Nick Maggiulli's Linkedin Analytics

Time is your most important asset. While you can trade time for money, you can't always trade money for time. Invest accordingly.

Financial success isn't just what you own. It's also what owns you. I'd rather make $150,000 a year working 40 hours a week than $200,000 a year working 80.

You don't know the true price of something until you sell it.

"If you find yourself being presented with an opportunity to get rich quick, it’s almost certainly not the case." My latest on some lesser known scams in the financial industry: https://lnkd.in/erupGFGQ

"Set your allocation based on your life rather than your life based on your allocation." My latest on how your asset allocation should change as you age:

The future of work has never been more uncertain and I'm not sure the 401k is going to make it. My latest (and possibly hottest) take ever. Are 401(k)s Becoming Obsolete?

Everyone tries to optimize their taxes, but few try to optimize their income. One of these can actually make you wealthy.

How do you know when an asset is in a bubble? When you see a lot of people making a lot of money that wouldn’t normally be making a lot of money. This signal won't help you time the bubble, but it will identify it without fail.

A secret about lifestyle creep: It's fine to let your spending grow with your income, but never more than 50%. If you get a $10,000 raise (after-tax), spend $5,000 or less. The rest is for your future self.

A lot of people have recently argued that market crashes are "good" for younger investors, who can buy more at a discount. However, this is only true if nothing else changes. But, that's rarely the case. My latest on why you should never root for a recession:

The difference between a good financial decision and a great financial decision isn't always math. A good financial decision tries to optimize your money, but a great financial decision tries to optimize your time.

There are two paths to financial independence: Making more than you need Needing less than you make The first requires hard work. The second requires discipline. Choose wisely.

I'm convinced that housing is the most socially acceptable way to display your wealth. Tell someone you have $3M brokerage account and you're a show off, but show someone your $3M home and you're living the dream.

If you saved $100/month from ages 25-35 and then stopped (while earning 7% annually), you'd have more money at 65 than someone who saved $100/month from ages 35-65 while earning the same 7%. I call this strategy "Go Big, Then Stop"

My ideal order for where to put your money and when: Emergency fund Pay off high interest debt Retirement accounts (up to the match) Life goals (home, wedding, etc.) Treat yourself & others Max out retirement accounts Pay off remaining debt Build your legacy What's yours?

The truth about money and happiness: If you are poor, more money will probably make you happier. If you are happy, more money will probably make you happier. But if you aren't poor and you aren't happy, more money won't do a thing.

People in their 20s and 30s shouldn't spend much time worrying about their investments. They should focus almost exclusively on their career (and income) instead. Remember that a 10% return on $10,000 is less than a 2% return on $100,000.

Retiring at 35 makes total sense (if you hate your job and like living like a hermit). If that’s not you, here’s a better option: The FIRE movement believes the holy grail is being able to retire at 35 and never having to work again. While this may sound good in theory, this is a very long time to do nothing productive with your life. It’s also usually the case that people who can retire at 35 are able to do that because they are extremely ambitious and hardworking. Does that sound like the type of person who would enjoy years of doing nothing? So if you don’t want early retirement, what is the alternative? Find work you enjoy so that you don't think about retirement at all. Working a job you can’t stand or retiring early aren’t the only options. Retire from the rat-race, not from working altogether.

Want a better alternative than private school for your kids? Invest the tuition you would’ve paid and give them the money later. Here’s why: Private schools may have a better reputation and higher test scores, but is this because of the schools themselves or the kind of children who attend them? Instead of spending all that money on something with an unknown payoff, what if you invested it instead? At $30k a year for the 13 years when your child is 5-18, this would give you around $600k (assuming a 7% return). At $60k a year, it's $1.2M. Are their career prospects going to improve by more than this amount? Possibly, but I doubt it. Take the relative certainty of the investment returns over the relative uncertainty of the impact that private school might have. Your kids will thank you.

I stopped buying active investments (individual stocks, etc.) when I realized that they monopolized most of my attention. Despite being a small % of my portfolio, I watched them all the time. This is why I went passive and you should too. You can't put a price on mental freedom.