Read time 3 minutes
Welcome to Junto, a weekly newsletter where I share tips and strategies from financial experts that you can apply to your own life.
Today’s Topics
Lessons from years of buying cryptocurrencies
Focusing on what matters in the long run
Warren Buffet’s advice to Tim Ferriss
Read This
7 Crucial Lessons for Young Investors (Tim Ferriss)
Rent vs. Buy, ETFs vs. Mutual Funds, & 6 More Finance Debates (Thomas Kopelman)
Haven’t we been in a recession this whole time? (Axios)
What does “upper-middle class” even mean? (Jack Raines)
The Greatest Asset Bubbles of All Time (Nick Maggiulli)
New on Junto
What I Learned from Two Years of Crypto Investing
“If you want to buy and hold some crypto, go for it. But remember, you may lose everything, get scammed, or behave like a crazy person if you fall victim to the constant portfolio checking that I did. My advice, for whatever it’s worth, is to tread lightly.”
Falling in love with your investments is dangerous
Checking your portfolio too regularly reduces the quality of your life
Actively managing your portfolio tends to produce suboptimal results
Prices will not stay like this forever (good or bad)
Investing in something because the number went up is a bad reason
These days, I don’t hold any “alternative investments.” But if I did, I’d keep it under 10% of the value of my portfolio.
My Interview with White Coat Investor
This week I spoke to Dr. Jim Dahle, a practicing emergency physician better known as the founder of The White Coat Investor.
He’s one of the top personal finance publishers with over 2,000 blog posts, four books, several courses, and an annual event called the Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference (WCICON).
Here are my two favorite questions from the interview:
Cole: What do you think most people get wrong about investing?
Dr. Dahle: The biggest problem is that people focus too much on what doesn’t matter and too little on what does. Your income, your savings rate, your asset allocation, portfolio expenses, and staying the course in a bad bear market matter. Timing the market, security selection, and short-term returns just don’t matter all that much in the long run.
Cole: What bad financial advice do you hear often?
Dr. Dahle: There’s a lot out there ranging from “every doctor should buy a whole life insurance policy” (it’s appropriate for less than 1% of doctors) to “always do Roth contributions” (this is a far more subtle, difficult decision) to “invest in Bitcoin, NFTs, or meme stocks” (obvious bubbles).
Extras
“Hi, my name is Timothy Ferriss, and I’m a Guest Lecturer at Princeton University twice a year…”
Before @tferriss was “Tim,” a slightly nervous “Timothy” asked Charlie & Warren in 08 to advise a newly successful 30-yr old, non-investment professional how best to invest.
1/x👇🧵 https://t.co/qVurnTIM8v
— Compound248 💰 (@compound248)
Feb 18, 2023
In 2008, investor, entrepreneur, and author Tim Ferriss asked Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger a very specific question about investing.
How would you invest assuming the following were true:
Not a full-time investor
Enough cash to cover your expenses for 18 months
No dependents
He also asked if they could be “as specific as possible about asset classes, percentages, whatever you’re willing to offer.”
Buffet gave a simple answer:
“Under the conditions you explain, I’d probably have it all in a very low-cost index fund.”
He continued.
“Then I’d forget it and go back to work.”
Thank you for reading!
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Enjoy your weekend.
Cheers,
Cole
New here? Check these out:
Interview with Matt Paulson: Founder & Startup/RE Investor
Why You Suck at Learning about Risk from Others
Disclaimer: This newsletter is for information and entertainment purposes only. I am not an investment or tax professional. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell any assets. Please do your own research. You’re an adult, and you’re responsible for your own decisions.
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