investing

I always say there are two resources when it comes to investing for your retirement: time and money. Money, most of us don’t have when we’re young, right? So you don’t have a lot to invest, but you do have a lot of time, and you should take advantage of that, because the more time that your money is in the market, is invested, then the more it’s gonna grow.

So you don’t want to necessarily give up on those years of investing—at the same time, you have this debt to contend with and it seems kind of silly to… start investing when you’re still paying off debt, right? I think that’s kinda the psychology that most people have.

I’m sharing my investing journey and current and past investment strategies in an effort to normalize the conversation and provide ideas as to what, why, and how I’ve done some of the things I have.

I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was thinking about it for years before, but I never made any move. The signs just weren’t there. I didn’t know what to look for. And then reality hit and I bought a place within 4 days of being on the market.

It’s a miracle that everything turned out the way it did really.

This can actually be a very controversial topic. And we’ve talked to people who firmly believe that you should get to paying off your mortgage and living mortgage-free as soon as possible, and we’ve also talked to people who firmly believe the exact opposite!

A lot of young people always ask me, ‘How do I buy my own home?’ And my first question is like, ‘Why do you want to do that?’ And generally, I think they think #1, it’s cool to own your own home, you can do whatever you want to it! You’re the boss, you don’t have a landlord! But #2, they always say ‘Well, it’s always an investment, right? It’s a good investment.’ And that’s not necessarily true.

As I was watching the train-wreck that was the Inaugural (and only) Fyre Festival unfold, what jumped out at me wasn’t just the story of the con, or the lengths to which people were willing to go to pull this thing off (cough, Andy, cough).

Instead, I took away four lessons we can all use in our everyday lives.

My trip to South America had a new name! It wasn’t a holiday, it was a Mini Retirement! And I was thrilled by the idea of making them a regular part of my life, so I set about redesigning my lifestyle and my work. I promptly quit my job. And in 5 years I took 5 mini-retirements, totaling 22 months off. In between those periods of mini-retirement, I would do consulting gigs in the mining industry, and I would also tinker with my start-up, which later became my business.

Now the question that might be rising in your minds right now—and it’s a logical one!—is, how does someone in their late 20s afford to take more than a third of their time off work? How do they afford a roof to sleep under? Or a car to drive? How do they afford to eat? It’s a really important question.

There is a general misunderstanding of risk in relation to investing. A lot of people think risk is a ‘thing’ with defined boundaries and a solid, immovable shape. But quite the opposite.

Risk in terms of personal finance can actually be categorized into 3 separate entities that interact with each other. They are like a set of siblings.

John “Jack” Bogle (May 8, 1929 – January 16, 2019) was a philanthropist, and investor, an author, but most notably, he was the visionary …

We have all heard stories of people losing life savings from investing in Enron or people who invested too heavily in dotcoms when that bubble burst in 2000. These are real risks that influence real dollars. It is irresponsible to jump into the market with both feet if you don’t know what you are doing.

So now that you are ready to just stuff your cash in your mattress rather than invest in the market, let me tell you about index fund investing.

I learned this lesson the hard way, and early. In that way I feel fortunate, because I learned this lesson back when I didn’t have much at all.

Now, it is no surprise that most rich people are reviewing their goals and making goals. Author Thomas Corley, Rich Habits, found that 62% of all rich people not just set goals but they review them every single day. When is the last time you reviewed your goals?

The truth is that if you invest in the market for any extended period of time, you will experience market rises and falls. To ride the highs of the bull market, you will inevitably feel the sting of a correction or bear market.

I figured if I’m going to stay doing this kind of low-level job, I’d better try to enhance my wealth, maybe not through W-2 work, but through investing.

I’m taking steps today that will let me retire on my own terms, including avoiding these six mistakes that will prevent you from retiring early.