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The wealthy do something well that the majority of people do not do so well… they invest.
Investing can be hard, scary, and complex. Many don’t know what to do, nor do many even know where to start.
However, it is an essential part to obtaining massive wealth. If you’re interested in having more money in your life, investing is likely to be a top priority for you (see the power of compound interest here).
So, to help you master this touchy subject, I asked a bunch of experts for some helpful investing advice.
Their responses follow.
Rick Van Ness, Author and Educator, FinancingLife.org
“A Penny Saved Is Two Pennies Earned” was the first game-changing investment advice that resonated with me. This was the title of a chapter from a book by Andrew Tobias 35 years ago. Tax rates were higher back then, but this taught me the importance of saving.
More recently I’ve been guided by investment advice from the champion of common sense investing, John C. Bogle, who says, “When it comes to investing, unlike with most things in life, you get (to keep) what you don’t pay for.” He is referring to the importance to keep investing expenses, and any fees for financial advice, at an absolute minimum.
Brian Penny, Writer, The Street
The best investment advice I ever received is to stop focusing on numbers, graphs, and statistics, and invest in companies you truly love.
Apple may be on an upswing, but if you don’t have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, it becomes a chore to keep up with everything they’re doing. When you invest in companies providing products and services you use every day, you’re making much smarter financial decisions.
Michael Solari, Principal, Solari Financial Planning, LLC
The best investment advice I got was “control what you can and don’t worry what you can’t.”
An advisor was telling me that there are things that we can control when it comes to investing. When establishing a portfolio we can control how much risk it will take on, how high or low expenses are and most important our behavior. Typically, our behavior is what gets us in trouble. Intuition tells us to buy low and sell high but when things are volatile that can go out the window.
We can’t control what happens daily, weekly or monthly in the market but if managed appropriately you should be rewarded for the risk that you took on.
Joshua Austin Scheinker, Scheinker Investment Partners of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC
Find out what everyone else is doing and do the opposite… go against the grain.
Buy straw hats in the winter. That is how you create wealth.
Shane Fischer, Attorney at Law, Shane E. Fischer, P.A.
Create an emergency fund totaling six months worth of living expenses in an ultra-safe cash account.
You never know when you will incur a major repair bill (home, auto, or even dental); you could lose your job on a moment’s notice; or otherwise need a lot of money in a short time.
In summary:
- The quickest way to make money is to save money.
- Investing fees add up fast. Keep them low and you’ll be well on your way to investing success.
- Invest in companies you know and love.
- There are things you can control (risk, behavior, etc.), and things you can’t (what happens on a day-to-day basis, where the stock price goes). Focus on what you can and master your own behavior. Your bank account and sanity will thank you.
- If everyone is doing something, I would definitely not do it. You can make a lot of money in investing by going against the herd.
- The thing you can expect is the unexpected. 6 Months saved up in expenses is a great emergency fund to prepare for those expenses that surprise you.
When you said, investing is hard, scary, and complex, were you speaking from the average person’s voice or from your own. I hope the average person’s. 🙂
Haha, it was that way for me 5 years ago for sure, @williamlipovskyfqf:disqus!!
Of course it is not now.