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2. Never take financial advice from someone trying to sell you something.

When I was in grade school a financial advisor sold my mother some shares in a mutual fund for $500. It was the early 90's and the fund invested in technology stocks. The idea was that it would grow enough to help pay for college.

Years went by, and it was time to go to college. That mutual fund was worth $490. Lucky for me, I had a scholarship. However, that experience really turned me off to mutual funds.

After some years went buy, I discovered low cost index funds. I looked back at that fund my mother bought all those years ago, and discovered it had a 5.25% management fee! That fund did make money, but the fees took it all!

The moral of the story is, never take financial advice from someone trying to sell you something. There are a lot of shady "financial advisors" out there getting kickbacks for selling you high fee mutual funds. Stick with low cost index funds and you won't go wrong.

Interested in improving your financial knowledge?

Please consider visiting Bogleheads.org – Investing advice inspired by John Bogle.

From About us.
      Welcome to the Bogleheads Community! The Bogleheads are every-day citizens with an interest in investing and personal finance. The members not only discuss their own financial issues, but enthusiastically provide help to others.

There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that is freely shared among members of the community. Come join us!

Interested in improving your financial knowledge?

Please consider visiting Bogleheads.org – Investing advice inspired by John Bogle.

From About us.
      Welcome to the Bogleheads Community! The Bogleheads are every-day citizens with an interest in investing and personal finance. The members not only discuss their own financial issues, but enthusiastically provide help to others.

There is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that is freely shared among members of the community. Come join us!

Saving 60% is great, until the market crashes.

On the contrary, crashes are even better because your dollars buy more shares than they did before. All you have to do is not be the sort of utter moron who panics and sells everything at a loss. Ideally, you simply ignore the market and your portfolio completely and let your automatically-scheduled investing continue doing its thing, same as in a bull market.

(This is predicated on having a diversified portfolio such as a three fund portfolio, of course. Gambling on individual companies is a separate kind of idiocy.)

Want to learn how to do the same?

Visit the Bogleheads® wiki https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page and read the articles in the Getting started section.

Don't overlook all of the wisdom dispensed via the Bogleheads® Forum https://bogleheads.org/. For those who are willing to be educated, it is a fantastic resource.

Want to learn how to do the same?

Visit the Bogleheads® wiki https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page and read the articles in the Getting started section.

Don't overlook all of the wisdom dispensed via the Bogleheads® Forum https://bogleheads.org/. For those who are willing to be educated, it is a fantastic resource.

And who trusts Financial "Advisors" - regardless of if they are human or AI?

I trust Bogleheads. Financial advisers are really just salesmen.

8. NEVER use an investment advisor. Read a book instead. (Common Sense on Mutual Funds by Bogle is an excellent start. If you want something simpler, The Boglehead Guide To Investing)

Yes! and go to Bogleheads.org

Low cost index funds are the way to go. "Financial adviser" is just a fancy term for salesman. They don't act in your best interest, they are getting a commission on what they sell you. Your chances of beating the market are very slim, your best bet is to keep costs down. Read Bogleheads.org They are a great resource!

Unhappy with the new site design? Kick them where it hurts. Block advertising.

Up until now I always allowed slashdot to show me ads. I've been reading the site pretty much daily for over a decade (this is my second UID).

I just disabled advertisements. Why let them profit off of me?

If this becomes permanent, I just will have to find something else to read. I've grown up and looking more towards investment forums now, anyway. (giving a shout out to bogleheads - http://www.bogleheads.org/foru... )

The problem is our markets (brokers, agents, order processing and the floor) are set up in a way so that real investors are thrown to the wolves.

That is different from the past how?

Hint: Look up stock market trading practices during the roaring 20's.

The stock markets are capitalism red in tooth and claw. There is far more regulation and control now than there has been historically. That plus the rise of the large mutual fund groups has (cf Vanguard. $2T AUM) have made it a reasonable place for long term individual investors at the same time it allows for rapid price discovery.

Individuals who overcome the typical bad decision making process driven by market psychology can do well (since 1800 the average return on assets in the NYSE is 8%). However like anything in life success takes study and work. You can starthere.

2. We should ask the more important accounts like brokerage, mutual fund, bank accounts to use a two factor authentication system. But I don't want to juggle too many RSA key fobs.

You don't have to. People may be used to thinking of RSA hardware tokens as something that is provided to them by the company they are doing business with, but you can BYOT (bring your own token) for your account. While corporate VPNs are likely to have policies against that just as they commonly have policies against bringing your own computer, most private uses are happy to let you save them $35 by enrolling a token you already have.

Get a free RSA token from ETrade and use it at PayPal, or get a token from your bank and also use it at your brokerage. You will have to call tech support at your bank/brokerage/etc to enroll rather than use the preprovided web forms when you BYOT, but it works.

For example, here's some folks talking about how to BYOT to Fidelity brokerage accounts http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=108267. That's a broker who isn't even known for supporting two-factor authentication for customers!

You shouldn't. Join me and thousands of other 'Bogleheads' http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_Started who simply and effectively beat 90% of investors long-term by passively indexing and reaping the rewards of Capitalism without the added risks of middle-men who are there for no reason other than to take your money in both subtle and not so subtle ways. The philosophy is simple and rewarding:

1. Allocate your assets in a diversified fashion according to your need to take risk.
2. Use passive indexed investments because most major markets/stocks are highly efficient (can not be reliably predicted.)
3. Mind fees and taxes.
4. Enjoy your life with all the time you save not having to learn how to win the IPO game, pick stocks, mutual funds or their managers.