We’ve revisited some financial rules of thumb this month. Here are a few more bits of (maybe obvious) advice to achieve financial security.
- Simple portfolios work just fine. Investments don’t have to be complex or expensive to be good. A diversified portfolio can be achieved with 5 mutual funds or even one target date fund.
- Your kids aren’t owed a free college education. The best gift you can give your kids is your own financial security. Going into debt or neglecting your retirement savings so your kids can have a blank check for college could result in them supporting you when you are old, and they are trying to raise their own families.
- Don’t hold more than 5% of liquid assets in one company stock. This is especially true if you are working for that company. If you heavily participating in your company’s ESPP and suddenly half of your money is in that one stock, what happens if the company’s fortunes go south? You could lose your money AND your job all at once.
- Hire a CPA. Sure, plenty of people do their own taxes, but there will be times when you need more assistance. Transitioning into retirement is top on that list, but also owning investment property, owning a small business, or settling an estate are all instances where solid tax advice (NOT the temps at H&R Block) is worth more than what you pay for it.
- Don’t watch financial TV. You will get no actionable or helpful information for your personal finance decisions by watching financial news. It’s just noise and panic put out there to sell advertising dollars.
As always, I hope this was helpful!
