JLCollinsnh

The Simple Path to Wealth

You are here: Home / Stock Investing Series / The Stock Series gets its own page

The Stock Series gets its own page

by 24 Comments

nice post

Courtesy of: Brainless Tales Greeting Cards

A couple of days ago a reader named Kevin sent me a very nice post over on Ask jlcollinsnh. It is dated October 2, 2013 if you’d like to find it and read our exchange.

In it he said that he has found the blog interesting and useful, especially the Stock Series. Useful enough that he wanted to share those posts with his friends and family. Problem was he found it cumbersome to do so.

I replied thanking him and pointed out:

If you look at the right hand column you see every post here organized by category. This this the link to the stock series:http://jlcollinsnh.com/category/stock-investing-series/

MMM also created a post with links as well:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/03/07/how-about-that-stock-market/

As did Shilpan over on Street Smart Finance:

http://www.streetsmartfinance.org/2013/06/28/how-to-invest-money-in-any-economy/

Kevin replied saying, basically,

“Yeah, yeah. Got that. Still doesn’t cut it. Stop procrastinating. Get off your ass and create a new tab at the top for these things.”

(Actually, he was very kind, polite and profanity-free in his reply. I’m just reading between the lines as to what I would have meant.)

Well, persistence pays and Kevin’s prompted me to turn to my technical advisor The Mad Fientist. I put the idea to him and he replied saying, basically:

“Yeah, dummy. That’s what I’ve spent the last year or so telling you to do.”

But again, in much nicer words. And, of course, on reflection this is the same message Mr. MM and Shilpan were sending me with their very generous posts.

homer_simpson_d__oh__by_seekerarmada-d5jl5wh

Well, never let it be said that I don’t recognize a good idea when it’s banged over my head repeatedly and by multiple people for extended periods of time.

So, with thanks to all (and especially Kevin who provided the proverbial last straw) I give you the newly and better organized:

Stock Investing Series

You’ll notice this has also given me a chance to include several related posts not formally included in the Series. If you’d like to see others added, please let me know. I don’t always listen right away. But sometimes I get there.

Important Resources

  • NewRetirement offers cool tools to help guide you in answering the question: Do I have enough money to retire? And getting started is free. Sign up and you will be offered two paths into their retirement planner. I was also on their podcast and you can check that out here:Video version, Podcast version.
  • Credit Cards are like chain saws. Incredibly useful. Incredibly dangerous. Resolve to pay in full each month and never carry a balance. Do that and they can be great tools. Here are some of the very best for travel hacking, cash back and small business rewards.
  • Personal Capital is a free tool to manage and evaluate your investments. With great visuals you can track your net worth, asset allocation, and portfolio performance, including costs. At a glance you'll see what's working and what you might want to change. Here's my full review.
  • Tuft & Needle (T&N) helps me sleep at night. They are a very cool company with a great product. Here’s my review of what we are currently sleeping on: Our Walnut Frame and Mint Mattress.
  • Betterment is my recommendation for hands-off investors who prefer a DIFM (Do It For Me) approach. It is also a great tool for reaching short-term savings goals. Here is my Betterment Review
  • Republic Wireless is my $20 a month phone plan. My wife is also on the $20 plan and our daughter who uses more data is on the $25 plan. Monthly total for three phones and plans: $65. We all travel widely and we can talk to each other from wherever we are and for however long we please. My RW Review tells you how.
  • Vanguard.com

These are companies I have personally vetted and recommend.

YNAB and Tuft & Needle both support this site with paid ads. If you click on those ads it shows them the ads are working for them and that support will continue.

Personal Capital, Betterment and Republic Wireless are affiliate partners of this site. Should you click though to their site from this one and chose to do business with them, this blog will earn a small commission.

Vanguard is not an advertiser or affiliate but, Vanguard if you are listening, we’d love to have you!

Filed Under: Stock Investing Series

Comments

  1. Thank you so much!
    Your Stock Series has forever changed the way I think about investing (I used to pick my own stocks and trade, with far less success than just buying and holding an index fund). Every now and then I come back to reread your posts, particularly when the market is going thru a trying period as it is now.

    Reply

    • Thanks Kenneth!

      I used to chase stocks and fund managers, too.

      You might be interested in part of my recent reply to Kim over on Ask jlcollinsnh:

      “No need to be nervous. After the gov’t shutdown, debt ceiling, etc resolve themselves there will be new crises to take their place in a never ending parade. Noise.

      “We both KNOW there will be crashes, bear markets and pull backs to come. We both know the news will be filled with doom as if these things had never happened before. We both know they are part of the process. We both know they are not worth even a passing glance. We both know the market will not only recover, but march on to new heights making us wealthier.

      “Everybody makes money when the market rises. But it is what you do when it is collapsing that will determine if it will make you wealthy.”

      Reply

  2. Hey Jim.

    Yeah, your articles on finance have forever changed me too. I finally “got it” after reading and then headed over to Bogleheads and became a convert. A lot of smart people over there.

    A statistic I believe I read was that if $15000 was invested in a total market index fund (if one existed) in the early 70s, it would be over a million dollars today. For me, that’s pretty mind blowing.

    I understand the idea of a balanced portfolio, but with retirement income, SS, etc., 100% or close to that in VTSMX is OK with me.

    Reply

  4. Jim,

    Thanks for the mention. I’ve missed blogging for last several months due to injury. On the good note, I have slowly started using my right hand on the keyboard.

    I won’t quit blogging till Jim stops sharing his wisdom for sure.

    Reply

    • Shilpan…

      I’m honored that one of the first things you’ve typed as you heal is a comment here!

      Recover quickly and completely.

      Reply

  5. Great! Your series has been so helpful to me.

    BTW, the headline for this post should read “its” without an apostrophe. One way to check that is try to substitute “it is.” If you can, use “it’s”; if you can’t, use “its.”

    –Former proofreader 🙂

    Reply

    • Yikes!

      Right you are, Ruth. Thanks!

      How did that get by an old English major like me? Must be the “old” part….

      Reply

  6. Hi Jim,

    You rock! This was just what I was looking for and I was giddy as a schoolgirl to be immortalized on your blog. Seriously, ask my wife… I burst in on her with my laptop, grinning ear to ear, while she was getting the kids ready for bed. I think the new tab for the series is great… keep adding to the great content.

    Reply

    • Ha!

      Well I hope she was suitably excited and the kids not so thrilled for you they couldn’t sleep. 😉

      Thanks again for the nudge.

      Reply

      • Yep… I ran upstairs and said, “You know how I always tell you my advice is great and everyone should listen to me…. Look what happens when I comment for the first time on a blog. ” 🙂 She may or may not have rolled her eyes and laughed. Seriously, though, keep writing. You do a great job of cutting to the heart of what is important.

        Reply

  8. This is great! I’ve sent the stock series link to at least a dozen people and always had to send page 2 of the category page and then instruct them to go through those and then click to the “newer posts.”

    This new listing sure makes that a lot easier — thanks for the update

    Reply

  9. Perfect! I have saved them in various ways to access them more easily, but this is great. I have enjoyed all of your posts, Jim, but never took the time to tell you. Thank you for the great insights, advice, and shared adventures.

    Reply

    • Thank you!

      Passing it on is the biggest compliment of all. (not that I don’t appreciate the others!) 🙂

      Reply

  11. Mr. Collins,

    What do you think of the latest Nobel Prize for Economics? Their research re-affirmed that short-term stock picking is all just noise. I’m amazed cable TV talking heads such as Jim Cramer are still employed, despite being proven wrong, wrong, and dead wrong, then wrong again. God knows how many young people will continue to be duped by their nonsense. It’s a shame!

    But hey, I guess the bright side is, we are right in believing in low-cost index funds. More power to us :D!

    Reply

    • Hi Jain…

      I saw something about that, but candidly didn’t pay much attention. If it went to folks demonstrating stock picking is “just noise” (great line!) it seems to me they are covering old ground.

      Were it up to me, the award would have gone to Jack Bogle, the guy who really broke trail on this. And in the process gave us investors a truly simple and useful tool for wealth building. Along with the research behind the concept.

      I’m currently reading “Now You Are Less Stupid” which examines the various psychological foibles that make us so prone to making errors and mistakes in judgement. Most of it being fairly hard-wired and below our awareness. This being the case, there will always be those convinced they can out perform the market. And that being the case, there will always be those like Cramer and the rest of Wall Street there to prey upon them.

      But as you say, once you understand the power of indexing, well more power to us! 🙂

      Reply

  12. Awesome! Very nice, Jim! I hadn’t checked for an update and am glad to discover the intl. and non-Vanguard coverage! Keep it coming 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *