What would you tell a recent graduate about investing?

[Jolly]

Impart some wisdom...

[UseLess]

Once you have a paying job, start a low-risk investment account immediately. Have a few dollars sent automatically, so you never see them. Money held long grows surprisingly, even at today's rates, and will mean you won't worry about having enough in your latter years.

[UseLess]

A spouse, if you acquire one, is quite different from an SO. For the latter, maybe for the former, keep your finances separate, especially if one's habits are frugal and the other's are not. Talk about money around the time a relationship starts getting serious. Everyone needs some money that is theirs to do with as they will, even if it's just a few dollars a week.

[farmerjack41]

Sixty some years ago, started out by putting 5 percent of all money coming in, in a savings account. About fifty years ago, increased that to 10 percent. There were some different times it made the budget quite tight, but stuck with it. When I finally went into law enforcement, this amount was taken out before a check was issued. Am having to pay tax on it now instead of when it was earned. Only take the “minimum required amount “ out each year at this time, which is way less than what the fund grows each year.
Still put away the 10 percent today.
The money earned from farming, the same thing was done, plus another 15 percent was set aside for equipment replacement.

Seems like some wise person made the comment once “ pay yourself first”.

[Ozarks Tom]

I'd tell them to sit down on a fairly regular basis and make two lists. List one would be needs, list two would be wants. Go over the needs list and transfer anything not really necessary to the wants list. Then tear up the wants list. It's amazing how much money a person can save just spending on needs. That's not to say never enjoy a few toys now and then, that would be a boring life, but too many people spend down to their last dime each month paying off their toys.

[paisley2]

You are in charge of your money and your debt.
You need to be able to say NO to yourself.
If you need to buy friends, accept you have low self esteem.
If you this show off with money....clue most likely those who you attempt to impress are 1. Laughing at you when you are not around or milking you first then laughing at you.

Write down your needed expenses by category
Set up a chart with payments a column for known or estimate amount, column for actual cost. And a column for due date. Column for amount paid, and a column of debt still owned

Have a saving plan cover fun money, minor emergency fund major emergency fund and investment fund. Do not omit a charity fund.

As you use such a chart using highlights of different colors
Note tax deduction, business, medical

Review weekly.

Take a class about investing

Know the law of 72.

The Rule of 72 is a simplified formula that calculates how long it'll take for an investment to double in value, based on its rate of return. The Rule of 72 applies to compounded interest rates and is reasonably accurate for interest rates that fall in the range of 6% and 10%.
Rule of 72 Definition, Formula, & Calculation

[wildhorseluvr]

Sept 30, 2021 15:32:34 GMT paisley2 said:

You are in charge of your money and your debt.
You need to be able to say NO to yourself.
If you need to buy friends, accept you have low self esteem.
If you this show off with money....clue most likely those who you attempt to impress are 1. Laughing at you when you are not around or milking you first then laughing at you.

Write down your needed expenses by category
Set up a chart with payments a column for known or estimate amount, column for actual cost. And a column for due date. Column for amount paid, and a column of debt still owned

Have a saving plan cover fun money, minor emergency fund major emergency fund and investment fund. Do not omit a charity fund.

As you use such a chart using highlights of different colors
Note tax deduction, business, medical

Review weekly.

Take a class about investing

Know the law of 72.

The Rule of 72 is a simplified formula that calculates how long it'll take for an investment to double in value, based on its rate of return. The Rule of 72 applies to compounded interest rates and is reasonably accurate for interest rates that fall in the range of 6% and 10%.
Rule of 72 Definition, Formula, & Calculation

Excellent, paisley2.

[Ozarks Tom]

I remember my father advising me to get into real estate. At least that's what I thought he meant when he said "Tom, get a lot while you're young".

[Jolly]

Some opinions...

1. Invest in your skills. This often costs no money, just time and effort. The more you know how to do, from painting a room to fixing a leaky faucet, is money saved throughout life.
2. Make a habit of paying yourself first, especially through payroll deduction. The money you don't "see", is money you don't miss.
3. Avoid debt, as much as possible. Sometimes, debt is unavoidable. A student loan to finish the last year of college, a home mortgage, starting a business. But keep debt to a minimum and strive to become debt-free.
4. Diversify. Diversify. Diversify. Cash, mutual funds, real estate, individual stocks, precious metals.
5. Work hard, but work smart. Try to find a job you like, but always look at the entire compensation package when taking a job...Sometimes, less money with cheap and great benefits is better than simply more money. Also, consider the time devoted to your job. Nobody dies from hard work when you're young. Look for a part-time second job, that you can use the money to get debt-free, to invest or maybe just to reward yourself with a vacation or a new experience.
6. Retirement. You need to plan for your own retirement. And you need to start early, when time is on your side. When you are in your twenties, even a little means a lot. Again, diversify. And for retirement, consider doing both conventional 401k and Roth accounts. Each has its own advantages, especially when you do retire.
7. Sex and money. By far, the reasons that most marriages fail. I can't give you sex advice, but I can say you better have a very frank and honest discussion about money before ever getting married.

[joebill]

And if you live a frugal life, you should expect about half your kids to grow up and spend money like they hate it's GUTS!.... The other half will be so cheap that when you take them out for dinner, they will not carry enough cash between them to cover the tip.

Somehow, though, they all seem to be doing just fine. Is America a great place to live, or what?.....Joe

[Jolly]

For right now.

I can see some changes on the horizon, though...

[joebill]

Well, each of them have seen it done differently than they do it, so all I can do is hope they recall the alternate methods

I think they'll do as well or better than the average bear when the vice tightens. At least they left home knowing how to work hard and willing to do so, which is half the battle.....Joe

[blackfeather]

Invest in a good relationship with your family, life is more than money. Having land to grow food and raise animals to eat, having a source of water and knowing basic survival information will do more for most people right now than thousands in the bank. The thousands in the bank may some day buy you a loaf of bread. Self sufficency right now is a paramount investment. Once this crisis is over then there is time to plan for the future. If you have money to put aside right now then do it in precious metals. This current fourth turning will be over somewhere around 2030, then the world will have to be rebuilt and then will come all sorts of oppurtunities.

[Ozarks Tom]

Oct 24, 2021 23:33:36 GMT blackfeather said:

Invest in a good relationship with your family, life is more than money. Having land to grow food and raise animals to eat, having a source of water and knowing basic survival information will do more for most people right now than thousands in the bank. The thousands in the bank may some day buy you a loaf of bread. Self sufficency right now is a paramount investment. Once this crisis is over then there is time to plan for the future. If you have money to put aside right now then do it in precious metals. This current fourth turning will be over somewhere around 2030, then the world will have to be rebuilt and then will come all sorts of oppurtunities.  ETA: For those who have stored their wealth in other than worthless fiat dollars

[joebill]

A lot depends on the individual. I think the future will revive many of the trades that require manual skills, even if we do not have a great disaster shutting down the machines and electricity. Not that many years ago, I helped a guy start in business and he felt he owed me a debt. I did not agree, but told him if he wanted to do us both a favor, he should buy his band saw from me instead of sears, so he gave me the order at the same price sears would have charged him, and I turned a nice profit on it.

Between the crazy "green" regulations and the crazy liability issues, I think in the future you may be buying a surprising variety of things from local shops, hand made. Those one man shops look like gold mines at a casual glance, but I have found over a lifetime that every reasonable investment in more and better equipment was a HUGE boon to the profits, and I watched other shops discover the same thing in different ways.

The last half of my working life, I also discovered that for me, the very BEST investments along those lines were the machines that allowed me to make my own equipment and tooling. Being able to make a special sized reamer, special shape of router bit or set of profile cutters for a wood or metal shaper will often make the difference as to whether a job is impossible, unprofitable, or a gold mine, and even if you guess wrong, you cannot lose much money on tooling you make yourself.

I know this post is somewhat off the subject as presented, but in the rare cases it applies, it applies BIG TIME!.....Joe