Value of having liquid fund ( not just for bad-emergency! Good- emergency, too)

* have $ reserves to buy value stocks when beaten down ( dollar cost averaging). Also be ready to buy small cap when recession ends

Really good investing guide for basics

I'm really enjoying this book- it's actually helping me understand things like stock/company valuations, P/E ratios, bonds, and the like without my eyes glazing over and head bobbing from sleep inducement!
One interesting note: Buffett invests with solid, big performers but akso up and coming. Seems like a pretty decent strategy for stock purchases

Good Inspirational Read!

Bob Cylatt authored this book that describes semi- retirement living, how to achieve it, and in doing so gives a kick in the pants to anyone (like me!) who considers living life to the fullest as encompassing more than making a living. The book describes several couples and individuals who decided they wanted to either cut down in work hours, or to retire completely- but at an earlier age. How to do so? The book points to a 4% draw on retirement "nest egg", so how big that egg will have to be will depend partly on the manner one wants/needs to live post-working f/t. Then there are the ways of reducing one's costs: living simply, living overseas. Since I'm already living simply and saving as much as possible, this book was encouraging b/c it's not easy to delay gratification, pass up on goodies, and whatnot. Still...the payoff if being able/free to work IF one wishes to, and picking up and living elsewhere if one wishes to, is great! :)

The Start

When one's perspective doesn't hold the promise of being able to make choices, it's easy to feel depressed and helpless. Resignation can set in, and life can seem tedious. Money gives options for making choices; more, having the financial knowledge to make money can alter one's perspective, giving a sense of empowerment.

This blog will reflect my own journey into becoming more financially knowledgeable- I'd like to share what I've learned with you, in case it might help you too. We can help each other out, all of us, with what we learn- I'm always amazed at how a signle thought expressed by someone can completely alter my way of looking at things, and my subsequent course of life. How amazing that our conversations and words can do that!

So, let me give a brief background of myself so that you can better understand where I'm coming from, and why I'm taking the approach that I am.

For much of my life, I disregarded the importance of money, considering those who pursued it as being greedy or not-spiritual. I made a variety of choices based on that assumption which impacted my life, because I simply did not have a financial perspective that reflected reality: I took out student loans, I studied at a graduate program without considering career ramifications, did not understand opportunity cost. Faced with the passing of time, I focused more and more upon those mistakes, until I grew angry and bitter at the world. At some point, I recognized that what I was going through could be put in a context: it wasn't that I was an individual destined to be a loser, but that I simply did not have the financial knowledge to change my circumstances, to better inform my choices, and that that was something I could change.

So, like a marathon, I'm stepping out on this new adventure, going one step at a time.