the formula...................

 

At the Sun Valley Conference a number of years ago, Jeff Bezos told the story about asking Warren Buffett for advice on a phone call.  It went like this:

     Bezos:  "If you're the second richest guy in the world and your investment thesis is so simple, why isn't everyone just copying you?"

     Buffett:  "Because no one wants to get rich slow."

     There is no formula for getting rich in a hurry.  It's pure luck or timing.  But there is a formula for building wealth slowly.  You have to live below your means, have a healthy savings rate, regularly invest your money into risk assets and then wait.

-Ben Carlson, Risk & Reward

uh-oh......................

 

The "adults" aren't going to save you they don't even exist.

-George Mack

Seeing both sides now.................

Does the economy have you confused?  Should you believe the government's statistics or your own "lying eyes."

Ben Carlson posts, "To avoid my own cognitive dissonance, let’s look at both the good and the bad in the U.S. economy right now:"  

Having read his post, clarity remains elusive, although I believe this is fairly important:  "Savers are no longer being punished. For the first time in a decade-and-a-half, you can find decent yields on CDs, money market funds, online savings accounts and bonds."

 

Bows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feathered canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud's illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
When every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
Well something's lost but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

tree of wealth...................

 

Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed.  The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow.  The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow.  And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner you may bask in contentment beneath its shade.

-George Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon

image via

Opening paragraphs........................

       Whether the photographer, who would forever remain anonymous, felt the conceivably immense pressure we will never know.  But with the head of the nation and the soul of the nation's preservation movement, both rugged, demanding, and outspoken men, paired together for a brief time, posted against arguably the nation's most transcendent and iconic landscape, a long journey by train, horseback, and boot from any major city, the stakes in making a good image were high.

-Dean King, Guardians of the Valley: John Muir and the Friendship That Saved Yosemite

Truth........................

 Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economize it.

-Mark Twain

Confuse not.......................

 Now I will tell thee an unusual truth about men and sons of men.  It is this: That what each of us calls our "necessary expenses" will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.

     Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires. . . . All men are burdened with more desires than they can gratify. . . Select those that are necessary and others that are possible through the expenditure of nine-tenths of thy income.  Cross out the rest and consider them but a part of that great multitude of desires that must go unsatisfied and regret them not.

-George S. Clason, The Richest Man In Babylon

The retirement planning pyramid.....

 ..................may be found here.

No real secrets.  As the Egyptians knew more than 4,000 years ago, if you want something to last, start with a strong foundation.

On saving and investing..................

 I hedge this out by investing like the glass is half full but saving like the glass is half empty.

-Ben Carlson, one fairly smart guy, shares his investment strategy

On achieving financial independence....

Morgan Housel tells a story.   Two wee excerpts:

To generalize only a little: In the 1950s camping was an acceptable vacation. Hand-me-downs were acceptable clothes. A 983 square foot house was an acceptable size. Kids sharing a room was an acceptable arrangement. A tire swing was acceptable entertainment. Few of those things are acceptable baselines for most households today. The average new home now has more bathrooms than occupants.
-------
Everything has a price, and prices aren’t always clear. The price of exercise isn’t just the workout; it’s avoiding the post-workout appetite. Same in finance. The price of building wealth isn’t just the trouble of earning money; it’s avoiding the post-earnings urge to spend what you’ve accumulated.

Success.................................

..................................................................the old-fashioned way:

"Practice frugality. Work hard. Save and invest your money."

The path to financial independence............

..............................................is no secret.  These sentences describe it as well as any:

"We prioritize saving money by treating it as a regular bill payment. Saving is non-negotiable."

-as culled from here

Probably both..................

I’m sure everyone would love to retire in their 50s, travel the world, and sip Mai Tais on the beach. Unfortunately, reality won’t match up with those expectations. This is why I believe we’re not necessarily facing a retirement crisis in this country, but an expectations crisis.

-Ben Carlson, as extracted from here

Wait, what?.............................

“Wine is not an investment if you drink it as soon as you buy it.”
-Johnny Depp, as culled from this post about the difference between income and wealth

Trying my best........................

“Every advance in information technology involves choosing what you want to preserve and what you want to ditch. Scanning rare books on to microfilm is a costly business. The library won't let you do it yourself - they decide first which books should be scanned and which should just rot away in the basement.   Against that eventuality, people should start hoarding the kind of books committees of rational people will decide against scanning into a database.” 

-Robert Twigger

Have I told you lately.........................

........................how much I love my BP credit card.   For every hundred dollars charged on the card a reduction in gas prices is offered.   It has become my go-to credit card.   Gas hasn't been this cheap since I was in college.   Think I'll take My Sweetie out for dinner.

your own bit......................

“The books are to remind us what asses and fool we are. They're Caeser's praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, "Remember, Caeser, thou art mortal." Most of us can't rush around, talking to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we haven't time, money or that many friends. The things you're looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book. Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore.” 

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Both...............................

“There are two ways of being happy — we may either diminish our wants or augment our means — either will do, the result is the same; and it is for each man to decide for himself, and do that which happens to be the easiest. If you are idle or sick or poor, however hard it may be to diminish your wants, it will be harder to augment your means. If you are active and prosperous, or young, or in good health, it may be easier for you to augment your means than to diminish your wants. But if you are wise, you will do both at the same time, young or old, rich or poor, sick or well; and if you are wise, you will do both in such a way as to augment the general happiness of society.”

-Ben Franklin, as cited here

The simple, but not easy.....................

............................necessity of saving more than a few dollars:

"If we’re rational, we would care more about the future when we’re younger, because there’s potentially so many years ahead of us. But ironically, it seems our concern for our future self grows as we get older."

-Jonathan Clements, as excerpted from here

The best advice for......................

.........................youngsters (of all ages, but especially our kids):

"settle down and commit to a sensible, long-term relationship with your money."

-source and back story is here