frontpage

2
A good friend of mine posed me the question if I had some advice for all the graduating students this month. An interesting question given that I did not face the same issues and questions students in the United States face today. Before I continue: CONGRATULATIONS for those that already graduated this month and to those who soon will!! Back to why I didn’t face the same issues you do. I graduated in the Netherlands some time ago when student loans did not exist. That combined with a tuition which at the time didn’t exceed $1,200 there was no financial […]

Some advice for 2015’s graduates

 in credit / investing / Living / Saving  tagged frontpage by
In order for you to turn your financial goals into reality you need to educate yourself on yourself and your financial behavior
And as some of you jump up and start shouting “Wrong!! Zuckerberg and Gates got rich dropping out of college and by following their dreams”. Simmer down; I’m not talking about a college degree. No, not saying it’s bad as it certainly served me well but of all things a college degree can get you, financial freedom is probably at the bottom of the list. The current price of a college degree and crippling loans associated have that effect. What I’m talking about is education of yourself about yourself, education about your own behavior and specifically education about your own […]

Financial goals and plans start with education

 in Budgeting / credit / investing / Living / Saving  tagged frontpage by
after all my investments escapades I've learned to keep it simple. Invest in ETFs only. It is easy and tends to come with higher rewards. 3
Here’s why I’ve invested in the past and are currently still heavily invested: I wanted to build a nest egg. Not to buy a bigger car, bigger boat or bigger house on the water. I wanted to feel financially secure and not have to worry about any financial calamity that can come our way. We did it did I and certainly would recommend for anyone to do. How you spend that nest-egg is up to you. Even how you get your nest-egg is up to you but you may want to read this and take some lessons from what I […]

KISS Applied to my investments

 in investing  tagged frontpage by
In hopes of convincing the 20 somes, this article works out the power of compounding. it's all about time. The younger you start the higher the returns 1
Compounding is all about time. The more time you have the more effective it is. The younger you start the higher the rewards. What does it take to convince the 25 year old to start investing? The premise of this blog is that I created a plan to become a millionaire and I set a goal to do it in 10 years. I succeeded (with a slight delay due to the great recession). My portfolio now exceeds a million dollars. What is amazing is that out of that million I never invested more than 450 thousand. Most of my portfolio […]

Compounding; If you’re 25 READ THIS. If you’re not READ ...

 in investing  tagged frontpage by
Budget can serve many purposes this post is the introduction to the series Creating and maintaining a real budget covering budgeting the right way.
There are several different reasons why one should consider creating and maintaining a real budget. As a low income family you need every tool available, to allocate the few dollars you make to the proper places and things. As a middle class income household that is in debt, creating a budget will expose where and why more money is spent than is being brought in. Having that budget will then allow you to redirect funds and save where possible.  For upper middle class families (that are not in debt, otherwise, see middle class income household that is in debt) a […]

Creating and maintaining a real budget

 in Budgeting  tagged frontpage by
boat in backyard 2
If you’ve landed on this page you might jump to the conclusion that, here it is, another adviser telling me to live on Ramen noodles for the next 20 years. It’s fair to make that jump as we hear it all too often, re-cycle your paper towel, get rid of your car, take the bus and stop eating meat. Yes, certain individuals could certainly benefit from these measures but it wasn’t how I came to build my wealth and neither should many of you. I’ll come right out with it, I was making a six figure salary and that, among […]

Luxury in moderation

 in Budgeting / Saving  tagged frontpage by