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by throw0101a 5 hours ago
> You could replace the AI with a piece of paper […]

This is actually the 'schtick' of a book that was written ten years ago:

> Emails and comments on his blog asked for a real index card with financial advice, so Pollack jotted down nine rules in two minutes, took a picture of it, and posted it online.[1][4] The image went viral, and was covered on many internet news sites.[4][5][6] Pollack and Olen wrote The Index Card three years later, which Pollack compares with the original index card as commentary to the Ten Commandments.[1][7]

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Index_Card

"""

The original index card, pictured above, has:[9]

    1. Max your 401(k) or equivalent employee contribution.
    2. Buy inexpensive, well-diversified mutual funds such as Vanguard Target 20xx funds.
    3. Never buy or sell an individual security. The person on the other side of the table knows more than you do about this stuff.
    4. Save 20% of your money.
    5. Pay your credit card balance in full every month.
    6. Maximize tax-advantaged savings vehicles like Roth, SEP, and 529 accounts.
    7. Pay attention to fees. Avoid actively managed funds.
    8. Make financial advisors commit to the fiduciary standard.
    9. Promote social insurance programs to help people when things go wrong.
"""

All-in-all, not terribly bad advice; one could do a lot worse.

3 comments

Elon told the economist in his interview last week that money won’t matter in 10 years. That is not financial advice. More people now “know” that than this list.
10. Teach the next generation to be responsible with money and their use thereof.

This means all this akward conversations about why I don't spend money on stuff that I don't need just because some YouTubers want me to.

Sadly, also hyper-unrealistic. Very few people can afford to save 20% of their income whilst maxing pension contributions, let alone maximising other accounts.

Points 1, 3 and 5 are probably the key ones and would still stretch most people.

I was saving 20% a year when I was making $36k a year and spending $800/mo on an apartment in the tenderloin. In 1997. It's called beans and rice. I'm still saving 20% a year, making $200k a year and owning a house. Yes, you can do it. Stop buying shoes, clothes, rims, and video games and you've probably got 20% right there.

Oh, and don't get married.

What an exciting life you got there! Enjoy your sad and lonely retirement
Not sure what that means. I own a couple classic cars and a house, work 60 hours a month, travel for fun most of the time. Lived in 12 countries in the last 20 years. Have a great girlfriend and a great ex who I get along with. But I don't waste money on rims, shoes or clothes. And tonight I made rice and lentils, because my credit card bill this month was $8k and I only made $15k.

It's actually more exciting if you limit yourself and enjoy the struggle of trying to hit a high target. For example, moving to Mexico and trying to live on $3k a month. I did that a few years ago, it was awesome and I saved a lot of money.

I guess dying destitute because you saved nothing is more romantic?
The median US household is statistically within the ballpark of being able to achieve this per the data. Americans have extremely high incomes and anomalously low taxes on the middle-class. They can easily afford it.

Whether they save or not is another matter. Something like 30% of Americans don’t save a significant fraction of their income even though the data clearly indicates it is easy to do so.

The trick is not to let it hit your checking account. Live without it and your lifestyle will adjust.
The 20% includes pension contributions.