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Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

harrybrowne.org

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Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#81

Post by SandersAK »

lbotos wrote: post #70
SandersAK wrote: post #38

The first rule is to inherent the money. The second is to be born into a network that benefits you and doesn't punish you arbitrarily. The third rule is to profit from a strong public infrastructure, and then once you've achieved enough wealth, work tirelessly to defund it through tax cuts. This guy's a mug. And anyone who thinks financial security for one is something that can be done independent of a community is f…

>And anyone who thinks financial security for one is something that can be done independent of a community is full of it, or a hustler protecting previously accrued assets. ??? So you are saying the people who make money, and are frugal, would not be able to get to "financial security"? I'm a sample size of 1, but I seem to be doing just that "on my own". You seem extra jaded here. What am I missing?

I don't think financial security is as tied to your independent actions as you seem to think. No matter how frugal you are, the best option for financial security is investing in the infrastructure and community you live in.

I don't know how much money you have, but if you or your family had a life-long expensive disease, can you say that given the current medical coverage offered at the current prices, you would be financially secure?

It's not a criticism to your ability to save or manage your money. Please dont' take it that way :)

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#82

Post by gowld »

snikeris wrote: post #34
garyrichardson wrote: post #13

> Your investment plan should be aimed, first and foremost, at preserving what you have—preserving it from investment loss, government intervention, or mismanagement. The advice is decent and normal, but I really love how regular advice is "colored" with libertarian perspectives.

It's just being practical. Governments mismanage their economies, seize the assets of innocent people, etc. If you're serious about preserving your wealth, government intervention should factor into your decisions.

Governments also manage their economiies, but he doesn't say "be sure to expose your fund to the benefits of government intervention", so he's clearly biased. He advocates putting 25% in T-bills while also insinuating that the government is only a source of trouble.

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#83

Post by Shivetya »

baby wrote: post #48
snikeris wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would add that gold is an asset that does well when people lose faith in the dollar. It's insurance against the unthinkable.

yeah but there, other currencies make more sense.

well is this advice of 25% applicable in this day and age, have we moved past precious metals occupying such a large percentage?

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#84

Post by [deleted] »

stuffedBelly wrote: post #58
kbutler wrote: post #8

He missed rule #0: Wealth is what you save, not what you earn or what you spend. There are many people with very high income but spending as high (or even higher!), so they have little or no wealth.

Actually from a financial perspective, wealth is assets you own (equivalent to equity + liability). People with high net income should be investing as much as possible to let the money flow in the market. If everyone saves with no intention to invest/spend, it would potentially result in a stagnant economy.

[deleted]

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#85

Post by mfoy_ »

PatientTrades wrote: post #50
mfoy_ wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how, exactly, does one embark upon an endeavour such as owning real estate, starting a business, buying stocks, acquiring education, or starting a family? For almost every single person, the main source of their wealth will be their career. Unless you are planning on inheriting more money than you expect to make from your career from your extremely wealthy parents, you're going to have to accept Rule #1. And if y…

> And how, exactly, does one embark upon an endeavor By using the money earned from your career to fund ventures. A stable career should provide you with money to build wealth. However, simply working a 9-5 everyday will not provide wealth as the rules implies. It provides money, not wealth. There is a difference

It will take you decades of saving to have the kind of capital that can show a return that's even remotely comparable with your salary.

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#86

Post by marcrosoft »

dsr_ wrote: post #25
marcrosoft wrote: post #11

Also checkout Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio if you want a passive investment strategy that yields similar results to a buy-and-hold index fund with much less volatility.

To any index fund, or a specific one?

Vanguard (VTI) or S&P500

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#87

Post by snikeris »

gowld wrote: post #82
snikeris wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just being practical. Governments mismanage their economies, seize the assets of innocent people, etc. If you're serious about preserving your wealth, government intervention should factor into your decisions.

Governments also manage their economiies, but he doesn't say "be sure to expose your fund to the benefits of government intervention", so he's clearly biased. He advocates putting 25% in T-bills while also insinuating that the government is only a source of trouble.

That should tell you something about his approach. A staunch libertarian advocates investing half your portfolio in government securities. My conclusion: his investing approach is divorced from his politics (as it should be).

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#88

Post by shoover »

komali2 wrote: post #62
shoover wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Times were different when Browne was practicing and refining his system. His book Fail-safe Investing talks about using Swiss banks and holding gold there. My understanding is today the Swiss don't want to deal with the headaches that come with servicing customers from countries that demand so much reporting. One way is via the Perth Mint in Australia. They need a copy of your passport and take the money by wire to a…

Eesh, aren't wire fees super high?

$10-20 at most banks. It’s no ACH but not bad if you’re doing it once a year for safety.

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#89

Post by kbutler »

stuffedBelly wrote: post #58
kbutler wrote: post #8

He missed rule #0: Wealth is what you save, not what you earn or what you spend. There are many people with very high income but spending as high (or even higher!), so they have little or no wealth.

Actually from a financial perspective, wealth is assets you own (equivalent to equity + liability). People with high net income should be investing as much as possible to let the money flow in the market. If everyone saves with no intention to invest/spend, it would potentially result in a stagnant economy.

Savings rate is the amount remaining after deducting expenses for consumption. It includes long-term investment.

Re: Golden Rules of Financial Safety (1999)

#90

Post by brndnmtthws »

Heraclite wrote: post #79

I'm a complete financial idiot. As in, I only have money on a government-guaranteed fund in my bank. Where do I start to know more about this? I dont want it to stress me out though, Im not so risk adverse when it comes to my finance. I spend very little, but I want to learn more about investing. Any advice? More specifically for people living in EU?

Here's the best place to start: https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page
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