Ok, real question. Who are some of these real experts that have a superior comprehensive personal finance philosophy and roadmap? Is that a fair question? I’ve read many, and they all basically parrot conventional wisdom…a lot of garbage.
I never invested in any sort of stock in my life prior to covid. I dumped a large sum of my life savings into a mutaul fund. So far so good. That's the point I'm making someone else would say you'd of been better off dumping all of it, you'd be further ahead.
Not to be pedantic, genuinely wondering: why not just an S&P tracking index fund (I’m not sure your age, guessing fairly close to the same age as I am)?
Because I don't know shit about that, went to a fa recommended by a wealthy friend of the family and that's where it went. Since then I have done a lot of learning and that looks like something I'm interested in. I'm 37 on Tuesday.
I hate birthdays. LolGot it, that makes way more sense- I thought you managed to select a mutual fund on your own, which would be unusual. Good move on your part
Happy early birthday!
My wife and I tried it a couple years back. We eventually decided to just sit down once a week. Usually the night before our paychecks are deposited and decide where and how our money will be spent the following week.
What Dave don't know won't hurt him.
I don't really read finance self-help books so don't have a book recommendation to answer all the questions. That is kind of the point -- oversimplifications lead to bad advice. But if we want oversimplification that is at least a little more nuanced than Ramsey, if you save before you spend, avoid credit for toys/vacations, and pay off debt that costs more than the economic alternative, you are on a good path. Provided decent rates and not overbuying, get into a house as soon as you can - it is the only government-subsidized leveraged real estate investment the average person will ever get. Big down payments that require delay and longer rent (paying someone else's mortgage) help the banks and landlords, not the borrowers. SL payoff choices should minimize total paidback, not be mixed with political philosophy. If you worry about risk, prefer cash in hand over "debt-free" - as debt-free doesn't put food in the belly during a bad month. If you get chances at "free money" and are disciplined enough not to carry over the debt 1% cash back credit cards and 0% financing can be useful tools. But in the end, each person is different. But to say debt is always bad and always should be paid off first is bad advice for many circumstances.
You answered your own question - it’s you. You‘re the “real expert” whose sage advice everyone should take while all the Ramsey adherents should all remain quiet. If there is one glaring oversimplification in your position it’s that some of Ramsey’s positions are “bad”, as if such a thing could be judged through a binary metric.
Meanwhile, one of the best things I ever did was ignore Ramsey style advice after 2008.
I am not saying I am the only one that has all the answers, thousands and thousands of folks get how this works. And demanding I provide such a book is not that useful and certainly isn't some kind of "gotcha" defense to Ramsey's shortcomings. The book you are looking for is on the shelf right next to the book that answers definitively every elk hunting question - habitat, firearms, ballistics, tag strategy, CDW, field dressing, shoulder seasons, etc etc etc. It is right below the book that answers every question on how to find a mate and make a marriage and familiy work for 50 years. These topics are complex, but some basic tips/hints can generally applied, but that doesn't excuse botching something important like mortgages or SLs. If somebody had useful elk hunting tips but then pedantically said you could only use 300 RUM to hunt elk it would be fair for folks to point out a 270 Win would work just as well in most situations and even better for some users.
