Pretty much describes "the dismal science"
Investing Strategies. What is your move?
- Thread starter PimTac
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He also had $130B cash at the end of 2019 and that got me worried what does he know….. ?
I sent some PMs to a few on here (they know who they are) if they were aware of his cash position on the sidelines and what they thought of it.
He also had $130B cash at the end of 2019 and that got me worried what does he know….. ?
I sent some PMs to a few on here (they know who they are) if they were aware of his cash position on the sidelines and what they thought of it.
He can be cryptic which is normal. You hate to give away your thoughts sometimes. The selling of TSMC is baffling as well. The focus on chips is very high and chips are in demand. It seems backwards to me.
He also has talked about commercial real estate. He has warned followers of what’s to come.
Not sure if it matters over a five year period the fund has had some dismal years and S&P index funds not much different rate of return.He also had $130B cash at the end of 2019 and that got me worried what does he know….. ?
I sent some PMs to a few on here (they know who they are) if they were aware of his cash position on the sidelines and what they thought of it.
He has had his share of blunders as well
It may be semantics but in my mind these aren't games. This is just another way of looking at a personal finance tax plan. The more you chase income to cover your spending the more money you waste on taxes. That costs you time and energy too. That's real money going bye bye and going right to the man. Just another way to look at it. It won't affect everyone the same way. I just thought it was an interesting way to look at it when I read it and I realized this is how I have always lived my life. I choose a spending plan and then work to meet that spending plan, working as little as possible to do so, and not the other way around where I work as much as possible to make as much as possible and then spend to meet my income. My time is my most important commodity and my goal is to spend as little time as possible working to maintain my lifestyle.
IMO, this is a recipe to be poor. First, it is basically arguing that you are better off earning less. I wanna be in Bill Gates tax bracket. One year I paid way over $100K in Federal Income Tax. What a great problem to have!
2nd, spending is a necessary part of life. You can't eat money. What you spend it on is another topic. I drove strippie Toyota pickups and used Hondas (and went to college at night which was more spending) until my house was paid off. I bought the worst house in a top neighborhood. I struggled to afford it. Well, now I wish I had bought the whole block.
3rd, Inflation inflation inflation. Make it work for you, not against you.
The biggest rsik is taking no risk at all.
Paying more taxes is a funny way to describe wealth. The key is spending.
Two wage earners. #1 makes $250,000 a year and saves 20% of their income for investments. They are in a higher tax bracket.
#2 makes $100,000 a year but lives in $50,000, investing the other half. This person pays less taxes.
It’s all about spending. A lot of spending is ego driven. The fancier car, the bigger house and so on. The Millionaire Next Door is a good book to read on this subject.
He didn’t mention capital gains taxes specifically so I figured he was talking income taxes.
Whether its income taxes or capital gains taxes…… the goal is to pay the ’Big Man’ as much taxes as possible.
Trust me on this.
I am...ehh...the author is talking about income tax.
Investing is not a game, but at some point it's a word salad.
Not spending is smart in many many ways, but it's just not investing. Unless you actually INVEST the money SAVED from not spending, holding cash for MOST people, especially young guys like you is kinda dumb. Rich guys with billions holding a big pile of cash? Not impressed. I mean some of these guys say you can't time the market, now they are timing the market? Game!!
1) Start as early as possible.
2) Save and I mean save as much as possible. Pay yourself at LEAST 20% of every dollar that comes in. 50% if possible.
3) Invest constantly in a wide mutual fund.
They rest is gravy time. Game. Talk the talk. Yes indeed I agree.
Seems to be a disconnect with what I'm saying and your perception of it. I'm not arguing to not invest. Quite the opposite, spend less, pass less taxes, and have MORE to invest. Why? Because with marginal tax there CAN be diminishing returns with your time, effort, and income. Too many people think making more is the answer and they simply spend more and still have nothing left over. Obviously, if you're in the top tax bracket then you are in the top tax bracket and there isn't much you can do but most people aren't and most people struggle to save for retirement. The reason for that is because people spend too much and save too little and many then set about trying to make more with diminishing returns but they end up in the same place anyway - making more and still little left over for investment. The entire point of that paragraph above is that people often forget about increasing their savings through spending less. It's hard to believe anyone could say this is bad advice.
FTR...I live my life this way and I'm neither poor nor wanting. I bought my home for $415K when I could've bought a $1M house at the time. That would've stretched me thin but it was doable. It also would've meant having to work more days per week and take less time off. I could easily bump my salary 20% by working 5 days per week instead of 4 days per week but I don't want to and I don't NEED to in order to live my life. This is possible because I don't have a spending a problem. My business partner bought an $800K house and he has a spending problem and he is always wanting to work more. That sucks...I save more than he does for retirement every year even though I make 20% less because I work 20% less. For all his added work it DOES bump him up into the next marginal tax bracket and he wastes a bit of his extra effort there. He wants to work less and he can't because his monthly nut is significantly larger than mine. He would get the best return on his effort/time/dollars by spending less and saving more which would be soooo much better for him than making more and getting a "good return" from his not maxed out retirement savings.
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Ehhh...that's my entire point. I wasn't advocating saving to stash it under my bed. This is talking about people who spend every last dime they have and have nothing to invest. The point is that it isn't just lost returns but you also run the risk of giving more away to the government for all your extra hard work. Too many people believe they just need to make more, and if they actually do, they just spend more.
What I and the author are suggesting here, is to simply be smart and not waste money on crap and taxes so you can maximize your savings and invest it for whatever income bracket you are in.
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Yes. Agree.
The semantics part and trying not to be pedantic honestly. Saving and investing are two separate things. In my world they are not the same thing.
Carry on. I've said my piece.
This is a book that I purchased way back when it was first published. James E. Stowers was the founder of Twentieth Century Mutual Funds, now called American Century Investments. It is an excellent read on his life, his frugality, and smart spending ideas. In much the same fashion as Warren Buffett he lived in a modest home, drove a modest automobile and brought brown bag lunches to work even when he was the CEO at Twentieth Century.
I highly recommend it.
I highly recommend it.
That may be the goal but the fact is most people can't just make more money and those who can do it in limited fashion and "on the margin". No one in saying make $100K even if you can make $300K because you'll save on taxes. I really didn't think this needed to be explicitly stated but here we are. Most people's "investment" problems are they don't invest enough because they really have a spending problem and a budget and sensible spending IS part of an investment plan IMO.
What I am saying is if you can't save and invest enough to retire making $100K, and like most people you can't just magically make more or how much more you can make is limited, then you get a better "return" on spending less and freeing up more money to invest rather than working more and making a few extra dollars all of which are taxes at your maximum marginal rate.
The overarching sentiment here is simply spending less allows you to save more and that allows you more money to invest. Most people have spending problems and not investing problems. A sound investment plan includes maximizing the funds available to invest and to minimize funds being wasted on taxes and crap you don't need. That's it...that's my entire point and it's hardly controversial IMO.
According to this lot...he's a loser saver...lol.
Never in a million years would I think there'd be push back to someone saying saving is good but this BITOG after all.
Here is his Wiki page.
James E. Stowers - Wikipedia
American Century is not the biggest fund company out there but with assets of around $200 billion it’s not small potatoes either.
He left quite the legacy. He started the Stowers Institute for Medical Research by buying an old hospital site in Kansas City. They do some fascinating work there from the mailings I get from American Century of which I am a longtime investor.
I'll take a look. I read a lot and I'm always looking for new books on this topic. Thank you!Here is his Wiki page.
James E. Stowers - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
American Century is not the biggest fund company out there but with assets of around $200 billion it’s not small potatoes either.
He left quite the legacy. He started the Stowers Institute for Medical Research by buying an old hospital site in Kansas City. They do some fascinating work there from the mailings I get from American Century of which I am a longtime investor.
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