A while back I asked you to send me in any questions that you are looking for an answer to and I received well over 100 responses. So, I’ve hand-picked just four to answer today and I'll come back to the others in the future. On with the questions!
Mar 17 Time in the market is your money’s best friend.
I interviewed a bloke for an upcoming episode of my podcast and he had a lot to say about investing in individual shares and why he used to buy them, but now no longer does. He took the advice of a good friend when she told him, back in the 1980s, just buy into today’s equivalent of an index fund and let time in the market be your money’s best friend. Low and behold, she was correct.
When I realised that in order to become an investor I didn’t have to learn how to pick stocks it was like the clouds had parted and the sun had finally come out. And I have American John C. Bogle to thank for that. Last week he passed away at the age of 89 but he leaves a huge legacy behind and I know that in years to come many will still be learning from him, just like I did.
The Barefoot Investor by Australian Scott Pape is an excellent book and it has been instrumental in changing the financial direction of not just Australians but also of Kiwis. Many people have asked me to work out what the Kiwi equivalents are of the providers he recommends. I’m not saying this is a conclusive list, but I’ve given it my best shot.
This question was sent in by Declan a while back, but it is one that crops up in my inbox relatively consistently as well, so I thought back to what I did and what I would do if faced with the situation he is proposing again.
Recently I had an excellent question from a fellow Happy Saver who had been comparing SmartShares, SuperLife and Sharesies, not so much to find the lowest fees, but to work out which has the smoothest and easiest system and which one allowed him to purchase shares in the fastest time.
The very first thing I would do is set up an automatic transfer to syphon off a set amount of money each week into a sub account with your bank and give it a flash name like “IKMSMOI” (investments keep my sticky mitts off it).
Two weeks ago I was giving away a book The Simple Path To Wealth by JL Collins and in order to win it I asked you to send me an email telling me the most simple strategy you have devised so far to get yourself ahead financially. I was flooded with suggestions and I thought that they were just too good not to share.