money available if they have serious medical needs while they're a minor.
While it's not exactly right for your situation, I recommend the book http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Grave-revised-Gerald-Condon/dp/0060936312 for helping to think about the pitfalls around trusts. People are often reluctant to make them restrictive, but restrictions can often be in the beneficiary's best interests. Especially if they have a mother who may be a loose cannon.
Which is based on the book Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Fisker. A really great read. He has a whole section with the derivation of this early retirement formula with the assumptions and the graphs, it's pretty neat.
Came here to promote this ^^
Bortolotti (CCP website and Moneysense.ca contributor), Hallam (Millionaire Teacher), along with John Robertson (The Value of Simple) are like the Three Wise Men of DIY investing (honourable mention to Justin Bender).
Passive Income Freedom: 23 Passive Income Blueprints
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MDTMDCR
FREE on May 5th
> Passive Income Freedom!
Is it real + possible? Do you need a lot of money or special skills? Can anyone achieve this?
>If you ever asked these questions, this book will give you some answers and show you in 23 Step-by-Step Blueprints that - yes - Passive Income Freedom is definitely real and achievable for everyone:
>Including YOU!
>Even as a total beginner.
> I've always liked the idea of offering them a physical bank with a ridiculous interest rate so that they can see interest with their own eyes
This is the premise behind The First National Bank of Dad, which David Owen wrote a book about, but which you can learn about for free via a podcast:
> David Owen, author of The First National Bank of Dad, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about how to educate our children about money and finance. Owen explains how he created his own savings accounts for his kids that gave them an incentive to save and other ways to teach them about postponing gratification, investing, keeping money in perspective and other life lessons. The conversation closes with a discussion of the value of reading to your kids.
> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/05/owen_on_parenti.html
yes, but I strongly recommend you read: http://www.amazon.com/The-First-National-Bank-Dad/dp/0743204808 first.
There's an essential thing to keep in mind: interest rates are too low and time horizons too long to actually make it possible for young people to "Get" saving at an early age. The solution to this is obvious, affordable and fun for everyone: just open your own "bank" and then pay your kids ridiculously unsustainable interest on every dollar they save (up to a limit). 1% per month. hell, 1% per week.
it teaches them math, you can afford it on small amounts of money and it gives them the opportunity to learn something about compounding at a rate they can relate to.
strongly recommended.
I'd recommend reading [First National Bank of Dad] (http://www.amazon.com/First-National-Bank-Dad-Foolproof/dp/1416534253/). The author went through the same challenges (and made some of the same mistakes) you are facing. I am currently using it as the model with my kids.
Top-level, forcing savings is a bad idea, as is implying you cannot do something because of the need to save. Immature brains are not wired to process the subtlety you wish they could handle. If you follow that route, they may come to see savings as the antithesis of fun and that any money earned/received should be spent immediately, lest Dad take it away for "savings" in a bank earning sub-1% interest.
Better to prompt the desire to save. Rather than a real bank account, create your Bank of Dad that pays significant interest. By doing so, Junior will see that he can spend that $5 now or put it in "The Bank" and have $10 soon (you define what "soon" means). Help him see what that $10 could buy that $5 today could not, which helps clarify the benefit of putting that $5 away today. He may even find that between when he puts the money away and when it grows to $10, the thing he wanted to buy is no longer as interesting.
By doing all of these, you show the power of compound interest and the magic of delayed gratification. You are helping to form solid habits, ones he will hopefully continue on his own (and when the compounding interest rate is less stellar...).
As for results, my own efforts are too early to tell (ask me again in 20 years).
Student loans don't affect credit too much, unless you get private ones. I have a decent mortgage worth of debt and my credit is outstanding.
There are many different types of student loans. I suggest checking out studentloans.gov as a place to start learning about them. Most people will get grad plus loans to cover anything the subsidized and unsubsidized loans don't.
You can also check out this book for more good info.
It's actually 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds'. It's very, very good.
Penny stocks are all companies he's never heard of, and paper trading isn't fun.
To engage him, you want him to have real skin in the game and to be able to buy shares of companies he recognizes -- McDonalds, Apple, Google, etc.
The best way to do both is explained in the book The First National Bank of Dad.
You act as the market. Your son uses his allowance money to "buy" stock from you treating pennies as dollars. For example, McDonalds is trading today at $120 per share so your son would give you $1.20 for a share of McDonalds. You both track the stock, and when he wants to sell you pay him the appropriate value of his share.
I think this is a pretty good book on how to do this. My ex wife and I were in a similar situation. She made partner and her income went from high to omygod and we struggled with how to adjust to it.
https://www.amazon.com/Spend-Til-End-Raising-Standard/dp/1416548912
it's difficult with kids - how old are they? There's an emotional development that may or may not have happened to facilitate based on the answer to that question.
You might want to start here: The Opposite of Spoiled it's a great book on teaching money responsibility.
From the description:
>In the spirit of Wendy Mogel’s The Blessing of a Skinned Knee and Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman’s Nurture Shock, New York Times “Your Money” columnist Ron Lieber delivers a taboo-shattering manifesto that explains how talking openly to children about money can help parents raise modest, patient, grounded young adults who are financially wise beyond their years.
>For Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist and father, good parenting means talking about money with our kids. Children are hyper-aware of money, and they have scores of questions about its nuances. But when parents shy away from the topic, they lose a tremendous opportunity—not just to model the basic financial behaviors that are increasingly important for young adults but also to imprint lessons about what the family truly values.
Our daughter is too young to apply most of this, but it was a really great read and I wish it had been around when I was a kid. I feel like with this type of groundwork, it more easily answers the question " mom/dad are we poor? Our hour house is so empty and I went to sally's house and she's got tons of toys and games and her dad has....."
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Voyaging On A Small Income, 2nd Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1888671378/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RxKoybXEVMVXD
It's a fantastic book.
Work random jobs at hotels when your in port for a month or so. Looks like he's a freelance photographer as well. Probably runs a website too. The most expensive part is getting the boat.
Edit: Awesome book on the subject
Uh oh. Maybe you'd better buy a Canadian personal finance book.
I have a small amount of CC debt but I was able to get a consolidation loan, this made my payments more manageable and the pay-off date and overall cost are now way lower than they would have been. This could be done through some third party lender but I would start with where you know first for options. If you have a bank I would start by there, they may even have someone that specializes in this kind of financial assistance. If you have access to a credit union they may even be more help than a bank's financial advisers. You can always call the credit card company directly and discuss debt management options. It may also be helpful to look at some debt relief programs or reference materials. I've always found Dave Ramsey's plans for financial planning to be straight-forward and effective. Here's a link to a Ramsey book that covers debt-relief and saving/investment, his main concept for debt relief is a "snowball" plan - pay off the small stuff first and once paid off use that extra many for the next largest balance and so on.
Good Luck!
A couple good books are:
Millionaire Teacher - https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524493829&sr=8-1&keywords=millionaire+teacher
The Wealthy Barber Returns - https://www.amazon.ca/Wealthy-Barber-Returns-David-Chilton/dp/0968394744/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1524493829&sr=8-2&keywords=millionaire+teacher
Online, there is some great investing advice at www.canadiancouchpotato.com and you can even check out r/personalfiancecanada
Unless I remember incorrectly, multiple income streams is a point made in https://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-Philosophical-Independence/dp/145360121X I vaguely recall something in there mentioning combining income from a job + investments + paid hobby (maybe fixing bikes) + savings account interest... or something which was heavily lopsided haha.
​
As far as I am concerned, nearly everyone seeking early FI is working with multiple sources of income:
​
For other paid activities (really, gambling?... sigh....) I have a dual opinion on them. First off, if you have enough extra time, energy, and motivation to earn income through some other stream then sure you have more income AND it has the really important benefit that even after you quit your day job you can keep doing it if you enjoy it. On the other hand, I value my free time not quite as the following, but it gives you a general idea: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/18/why-your-time-is-worth-way-more-than-25-per-hour/ Now, I do not fully agree with a bit of what MMM writes about, as far as I can tell he is intentionally extreme just to make the point more memorable. However, the general point about time being valuable is something I do agree with. Sure, I could pick up a part-time job, I could learn to write novels and hope to be one of the precious few earning something noticeable, or plenty of other things. None of them are worth the time I would trade doing them I personally think. That being said, I will sometimes go beyond what is reasonable to sometimes cut costs, example walking a very stupidly long distance to-from work instead of just taking the bus, however that is done because it is also fun. A different example is hand washing clothes, absolutely not worth the time put into it, but the realization that I am doing something silly like that is amusing to me...
I'd check out "Voyaging on a small income" by Annie Hill
I've heard that it is a good book to use for reference, and she should know her stuff she and her husband built their boat and sailed it some 100k plus nautical miles. It's on my to read list for sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Voyaging-Small-Income-2nd-Edition/dp/1888671378
If you go to
https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481859413&sr=1-2
Click on Look Inside, click on Index and then scroll down to the eSeries.
Well I was actually going edit the original post to say that I'm not qualified offer investment advice in any professional capacity (You probably want to talk to a CFA or CFP. Also you asked a very hard question Why. I'll try to answer it as best I can.
Generally transaction involving money can be broken down into four categories:
When you invest you specifically look at the assets category. Assets can be things that you expect to either gain value or lose money over time. You car for example grow less valuable over time so it's a depreciating. The other side of this is things you expect to gain value over time; for example a house. When you invest money you purchase things with that money that you expect will gain value over time. For example if you buy a coke for $0.50 knowing that later that day you can sell if for $1 you've invested in the coke.
Generally when people talk about investing they are talking about the stock market. Your bank can help you get started if you want. I would recommend you read up on it a bit more before doing anything (a good starting book is The Wealthy Barber) and I wouldn't do it with any money you don't feel comfortable losing until your entirely comfortable with it.
You might like Annie Hill's blog then. She and her then husband (I think they got divorced? not sure) sailed BADGER around and wrote a book Voyaging on a Small Income in which she heartily endorses junk rigged boats.
To add to the reading list, I enjoyed reading 'The First National Bank of Dad' teaching kids a safe way to invest, and how to work allowance. In regards to what others have said, just being there and living by example is way more important.
The trouble with a bank account is that the interest is so paltry. An idea I got from The First National Bank of Dad is to act as a bank for your kids and to pay them an exorbitant interest rate (like 5% monthly). Then they have a real incentive to save and can experience the fun of watching money meaningfully grow. You can reduce the interest rate as they get older and start to accumulate adult-like amounts of money.
Glad to hear this.
Looking over the FAQ a bit more there's a lot there for you to ruminate on - and looking over the booklist, there isn't one that would fit an 'A to Z' money management approach (for you to get started on learning all the details you would need to get everything in order, including but not limited to retirement saving, insurance, wills and trusts, college savings etc.)
When I was a lot younger I got a lot out of 'Making the Most of your Money' by Jane Bryant Quinn, I see that there's an updated version out. I can't recommend the 1997 version I read, but it may be worth a look. Amazon Link.
But a classic, great read (that you can finish in just a few hours) is one that not a lot of people have heard of, much less actually put into practice. It has positively made a huge difference in how I view successful people, and how people can grow great wealth. It is making money the old fashioned way, by living on less than you earn.
The book? The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason, on the FAQ reading list.
Best of luck in your adventure. I'll be dealing with a similar 'problem' within the next 5-10 years, won't share any more details than that.
Used copies are available for about $12.
You also can 'preview' read much of the book using the "look inside this book" feature on Amazon.
Estate attorneys have incredible bags of tricks up their sleeve.
You might want to get granddad a copy of Beyond the Grave, a book about estate planning gone wrong that gets mentioned a lot on Bogleheads. Then find a stand-up attorney who can help minimize estate hassles that you and your parents will have to deal with someday.
Details:
http://www.amazon.com/First-National-Bank-Dad-Foolproof/dp/1416534253/
Stop Over-thinking Your Money!: The Five Simple Rules Of Financial Success by Preet Banerjee
To be an investor, you first need to be a saver.
I will probably do 5% a month as long their accounts are not very large.
I got most of these ideas from The First Bank of Dad. The match is from Dave Ramsey.
Strongly recommend reading this book. Once you read this book, you will be a pro in no time.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1119356296/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1977604502&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0470830069&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_r=WK7QVJ88W5YR9FP4Z1M2
Not specifically on point, but you might consider the classic Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds or the works of the great anti-psychiatrist Thomas Szasz (in particular Ceremonial Chemistry).
The Wikipedia page on moral panics has a lot of good links.
I thought this book was a good read.
The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062247026
> the first book contains some obsolete information.
Millionaire Teacher was just updated for 2017: https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296
https://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Life-Transforming-Relationship/dp/0143115766
https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Path-Wealth-financial-independence/dp/1533667926
https://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-Philosophical-Independence/dp/145360121X
https://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-Philosophical-Independence/dp/145360121X
You insure assets, not liabilities. The primary income earner of the household is an asset, and should be insured for both death and disability.
Your child is a liability, given they don't earn income and you pay for their upkeep. If your child dies, there will be an immediate cash requirement for their burial, etc, and you could insure for this if it will be challenging for the family finances.
Can I recommend "Stop Overthinking Your Money" by Preet Banerjee
Edit:link repair
Thank you! I thought the father of FIRE was Jacob Lund Fisker? ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/145360121X )
So first I will soapbox then tell you what I do personally. Hah, apparently this is a 10k+ essay so will split in 2.
Step 1: Pay yourself first. If you are "budgeting" for savings but end up at the end of the month with no savings you are NOT really saving. Pick your savings vehicle and set up direct deposit. Schedule so that the day your paycheck is cashed you have $500 automatically withdrawn from your account that same day to be applied to your investment directly. For you something like: Vanguard Target Retirement 2060 Fund (VTTSX).
https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/target-retirement/#/mini/overview/1691
MER of 0.18%
So go to the library and borrow and read "The wealthy barber"
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Wealthy-Barber-Successful-Financial/dp/0773762167
In the same vein read: The Richest Man in Babylon. True when written in 1926 and still true now.
http://www.ccsales.com/the_richest_man_in_babylon.pdf
Audio version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRomaM-yxYs
Step 2: Take a long, hard look at why you spend. You are trying to fill a hole thinking spending will make you happy. You are realizing that it does not. What is new and shiny now will have a new version come along in 6 months. What makes you happy? Quality time with friends and family? Experiences? Leaning new things? Looking at the end of the year at your IRA/401k balance. Looking at your house down payment savings account? Make a list of the times you were the happiest you have felt in the last year then go to step 3.
Step 3: After determining what makes you happy start saving and budgeting towards that goal. Steam has a 75% sale on YNAB right now.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/227320/
Buy it, use it. Determine what you need to LIVE, then allocate the surplus. The Richest Man in Babylon says live on 70%, pay down debt with 20%, invest 10%. I propose it is income dependent. As a single guy I think you should be able to live well on a salary of $45k/yr and save/invest the rest.
Now you don't have to be like John Wesley (http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/what-wesley-practiced-and-preached-about-money) but look at what made him happy. Giving to the poor. He lived on 28 pounds a year and "saved" the rest to apply to what was his number one mission in life.
"1731 Wesley began to limit his expenses so that he would have more money to give to the poor. He records that one year his income was 30 pounds and his living expenses 28 pounds, so he had 2 pounds to give away. The next year his income doubled, but he still managed to live on 28 pounds, so he had 32 pounds to give to the poor. In the third year, his income jumped to 90 pounds. One year his income was a little over 1400 pounds. He lived on 30 pounds and gave away nearly 1400 pounds. When he died in 1791, the only money mentioned in his will was the miscellaneous coins to be found in his pockets and dresser drawers. Most of the 30,000 pounds he had earned in his lifetime he had given away."
As income rises let your quality of life rise a proportion of the increase but let your savings/investing take the majority of the increase.
Step 4: Seriously consider volunteering at something. Can be as little as 1-2 hours per week. Pick a mission or organization that has deep personal meaning for yourself. Animal shelter. Big brother/sister. Help underprivileged kids read at your local library. Absolutely ANYTHING but pick SOMETHING. Do this for weekly for 6 months and if you do not feel rewarded and that you wasted your time over the last 6 months PM me with the phone number of your supervisor/most responsible person at the place you volunteered so I can confirm you were actually there regularly for 6 months and I will send you $100 (I'm in Canada so would have to figure out how to send you a amazon gift card or something). Requirement is you going 6 months weekly for a minimum of 1hr.
1 - you will meet amazing co-volunteers.
2 - you will see how blessed you are. Instead of comparing yourself to the Johnses at the country club you will compare yourself to the people you meet at your volunteer gig. I will pretty much guarantee that at the end of 6 months you will find other things to do with your $400/month country club membership.
Early Retirement Extreme (check the side bar). He's known in the FIRE community for his blog and book, and (in?)famous for his post How I live on $7,000 per year.
You could give this a try, it's pretty good: https://www.amazon.com/Opposite-Spoiled-Raising-Grounded-Generous/dp/0062247026
On the nature versus nurture front, I wish someone had told me what an all encompassing powerful force nature actually is during the newborn time...
Not OP, but I am assuming he is referring to Jacob Fisker's book.
I'm actually reading it now and have about 30 pages left. In general, I love a lot of the principles in the book. To many, the cost savings measures might seem too extreme as Fisker is definitely on the lean lean side of FIRE. That being said, I think he makes great arguments for just about every topic he touches on, I'm not sure I'd be so receptive to the ideas in the book if I had started my FI journey with it though.
MMM forums. Here.
But honestly as someone else pointed out, once you have the plan, the basics down, there isn't much to say.
I spend too much time on this 'stuff' when you could easily write out all you need to know on the back of an envelope.
I enjoyed ERE's book, https://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-Philosophical-Independence/dp/145360121X/
Read this: http://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-philosophical-independence/dp/145360121X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1289602142&sr=8-1
Really. Seriously. Read it.
Like /u/Disciplined_20-04-15 said, buying into Vanguard ETFs are an excellent idea, the fees are incredibly low and have averaged a 9-10% return in the last decade. Buy into a handful of funds around the world and you've already got a pretty diversified portfolio.
Also BullionVault is an a great place to put your money into precious metals: gold, silver and platinum. Outside of an ISA you can still make upto £11k tax-free (way more than you'd earn in a single year).
Diversify your wealth with a 60-20-20 strategy (or something similar):
Even in a financial crash you'll ride it out better than most people.
How to Own the World – Andrew Craig (free ebook with an Amazon Prime account) is a great introduction to the world of finance and outlines the 60-20-20 strategy above.
The Gone Fishin' Portfolio – Alexander Green is what Own the World is based on but Craig's book is much broader and specific to the UK.
late to the game, but i highly recommend "The First National Bank of Dad" by David Owen
Key Points
There are a lot of great pieces of wisdom in this book. Based on it, i have set allowance at $1.75 per week for 5 yr old and $2.75 for my 9 year old, increasing by a quarter each year. So far, my daughter has saved up $200... which has made me put a cap on interest payments.
It was written many decades ago, and the actual investment advice was very much tied to the times, but the philosophy is still valid, it is entitled “Your money or your Life” . https://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Life-Transforming-Relationship/dp/0143115766
MMM (Mr Money Mustache) blog and forum are somewhat international, but English speaking based. The blog is a great resource for understanding the math behind savings rates and time to retirement https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
This guy is a little too out there for me, but Jacob Lund Fisker. Aka “early retirement extreme” or ERE, is a Scandinavian guy who lives by extreme frugality https://www.amazon.com/Early-Retirement-Extreme-Philosophical-Independence/dp/145360121X
He has his own website and forum too
Regarding financial stuff, this is very good:
http://www.amazon.com/Voyaging-Small-Income-2nd-Edition/dp/1888671378
You pay for your electricity service, they still burn coal.
This idea is good, but it is very difficult or expensive to implement, if not impossible in some sectors (e.g. clothes, sex toys, furniture, jewelery, office supplies and other small stuff)
I think you can live a "service based life" today by using second hand clothing/ebay/craigslist and looking at your suff as borrowed, always having in mind at what price you can sell the items. The difference in purchase price and sell price over the period you owned a thing is your "service cost".
You can find a good explanation in the book Early Retirement Extreme.
Thanks for the recommendation! Are you referring to this book?
You need to read Beyond the Grave. I remember that it dealt with your type of situation.
for very straightforward, accessible investing guidance backed by lots of research to make sense of the DIY approach (basically to invest in very low maintenance index funds, without paying an advisor) check out - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
This book was written by a Canadian Teacher who became a millionaire. He now teaches finance in some asian country just because he likes teaching.
Is it this one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Own-World-Thinking-Investing/dp/1517254469
I personally say yes.
Quite a few chapters were revised with current market conditions e.g. like you said the old one says Vanguard isn't in Canada yet, but new one talks about them. There's also a chapter about robo-advisors.
He also updated a lot of data so it's more recent.
Amazon has a look inside feature so you can see what's in the new version and compare it to your current copy.
https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497407433&sr=8-1&keywords=millionaire+teacher
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
amazon.co.jp
amazon.fr
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
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Save. Always and forever save as much as you can when you have the opportunity to. Keep putting money away now, each paycheck, even if for a week you can only put in $5.
There are various ways to save, obviously RRSP's are great for retirement, but there are also ways to save money that you can access if the need to do so arises. Definitely put money away separately for your children, for their education and such. Yes, there are student loans, but there could always be extra costs or fees outside of school, such as medical costs, bail, etc...
It is good to have at least 6 months worth of your expenses saved up, so that 7k is an ideal saving to have and you are already in a good position by having it. The reason to have that much saved up is so that if anything were to happen, in terms of either, or both of you, losing employment you have the finances to cover the costs during that period. Being broke is bad enough, but being broke and not being able to support ourselves, or the people that we should be providing for, is quite depressing to say the least. To reiterate you are already off to a good start with your bank savings.
The Wealthy Barber is a great book to read that provides insight into being intelligent with money, while I'm going to put an article for you to consider perusing: 4 Personal Finance Principles That Would Make Your Grandfather Proud
The Wealthy Barber
Hey bit late on this one, but for some inspiration I found the guys over at /r/financialindependence/ have excellent ideas on reducing expenses and an anti-capitalist way of life. The Early Retirement Extreme book is an eye-opening read!
> You don’t get a job in education by winning the lottery. You get it because you’re qualified - either licensed from home or have done TESOL (at least a CELTA, DipTESOL, or university TESOL diploma), and have demonstrated proficiency in Japanese.
Exactly. I'd rather be a qualified TEFLer with a permanent position than a software dev that's got to keep hustling and retraining themselves when they turn 35, 45, 55, and so on.
Software devs should read this, too.
https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501257833&sr=8-1&keywords=millionaire+teacher
This has a lot of foundational stuff that you can build off of.
Get her the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Your-Life-Not-Theirs/dp/1937077977
I read this a couple of years ago and found it a really interesting, educational read, if you're looking to learn:
How To Own The World
https://www.amazon.com/How-Own-World-Thinking-Investing/dp/1517254469
Autogenerated.
[META] Jesse Mecham will be doing an AMA on August 14th @ 10:30am EST
Hi everyone!
I'm excited to announce that our founder/CEO, Jesse Mecham, will be stopping by to answer questions for a couple of hours on August 14th, starting at 10:30am EST (9:30am CST, 8:30am MST, 7:30am PST).
All topics are fair game, but his main focuses will be on the new mobile app release, the recent release of The Debt Consolidation Myth, and what might be coming next for YNAB.
He's looking forward to chatting with you all again!
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IamAbot_v01. Alpha version. Under care of /u/oppon.
Comment 1 of 1
Updated at 2017-08-09 12:26:32.640281
This is the final update to this thread
Other books I might suggest that are helping me keep more of my income include:
America’s Cheapest Family
Cut your Grocery Bill in Half
MoneySmart Family System great for seeing how to teach financial education to your kids.
Love Your Life, not Theirs
The principles in these are helping my situation a bit. I’d check overdrive or your library for copies.
I recommend reading Stop Over-thinking Your Money by Preet Banerjee, a good chunk of which discusses how the various types of insurance work and how to figure out your needs so you don't get sold something that isn't right for you.
Hey, I’m not gatekeeping or shaming! I’m just trying to draw attention to the opportunity you have here to do well for yourself.
Not a financial advisor, not your financial advisor, do your own research and make your own decisions. The TFSA is usually considered best utilized when it’s not just used as a “savings” account within a bank, but as an “investment” account. Banks like Tangerine have fairly easy to understand options to do that (invest your money), but if you’d like to go a step deeper down the rabbit hole, a discount brokerage (a company that can buy and sell stocks, bonds, and funds on your behalf) like Questrade is both cheaper and more powerful in what you can do with it. Here’s why you might want to consider one of those.
Your ~1.5% per year interest in a TFSA “savings” account is very secure and consistent, but you’re technically losing money against inflation, which is typically between ~2-3% per year. A significant amount of people subscribe to the idea that investing is as easy as buying a fund (such as a mutual fund or an ETF, exchange-traded fund) that holds a collection of other stocks and bonds in order to represent the entire market. That is to say: if the entire market goes up, your money increases; if the entire market goes down, your money decreases. This was an approach pioneered by a very smart man named John Bogle, which you could learn more about in r/bogleheads.
Index-based investing, as described above, has returned an average of 10% per year for the last several decades. However, this is a higher-risk investment, and if you expect to need the money inside of 5-10 years, you should consider looking in lower-risk areas, or potentially splitting your lump sum into smaller chunks to invest at different risk levels. There are a lot of really good resources on this concept, called risk-management or asset-allocation, but this is an excellent resource that I like to link.
I would also recommend you take a look at this website, which is a solid introduction into taking charge of your own financial future. The “How do I become a Couch Potato?” section would be a good start.
If you’re still interested after all that, then here’s a good dump of information to explore.
if you're into reading books, i recommend this one here.
https://www.amazon.ca/Millionaire-Teacher-Wealth-Should-Learned/dp/1119356296/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3MP5SSBTU215V&keywords=millionaire+teacher&qid=1555169396&s=gateway&sprefix=million%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1
Andrew Hallam explains it in the most simplest form from A to Z.
cheers! :)
Bought a small and affordable house. Started up a TFSA and two RRSPs (one through work, one on my own).
Biggest one though, without sounding like a schill, was reading "Wealthing Like Rabbits," an extremely digestible financial advice book for people in their 20s. Really helped my fiance and I.
(I posted this in the other thread) I am pretty familiar with the U.S. version of this software, and hope to be able to pull together my thoughts on the Canadian version at some point...
See http://www.amazon.com/Spend-Til-End-Raising-Standard/dp/1416548912 for the software creator's basic take on lifecycle economics in a non-academic format
More on the software creator: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Kotlikoff
http://www.kotlikoff.net/
Jane Bryant Quinn's book is the bible of personal finance. My father gave me a copy when I graduated from college. It's 1200 pages of dense print, and it covers everything.
22 years old and 140-160k per year? Well done!
I'd start by reading as many personal finance books as you can. The wealthy barber returns(I think Tangerine or some bank is offering it for free as a pdf right now), the millionaire teacher is another great one. They'll get you started on the basics.
As others mentioned www.canadiancouchpotato.com is excellent. It's a set and forget kind of investment, with your savings you should be able to build a solid retirement portfolio in a a decade or so, depending on how your expenses and income change over the years. Personally for me MMM has some great advice buried in fanatical frugalism. It's a bit much at times, but there's good advice.
As far as your money in a chequing account, I'd invest every dime you won't need for many many years. Have a decent amount of cash on hand for emergencies(6months of expenses is usually enough) but you can keep that in a high interest savings account or somewhere liquid.
How much debt? Anyway, I'm with you - any amount is bad.
If she gets upset at you for giving good advice, I hate to say it but take it as a real cue about how long term your relationship is going to be - you're trying to help her and it doesn't sound like she respects your opinion, and it's not about a small insignificant thing. How she hands her money might affect you in the future because if you get married it will become your debt as well.
It also sounds like she feels like her options are limited and that piling on schooling will automatically result in success, regardless of the mound of debt that's accumulating. Maybe start by trying to talk to her about the motivation behind what she's doing, and where she things it is going to go. Sounds like she wants the easy path and doesn't admit to her failures.
On money, if it is the issue (I don't think it is) you might consider these books for her, which she could also take as a total slap in the face, but worth maybe a try:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310337429/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937077594/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937077977/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
​
Also, consider attending Financial Peace University (https://www.financialpeace.com) together. Tell her it's something you're interested in, and you'd love it if she attended with you as a couple. I'm sure you'll hear plenty of other people talking about student loans and how they were saddled with debt. Maybe it would help her to hear from other people's stories.
The Wealthy Barber
https://www.amazon.ca/Wealthy-Barber-Successful-Financial-Planning/dp/0773762167
Edit: Formating
Here is the mobile version of your link
Buy this used book for $4, read, you will get all answers
https://www.amazon.com/Retire-Happy-Guarantee-Great-Retirement/dp/141330835X
He has a highly rated piece about budgeting already. There's a market for this. The hatred coming from this sub is absurd.
EDIT: Added links to Jesse's writings.
The Debt Consolidation Myth
Invest Like A Pro