20 Personal Finance Rules to Live By

Rule 1 Lack of structured plan/financial goals is the biggest reason for not achieving financial success

Rule 2 You don’t have to be rich to invest, but you have to invest to be rich

Rule 3 Share market pullbacks are healthy and normal – their volatility is the price we pay for the higher returns they provide over the long term

Rule 4 Minimising tax goes hand in hand with investing, by increasing your tax-deductible debt for investments

Rule 5 Think about increasing your assets rather than increasing your income

Rule 6 Superannuation is the best tax structure for tax-free passive income

Rule 7 A penny saved is more than a penny earned

Rule 8 Your lifetime results as an investor will be mostly determined by what you do during wild times 

Rule 9 The pain of losing is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining so reconsider taking unnecessary risk

Rule 10 There is an inverse relationship between investment performance and time spent watching financial news

Rule 11 Get rich quick and get poor quick are two sides of the same coin

Rule 12 A house is a place to live but also provides an amazing opportunity to leverage the equity and build your asset base

Rule 13 Keep some powder dry….volatility equals opportunity

Rule 14 Learn how to convert bad debt into good debt using debt recycling. This strategy involves transferring your non-deductible debt on your home loan into a tax-deductible debt on an investment loan

Rule 15 If you employ an evidence-based approach in the long run, the investment returns produced by property and shares should be materially similar

Rule 16 Good savings – not income – are the key determinants of wealth, so achieving the retirement you want means being disciplined no matter the size of your salary

Rule 17 Compound interest applied to investments is like magic. Set yourself up to benefit from it rather than battle against it

Rule 18 Investing is a game of doubles – use the rule of 72 to work out how long it will take for your investment to double in value. It’s as simple as taking the anticipated interest rate and dividing it into 72. So if you expect a return of 8% pa then as 72 divided by 8 equals 9, it will take 9 years to double your money.

Rule 19 Always be prepared for the unexpected, and have the right buffers and line of credits in place

Rule 20 Most people overestimate what they can do in 1 year and underestimate what they can do in a 10-year market cycle

Quote for the month “The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioral discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go.”

~Benjamin Graham

That’s a wrap for today, if you enjoyed this article let me know your favourite money tip in the comments

If you would like to know how to apply these personal finance strategies to your situation click on my calendar to grab an obligation free Strategy Call with a Financial Advisor.