If you're looking to learn about managing money and investing, consume every post in these sections of the publication and ask every question you can think of in the comments where I will personally respond to every question.
I'll help break the ice. I want to build wealth so that my son (currently 2) can spend his entire adult life pursuing work he is passionate about rather than the highest paycheck.
Hi, I’m Laura and I already feel I’ve taken a financial journey this lifetime, sometimes a hair-raising one! In our society I think we get lots of messages about money that involve money being elusive, or in charge of us vs. the other way around. I was raised poor and it took a long time to feel like I had any power over money - like it was something I could learn to manage, take charge of, calmly make decisions about. I read once that poor people think they work for money while rich people think of money as something that works for them. Nowadays I feel very strong & good about money because I’ve proven some things to myself, but I’m still on the journey. I still feel intimidated by some money-related things, like the stock market. It’s hard to believe I’ll ever be able to understand investing. But I’d like to try.
Great to hear from you. Thanks for sharing that! I hear the same thing from a LOT of readers about understanding the stock market. It's been a big focus of mine recently and have some new investing resources I'll be releasing very soon, stay tuned!
Hi Ben - this week I met with an investment counselor for the first time … AND I just bought an advance copy of your book! I’m glad to report I did understand all the counselor said. That was a gratifying surprise. I noticed I also didn’t feel terrified about the risks involved in “playing” the stock market, which I definitely would have at one time. Excited about next steps … Looking forward to reading your book, and thank you.
LOVE THIS. Thank you for sharing this with the group, this is the kind of thing that this publication was created for. I now that other future readers will see this and be inspired to take action. Thanks for buying the book! I am super proud of it and can't wait to share it with everyone... Stay tuned, I have a few more announcements coming this summer of a few free programs to help motivate people into taking action on their finances.
I hope so! I can’t see very far ahead on this journey but one thing I’ve realized already: it actually felt worse to avoid dealing with money than it does to stand there & face it.
I appreciate you starting this convo! I want to build wealth so that I can exit the rat race, stage left. Money for me is merely a tool to travel more, spend time with those I love, and to truly work to live and not live to work. I'm obsessed with doing that in a way where we can enjoy the present, while building for the future. Me and my wife are on the "slow and steady" track right now and building out our foundation.
Thanks Bryan. All great reasons to focus on your finances and building wealth. What would you say is the #1 thing working in your favor to help you hit your goals and the #1 obstacle or difficulty you are trying to work through?
That is a great question, Ben. I think it would have to be that me and my wife are relatively high-earners. Even living here in California, we intentionally decided to move to Sacramento for affordability reasons, among others, back in 2019. Our mortgage is only about 24 percent of our net income (not sure why people measure the total from the gross) and we limit our spending very well. All in all, we stash away 15-20% of our income, which will continue to increase as our income does.
The biggest challenge would be getting on the same page with y partner about how soon we can retire and how we make that happen. I am hellbent on 55 or younger and much more risk-tolerant; my wife is kind of "if it happens, it happens" and much more conservative with her approach. The great thing is, we are both interested in real estate investing, so I think that is more her speed that stock investing heavily, which i totally understand. I'm hopeful we can iron out ho to have a collaborative plan on when and where we "retire". We both agree on the Mediterranean or Caribbean and are looking into potentially getting property there to use as a small vacation home. All good things TBD
Retiring to a home in the Mediterranean or Caribbean sounds pretty great motivation to me.
Sounds like you guys have the baseline covered and it's a matter of ironing out some of the details.
Your situation sounds similar to my wife and I.
She was very hesitant to invest aggressively, she had little interest in taking on risk to get rich. One thing that helped us get on the same page with investing was tying the action of investing to a mutually desired outcome, like being able to retire at the same time. Focusing on the house in the Mediterranean sounds like a powerful "Why" on getting going with the real estate investing.
So glad to have you in the community, please keep up updated on how things are going and feel free to jump in the comments and ask questions on any of the articles and topics discussed at MOAM.
I am looking to optimize my investments. Due to some life events i am starting over at 42. I make a decent living and I have a consulting business on the side I am looking to grow. For example I understand asset allocation and market sectors and I enjoy researching particular stocks. How would a construct a portfolio of all ETFs and Index funds as well as room for 10-20 stocks I follow? I also would like a better grasp on when to sell my investments and finding optimal buy price.
I do all this for my 5 year old little girl and so that after 17 years in IT I would like to retire and teach. Not IT but Yoga / Buddhist Philosophy at the University level
So, to the question of how to build a portfolio of index funds, something I haven't announced yet but I am working on a 3rd book where I have a good 15,000-20,000 words dedicated to this very question...
All my books are available to paid subscribers, so I've gone ahead and comped you a premium subscription for a month so you can go read that chapter and ask any questions you might have after reading it.
Sorry, I can't be too much help on the individual stocks because my general line on picking stocks is don't do it.
I got interested in bettering my finances after seeing my mother in law looking for work at age 69 because she can’t afford her bills. I also have a chronic illness that will require paying more for prescriptions after retirement when my benefits get cut back.
I am hoping to continue learning how to get my money working better for me so I can not only retire early, but also enjoy my time now and after retirement. Also so I can afford my medications and to look after myself after retirement.
I need the most help figuring out how to invest my money for the long term as I plan to work for another 20 years.
Your book and articles have helped me tremendously already.
Thanks For sharing that Monique. Those are powerful motivations to focus on your finances.
If you ever have questions about anything you read on this publication... or just a general money question, always feel free to post it in this thread, in the comment section of any of my articles or email me directly.
I want to build wealth because I have no husband and kids and I want to be able to take care of myself as I grow old. For the last decade, I've been dealing with health issues. I think they will soon be under control enough that I can venture out and reenter the workforce.
Hey Emily, Thanks for sharing that. Independence is a great reason to focus on your finances. Sorry to hear about the health issues but glad they sound like they are under control.
On investing. Most Monday's I publish a post on investing and Wednesdays I send a chapter of my book "the rational investor" to paid subscribers. Keep an eye on our inbox and ask tons of questions on the investing posts and I'll jump in and answer them personally.
I've been reading your posts and books. They have been very helpful in teaching me about investing. I've also done some research on my own. I recently paid off my car and I'm thinking I can invest that money every month to start.
That is a great strategy. Replacing debt payments with investment contributions is a fantastic way to build wealth and since you are used to the money going out for the car payment it won’t impact your lifestyle.
I truly appreciate that insight, Ben. Truly getting on the same page with finances and many other things in marriage is what keeps the ship smoothly sailing. Truly something that requires work and commitment each and every day! I will definitely be sure to do both of those things. I highly look forward to the article drops on Friday mornings for me on the West Coast. Take care!
Actually more based on NFT and 3d environments for artists whom doesn't understand tech stuff... So I can create their physical collections into digital contracts. I'm also implementing 3d environments focusing on product, company's branding and video ads. Using Unreal... just like in the Mandalorian and/or Obi wan. I'm not sure which would give me more business but I'm open to whatever the Universe is trying to tell me. By the way I'm leaving my product manager career, partially, in order to follow this dream.
Congrats on taking the leap to pursue your dream. It can be a scary leap to make. Be sure, to ask any personal finance/budgeting/ questions that you might encounter in the future, we'll do what we can to help.
Actually, I'm having some issues, with being able to keep some money safe for investing. I have several credits, that I pay on time, and currently with my wife we are buying a new place (like a 25% under the market price) but this month seems to be killing all my good financial behaviour from previous months. So I have on one side an important career change, no safe wallet behind me and the perspective of a succesfull business. But the speed of money can make me be on the red figures for a couple of months.
Sounds like you have a lot going on this summer. Congrats on the new property. With a new business and moving it can be easy to fall out of our good financial habits. As long as it's temporary, you'll be able to weather it and get back on track. Our resource page has lots of financial calculators and free mini courses if you're looking to get back to basics with budgeting, tracking money etc.. https://benlefort.substack.com/p/subscriber-benefits
The best way to learn about managing money is to read, ask questions and engage with other people on the same journey as you.
To that end, here are two places I would recommend you start.
The Financial Freedom Equation, where each post is all about managing money and personal finance: https://benlefort.substack.com/s/the-financial-freedom-equation
The Rational Investor, where each post aims to help you understand how the stock market works and the simple way we can all be successful investors: https://benlefort.substack.com/s/the-rational-investor
If you're looking to learn about managing money and investing, consume every post in these sections of the publication and ask every question you can think of in the comments where I will personally respond to every question.
I'll help break the ice. I want to build wealth so that my son (currently 2) can spend his entire adult life pursuing work he is passionate about rather than the highest paycheck.
help me to change my life and i hope to start my own business on a small scale.i have no capital for all that
Hey Noor. Thanks for sharing that, what kind of business are you interested in starting?
Hi, I’m Laura and I already feel I’ve taken a financial journey this lifetime, sometimes a hair-raising one! In our society I think we get lots of messages about money that involve money being elusive, or in charge of us vs. the other way around. I was raised poor and it took a long time to feel like I had any power over money - like it was something I could learn to manage, take charge of, calmly make decisions about. I read once that poor people think they work for money while rich people think of money as something that works for them. Nowadays I feel very strong & good about money because I’ve proven some things to myself, but I’m still on the journey. I still feel intimidated by some money-related things, like the stock market. It’s hard to believe I’ll ever be able to understand investing. But I’d like to try.
Hi Laura,
Great to hear from you. Thanks for sharing that! I hear the same thing from a LOT of readers about understanding the stock market. It's been a big focus of mine recently and have some new investing resources I'll be releasing very soon, stay tuned!
Hi Ben - this week I met with an investment counselor for the first time … AND I just bought an advance copy of your book! I’m glad to report I did understand all the counselor said. That was a gratifying surprise. I noticed I also didn’t feel terrified about the risks involved in “playing” the stock market, which I definitely would have at one time. Excited about next steps … Looking forward to reading your book, and thank you.
LOVE THIS. Thank you for sharing this with the group, this is the kind of thing that this publication was created for. I now that other future readers will see this and be inspired to take action. Thanks for buying the book! I am super proud of it and can't wait to share it with everyone... Stay tuned, I have a few more announcements coming this summer of a few free programs to help motivate people into taking action on their finances.
I hope so! I can’t see very far ahead on this journey but one thing I’ve realized already: it actually felt worse to avoid dealing with money than it does to stand there & face it.
Realizing that it's easier to face the money problems was the major turning point in my financial journey. You are definitely on the right path.
I appreciate you starting this convo! I want to build wealth so that I can exit the rat race, stage left. Money for me is merely a tool to travel more, spend time with those I love, and to truly work to live and not live to work. I'm obsessed with doing that in a way where we can enjoy the present, while building for the future. Me and my wife are on the "slow and steady" track right now and building out our foundation.
Thanks Bryan. All great reasons to focus on your finances and building wealth. What would you say is the #1 thing working in your favor to help you hit your goals and the #1 obstacle or difficulty you are trying to work through?
That is a great question, Ben. I think it would have to be that me and my wife are relatively high-earners. Even living here in California, we intentionally decided to move to Sacramento for affordability reasons, among others, back in 2019. Our mortgage is only about 24 percent of our net income (not sure why people measure the total from the gross) and we limit our spending very well. All in all, we stash away 15-20% of our income, which will continue to increase as our income does.
The biggest challenge would be getting on the same page with y partner about how soon we can retire and how we make that happen. I am hellbent on 55 or younger and much more risk-tolerant; my wife is kind of "if it happens, it happens" and much more conservative with her approach. The great thing is, we are both interested in real estate investing, so I think that is more her speed that stock investing heavily, which i totally understand. I'm hopeful we can iron out ho to have a collaborative plan on when and where we "retire". We both agree on the Mediterranean or Caribbean and are looking into potentially getting property there to use as a small vacation home. All good things TBD
Retiring to a home in the Mediterranean or Caribbean sounds pretty great motivation to me.
Sounds like you guys have the baseline covered and it's a matter of ironing out some of the details.
Your situation sounds similar to my wife and I.
She was very hesitant to invest aggressively, she had little interest in taking on risk to get rich. One thing that helped us get on the same page with investing was tying the action of investing to a mutually desired outcome, like being able to retire at the same time. Focusing on the house in the Mediterranean sounds like a powerful "Why" on getting going with the real estate investing.
So glad to have you in the community, please keep up updated on how things are going and feel free to jump in the comments and ask questions on any of the articles and topics discussed at MOAM.
I am looking to optimize my investments. Due to some life events i am starting over at 42. I make a decent living and I have a consulting business on the side I am looking to grow. For example I understand asset allocation and market sectors and I enjoy researching particular stocks. How would a construct a portfolio of all ETFs and Index funds as well as room for 10-20 stocks I follow? I also would like a better grasp on when to sell my investments and finding optimal buy price.
I do all this for my 5 year old little girl and so that after 17 years in IT I would like to retire and teach. Not IT but Yoga / Buddhist Philosophy at the University level
David, these are all the right questions.
So, to the question of how to build a portfolio of index funds, something I haven't announced yet but I am working on a 3rd book where I have a good 15,000-20,000 words dedicated to this very question...
That's not hitting the printing press until 2023, so to start I might point you to chapter 15 of my first book The Financial Freedom equation, which serves as a beginners guide to index investing here's a link to that chapter: https://benlefort.substack.com/p/chapter-15-a-beginners-guide-to-passive?r=r7ti9&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
All my books are available to paid subscribers, so I've gone ahead and comped you a premium subscription for a month so you can go read that chapter and ask any questions you might have after reading it.
Sorry, I can't be too much help on the individual stocks because my general line on picking stocks is don't do it.
TY!
I got interested in bettering my finances after seeing my mother in law looking for work at age 69 because she can’t afford her bills. I also have a chronic illness that will require paying more for prescriptions after retirement when my benefits get cut back.
I am hoping to continue learning how to get my money working better for me so I can not only retire early, but also enjoy my time now and after retirement. Also so I can afford my medications and to look after myself after retirement.
I need the most help figuring out how to invest my money for the long term as I plan to work for another 20 years.
Your book and articles have helped me tremendously already.
Thanks For sharing that Monique. Those are powerful motivations to focus on your finances.
If you ever have questions about anything you read on this publication... or just a general money question, always feel free to post it in this thread, in the comment section of any of my articles or email me directly.
I want to build wealth because I have no husband and kids and I want to be able to take care of myself as I grow old. For the last decade, I've been dealing with health issues. I think they will soon be under control enough that I can venture out and reenter the workforce.
The part I need help with is investing.
Hey Emily, Thanks for sharing that. Independence is a great reason to focus on your finances. Sorry to hear about the health issues but glad they sound like they are under control.
On investing. Most Monday's I publish a post on investing and Wednesdays I send a chapter of my book "the rational investor" to paid subscribers. Keep an eye on our inbox and ask tons of questions on the investing posts and I'll jump in and answer them personally.
I've been reading your posts and books. They have been very helpful in teaching me about investing. I've also done some research on my own. I recently paid off my car and I'm thinking I can invest that money every month to start.
That is a great strategy. Replacing debt payments with investment contributions is a fantastic way to build wealth and since you are used to the money going out for the car payment it won’t impact your lifestyle.
I truly appreciate that insight, Ben. Truly getting on the same page with finances and many other things in marriage is what keeps the ship smoothly sailing. Truly something that requires work and commitment each and every day! I will definitely be sure to do both of those things. I highly look forward to the article drops on Friday mornings for me on the West Coast. Take care!
Yes I am interested in the sale of beauty products business every Woman always wants to look beautiful so am I.
trade in beauty products or with the startup so as to be able to produce its own brand.
Sounds great, has that beauty business been something you've been passionate about for a while?
I want/wish to take control of my finances. Start my own digital studio and get very rich.
Hey Jorge.
Thanks for sharing that. What kind of digital studio do you want to start, a music studio?
Actually more based on NFT and 3d environments for artists whom doesn't understand tech stuff... So I can create their physical collections into digital contracts. I'm also implementing 3d environments focusing on product, company's branding and video ads. Using Unreal... just like in the Mandalorian and/or Obi wan. I'm not sure which would give me more business but I'm open to whatever the Universe is trying to tell me. By the way I'm leaving my product manager career, partially, in order to follow this dream.
Congrats on taking the leap to pursue your dream. It can be a scary leap to make. Be sure, to ask any personal finance/budgeting/ questions that you might encounter in the future, we'll do what we can to help.
Actually, I'm having some issues, with being able to keep some money safe for investing. I have several credits, that I pay on time, and currently with my wife we are buying a new place (like a 25% under the market price) but this month seems to be killing all my good financial behaviour from previous months. So I have on one side an important career change, no safe wallet behind me and the perspective of a succesfull business. But the speed of money can make me be on the red figures for a couple of months.
Sounds like you have a lot going on this summer. Congrats on the new property. With a new business and moving it can be easy to fall out of our good financial habits. As long as it's temporary, you'll be able to weather it and get back on track. Our resource page has lots of financial calculators and free mini courses if you're looking to get back to basics with budgeting, tracking money etc.. https://benlefort.substack.com/p/subscriber-benefits
Will give it a look @BenLeFort. Thank you, this place is a great idea.