nist7

I'll have to check that out from the library sometime. I've heard of it but I am definitely a big Bernstein fan. I've read Unconventional Success by David Swensen of the Yale fund manager and he does have a bit more tilt to REITs than some of the other portfolios.

I've been recommending his very short write up "If You Can. How Millenials Can Get Rich Slowly" because it captures all the critical concepts AND is detailed enough to get started but not too long. I've found that very very few of my friends or coworkers actually dig into these things as deep as I do and books I recommend generally never gets read (I mean who reads a 200+ page book these days anymore...) and so that short PDF I think is a wonderful way to get started.

I've talked to way too many 30-40+ year olds who have no clue that an Roth IRA is or even a 401k or wanting to play around with Robinhood but doesn't know the fundamentals of retirement investing and are not maxing out their tax-advantaged vehicles

And honestly if someone just took the 3 very basic index funds (total US equities, total intl equities, total bonds) and practice basic habits...they will be better off than probably 95% of the world out there in 20-30 years. ANd for those of us who are just into it for entertainment or want to be even more optimized....there are definitely lot of great authors who are not "financial advisors" but truly great for the masses.

I've always told others to be VERY wary of names like: Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, Dave Ramsey, etc. etc.

romer

Another Bogelhead here...

Mustachio

Since we're on the topic of investing, here are a few useful books/resources/concepts worth checking out.

• The Intelligent Investor (by Benjamin Graham).
• A Random Walk Down Wall Street (by Burton Malkiel).
• Security Analysis (by Benjamin Graham).
• Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg for market data.
• Diversify diversify diversify.
• Understand the cause/effect of fed rate increases/decreases.
• (Try to) understand the effect of Trump tweets.
• Understand the effects of earnings reports (A good report doesn't always mean stock will go up; JPM has been dropping after a good ER 2 weeks ago).
• Tech stocks are great now (e.g. AAPL +87% vs. DJIA +22% in 2019) but will need to correct eventually.
• Growth-oriented companies typically do not pay dividends (e.g. Amazon).
• Don't F with options (calls, puts) unless you know what you're doing.
• The markets are not only technical but also very psychological.
• Thinkorswim by TD Ameritrade is, in my opinion, the best trading platform.

Anyways, aren't we here to talk about our RDXs?

Jay9

+1 on not understanding why you'd pay nearly $50k cash when 1.9% loans are everywhere and the stock market returned 25% last year. Cheap credit can be leverage to better grow your own money.

If you're worried about a higher monthly payment due to cash flow, you probably shouldn't be in a $50k luxury car.

Madd Dog

One other suggestion:

Separate investing from playing the market. Your long term investing, whether in a taxable, tax deferred, or tax free account should be kept apart from some funds that you really can afford to lose, but want to play with.