Overview: It’s not 1970 anymore; there are now thousands of fantastic resources for retirement investing. Here are a few I recommend.
I hope I’ve been able to share and explain some of the basics in retirement investing. If you’ve read this far, you are probably ahead of 90% of the rest of the population. If you put these principles into practice, you are probably ahead of 99% of the population.
Your retirement is your responsibility. There is no time like the present to start taking it seriously. Decide today to do something about it.
Save, save, save. Watch each dollar and don’t spend a single one foolishly. Dare to be different from all your friends and neighbors. Challenge yourself that you can do better than their 5% savings rate. Your future self and your heirs will thank you dearly for being proactive with your retirement plans.
I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you some valuable links for further information.
Books
If You Can, by William Bernstein. Only 16 pages, it’s the best resource out there. It’s so important, I have it saved on my own web server. I have it printed in my will for my kid’s guardians to use if my wife and I pass. I have it printed for my four daughters to read – it will be required reading before dating is allowed. Do yourself a huge favor and read it.
The Four Pillars of Investing, by William Bernstein. One of my favorite reads, a fantastic explanation of what to do and why to do it.
Bogleheads Guide to Investing, by the Bogleheads. An even simpler explanation of how retirement accounts work and how you should use them.
Websites
The Boglehead forum. Named after disciples of John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, these people are laser focused on sound principles. Passive indexing, low fees, tax efficiency, and diversification are their keys. It’s a helpful place to learn the nuances of investing with a very detailed wiki.
The White Coat Investor. Dr. Jim Dahle is an excellent writer. He is geared more to the high income earner, but the principles there are great for everyone. There is also the WCI forum and subreddit.
The Finance Buff. One of my favorite blogs. Harry has been writing for many years and tackles both simple and tough subjects with clarity and ease. He has published a couple good books and also offers an Advice-Only Financial Directory.
Oblivious Investor. Mike Piper loves simple, low maintenance investing, is a CPA, and is an expert on Social Security, taxes, and many other areas. He also offers a great “Social Security Strategy” calculator.
PhysicianOnFire. A great, down to earth guy who writes eloquently on the topic of finance. He’s retiring in his early 40’s having lived the principle he preaches: Live on Half.
Mr. Money Mustache. Coarse and controversial, Mr. Money Mustache retired in his early 30’s by not following convention. I feel like a lemming when I read about all the ways he’s challenged conventional wisdom. A bit of an eco-terroist progressive save-the-world type, I don’t agree with is politics, but his financial advice is sound. Want to get radical? I dare you to read his blog. There is also the MMM Forum.
Portfolios
For a simple guide to portfolio construction, look over the Core-4 examples.
The Bogleheads Wiki has a section on investment philosophy for portfolio construction.
Finally, some may ask what my portfolio looks like. Don’t copy mine – do what suits you. Here are 150 portfolios that are better than mine. But, for the curious, my entire portfolio looks like this:
Stocks:
VTSAX – A total US stock fund.
VTIAX – A total International stock fund.
Bonds:
VBTLX – A total US bond fund.
These funds sit across a 401(k), a Roth IRA, a taxable account, a 529, and an HSA.
That’s it. Three index funds at a cost of only 0.021% a year, or $21 per $100k invested.
Happy Investing!