Read time 4 minutes
Welcome to Junto, a weekly newsletter where I share tips and strategies to help you save, invest, and spend smarter with less time and effort.
Today’s Topics
Why we’re bad at judging risk
Understanding your investing time horizon
Increasing your income and savings rate
Personal cash flow > income
Read This
The best articles I’ve read this week.
You only need to get rich once (Ben Carlson)
Personal finance jargon that sucks (Verbatim Financial)
The insurance product is being aggressively (illegally?) sold on TikTok (Personal Finance Club)
It may be a mistake to buy that new car (Financial Samurai)
Top lessons & credit card hacks of 2022 (All the Hacks)
Growth Strategies of Top Creators Straight to Your Inbox
Each week, Chenell Basilio explains how top creators grew their business from $0 to $1M+.
Get the roadmap to replicate their growth – without 40+ hours of research.
New on Junto
Risk and Why We Fail to Learn from History
“If more information was the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with six pack abs.”
Derek Sivers, Author and Entrepreneur
We underestimate investing risk the same way our ancestors did before us
Our brains are better at identifying immediate threats than abstract warnings for future events
We’re overconfident, commonly thinking: “This could never happen to me”
My Interview with Brian Feroldi, Author & Youtuber
Brian Feroldi is the author of Why Does the Stock Market Go Up, a partner on Long-Term Mindset, a newsletter with more than 50,000 readers, and a Youtuber with over 65,000 subscribers.
Here are my two favorite questions from the interview:
Cole: What common mistake do you see most individual investors make?
Brian: They don’t think of their time frame first. Always start by asking, “when do I need this money?”
Cole: If you could give your 25-year-self one piece of advice about managing money, what would it be?
Brian: Focus on maximizing your income and savings rate, not your *rate of return.
*Rate of return is the gain or loss of an investment over a specific period of time.
Together with CardPointers
Sponsored
I love tools that make earning and using credit card points easier.
CardPointers helps you earn more from your credit cards by using the right card to maximize your category bonuses.
It also saves you money by activating all the Amex and Chase offers in a single click – it’s so much easier than scrolling through and activating offers in your portal before shopping.
CardPointers is offering Junto readers 30% off their annual and lifetime plans.
If you upgrade to their Lifetime plan, you’ll get a $100 Savings Card as a sign-up bonus (which makes the upgrade pretty much free).
The average user saves more than $750 per year with CardPointers.
Extras
I have clients come in who make $750k a year with nothing to show for it
Some even have credit card debt, debt to the irs, etc
It’s why we always have to start with nailing down cash flow
Can’t build towards anything when you spend every dollar you earn
— Thomas Kopelman 💵 (@TKopelman)
Feb 16, 2023
Income is important, but it’s not everything.
Focus on your personal cash flow – how much money do you hold onto each year (saving or investing)?
Like Brian mentioned above, start by increasing your savings rate.
It’s not wrong or bad to use increased income to improve your life, but you must keep your savings rate consistent (or increase it).
High income may not last forever.
Thank you for reading! As always, feel free to email me with questions or comments. I respond to every email.
Enjoy your weekend.
Cheers,
Cole
New here? Check these out:
The Secrets of America’s Wealthy
Mastering the Art of Spending Money
Disclaimer: This newsletter is for information and entertainment purposes only. I am not an investment or tax professional. Please do your own research. You’re an adult, and you’re responsible for your own decisions. This newsletter may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links (at no cost to you).