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Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

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Re: Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

#11

Post by token8791 »

1. Spend less than you earn. 2. Learn about investing and develop an investing mindset. Investing can mean stock, but also a personal skill like cooking or a small business, a thing you can rent out, whatever. 3. Repeat.

My friends live paycheck-to-paycheck and I got $300k stashed in cash and a mix of investments. I'm not living for the money, but this world is full of costly stuff you definitely do not need - and it really surprises me what people are spending money on.

Re: Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

#12

Post by jmathai »

Dave Ramsey.

Listen to his podcast episodes. It’s a quick way to get a feel for his advice and to hear how real people who call in benefit from it. Go back to 2020 or so before his co-hosts started taking more airtime.

He catches a lot of flak because the debt snowball that he advocates is mathematically inefficient (folks prefer to pay debts with the highest interest rates off first). Also his political views. Look past those things - there is so much valuable advice.

Re: Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

#13

Post by eppp »

jmathai wrote: post #12

Dave Ramsey. Listen to his podcast episodes. It’s a quick way to get a feel for his advice and to hear how real people who call in benefit from it. Go back to 2020 or so before his co-hosts started taking more airtime. He catches a lot of flak because the debt snowball that he advocates is mathematically inefficient (folks prefer to pay debts with the highest interest rates off first). Also his political views. Look…

He gets a lot of flack because he is unhinged, waving guns around in the office and checking on his employees sexual relationships.

Re: Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

#15

Post by eppp »

amelius wrote: post #9
trabant00 wrote: post #5

If you're living paycheck to paycheck I'd say learn to walk before you run. Keep it simple, open another account and transfer 20% or whatever you feel comfortable from every paycheck. After you save more than a year of living in that you can start to look into more advanced stuff.

You should at least provide some motivation to do that.

The motivation is to have savings so you don't end up at a check cashing place and stuck in a spiral of debt and despair.

Re: Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

#16

Post by boxedwino »

amelius wrote: post #9
trabant00 wrote: post #5

If you're living paycheck to paycheck I'd say learn to walk before you run. Keep it simple, open another account and transfer 20% or whatever you feel comfortable from every paycheck. After you save more than a year of living in that you can start to look into more advanced stuff.

You should at least provide some motivation to do that.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck. You can not afford to lose your job, or not have one while you are looking for another one. This economy should make you immediately do anything and everything in your power to quickly amass at least 3 months of living expenses. This will give you that safety net necessary to be able to find a new gig if the need arises. You will be amazed at how much stress it can take off you and your attitude towards your job.

Re: Ask HN: Good resources to become financially literate

#20

Post by patrickwalton »

token8791 wrote: post #11

1. Spend less than you earn. 2. Learn about investing and develop an investing mindset. Investing can mean stock, but also a personal skill like cooking or a small business, a thing you can rent out, whatever. 3. Repeat. My friends live paycheck-to-paycheck and I got $300k stashed in cash and a mix of investments. I'm not living for the money, but this world is full of costly stuff you definitely do not need - and it…

One irony between investing and spending is that people often use "investment" to refer to a big expense whether it provides a return or not. It's a dangerous mindset.
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