Summary
A deep and high-energy book which is centered around how to handle your finances and make money but within the framework that this book is really helping you create the life you want - whether that be a lifestyle of a billionaire or something much more low-key. This book not only helps pose these questions for you to answer for yourself but shows you how to take immediate action into starting down your road of financial independence.
The Rabbit Hole is written by Blas Moros. To support, sign up for the newsletter, become a patron, and/or join The Latticework. Original Design by Thilo Konzok.
- The goal should never be about acquiring money, rather, the focus should be on knowing exactly how much it will take to live your ideal life, whatever that may be. Purpose of investing is to be able to do the things you want to do but not at the expense of stress, strains and discomfort that goes along with bad market environments. Clarity is power
- Concrete goals are vital in order to determine your status and what it will take for you to reach Absolute Financial Freedom
- Small changes can have huge results - increase your savings rate as much as you can, realize the amazing power of compounding, reduce fees
- Can demand a higher salary whenever you become more valuable - to your customers, to your company, etc. Invest in yourself and learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
- Asset allocation is the most important investment decision of your lifetime, more important than any single investment you're going to make. However, diversification, reducing taxes and fees are absolutely vital to grow your savings as much as possible and reach your goals
- Dollar cost averaging allows you to automate your investments and take your emotions out of the equation. Asset allocation is the theory and dollar cost averaging is how you execute it
- At the end of the day, the best investment you can make is one in yourself and your lifestyle
- Rebalancing your portfolio is vital and should be done at regular intervals. Should rebalance within markets and asset classes and should be done once or twice per year
- Dalio's All Weather portfolio offers amazing diversification and protection in any economic environment
- The interviews with some of the best investors is extremely interesting
- Build your wealth so that one day you can give it away
- This is one of those books where if you actually heed and implement the advice, it can have life altering effects. I would highly recommend buying this book and taking advantage of his money management website in order to gain clarity into actually how much you need to save and earn in order to live your ideal life. It is often much less than you might think but being patient, saving consistently and taking advantage of weak markets is emotionally difficult and where many of us goof up with devastating effects. Amazing read and would recommend to anyone - the younger the better but it is never too late to start handling your money properly.
- V2MOM
- Vision - What do I really want?
- Values - What is important about it?
- Methods - How will I get it?
- Obstacles - What is preventing me from having it?
- Measurements - How will I know I am successful?
- Quality of your life is the quality of your questions
- The real joy in life comes from finding your true purpose and aligning it with what you do every single day
- Secret to wealth is simple - find a way to do more for others than anyone else does. Become more valuable
- Individual investors can win as long as they don't try to beat the pros at their own game (think more long-term!)
- Typical money manager's interests are usually not aligned with their customers - they want to sell you the current product and you can be sure that if their firm thought it would make money, they would be buying it themselves!
- Dalio - asks himself every single day "What don't I know?" This is key as it keeps you from being arrogant and embrace the fact that you have weaknesses and can't possibly know everything. The more you learn the more you realize you don't know
- The best in the world are typically humble as they know their weaknesses and how little they truly know
- Losers react, leaders anticipate
- In today's world, we are drowning in information but starving for wisdom
- True mastery involves three levels - cognitive understanding (information by itself is not enough), emotional mastery, physical mastery (what you do becomes automatic and the only way to reach this is through consistent repetition)
- Most important investment question revolves around asset allocation - where you put your money and in what proportion
- The power of compounding should never be underestimated and should be used to our advantage as much as possible. Earned income can never compare to the power of compounding
- Never trade money for time
- Must decide on what portion of your paycheck you get to keep, how much will you pay yourself, and how much can you leave untouched (emergency fund)
- Freedom Fund
- Save a fixed percentage (at least 10-15%) each pay period and invest it intelligently
- Don't let others fear paralyze you - do your research and take action when you are confident in your results
- To see how much just 1% more savings can yield over a lifetime, check out a cool savings calculator offered by the NY Times.
- Easy equation but difficult to implement - earn more, spend less and automate it
- Money can't change who we are, it only magnifies our true nature
- 6 human needs - certainty/comfort, uncertainty/variety, significance, love and connections, growth, contribution
- Ultimate goal is to grow your savings to a point at which the interest from your investments will generate enough income to support your lifestyle without having to work
- 96% of actively managed mutual funds fail to beat the market over any sustained period of time - and these are supposed to be the professionals...
- By investing in an index you can avoid paying high fees which will eat away at your savings
- Look for the people who are the exception to the rule as that's where the outstanding tend to live
- Average cost of owning a mutual fund is 3.17% per year!
- Personal Fund allows you to calculate how much you are paying for your funds
- Should look for total annual fees of 1.25% or less
- Moneychimp shows you exactly what the actual return is on your money over a certain period of time
- Find a fund where the managers share your incentives - they have a substantial portion of their own money invested in the fund
- A registered investment advisor might be a good play as they get paid for financial advice and by law must remove any potential conflict of interest and put their client's needs above their own (amazingly, many financial advisors and brokers do not have to abide by these principles)
- Stronghold Financial allows you to analyze every holding you own, every fee you are paying and every risk you are taking
- There are many fees associated with 401(k) plans and America's Best 401(k) helps you uncover potential ways to save
- IRA is a retirement account held in your name but one in which you will have much more freedom to choose the investments compared to a 401(k)
- Tony Robbins' video around the national debt
- One fallacy with retirement funds - the idea is that they are tax deductible so you don't pay a tax on that dollar today, but you will pay for it one day. The issue is that nobody knows what tax rates are going to be in the future and therefore you have no idea how much of your money will be left over to actually spend. And with growing debt and health care costs and pensions, etc. it seems very likely that taxes will rise in the future
- A Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) are some of the best and yet legal "tax havens" in the face of rising future tax rates. Pay taxes today, deposit the after-tax amount and then never have to pay the tax again. Roth IRA is limited to $5,500 annually and Roth 401(k) allows for $17,500 annually and you can do both simultaneously
- Should participate in your 401(k) up to the amount that your company will match your contributions and if you believe taxes will rise in the future, check the box so that it receives Roth tax treatment
- Set up your Roth IRA! Can do it in less than 10 minutes with TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, etc
- Target date funds which have become increasingly popular for retirement accounts miss the mark and Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, is very nervous about their future
- Income annuities can be staggered and over time produce a lifetime income plan. While these can be useful in certain situations, variable annuities are inherently bad. Robbins suggests only 2 annuities for tax efficiency - Vanguard and TIAA-CREF
- Lifetime Income can provide annuity advice and perform a complimentary review which helps you discover the pros and cons of your current annuity, actual fees being paid, and determine whether to switch to a different type of annuity
- The most successful investors never speculate, they strategize. Don't lose money!
- Structured notes can be very useful as at the end of the term the bank guarantees to pay you the greater of 100% of your deposit back or a certain percentage of the upside of the market gains (minus dividends). Timing is extremely important, only get a % of gains, and not all structured notes are created equal
- Things to keep in mind - nobody beats the market (except for some "unicorns"), avoid high fees, a broker does not necessarily have your best interests in mind but fiduciaries or financial advisors do, reduce 401(k) expenses as much as possibly, use Roth 401(k) if you believe taxes will rise in the future, Target Date funds are more volatile than you may think but use a low cost one if you use one at all, fixed annuities can provide a guaranteed lifetime income stream, wealth without significant risk is a real possibility
- Find a strategy that works - those with proven results are a good place to start looking
- You can change the way you think by changing the way you move and breathe. Two minutes of posing can get us into a "superman" mindset. Our bodies truly are able to change our minds
- You need a concrete plan in place - know exactly how much you would need to live your ideal life and from there you can start breaking it into smaller and more manageable steps in order to reach that goal. What do you need for your ideal life? - $1M, $10M, $500M? But remember, money is NOT the goal - the time and freedom and opportunity that money can bring is the real goal
- Once you figure out the price of your dreams, there are ways you can get there faster and for less money than you ever imagined. Having this concrete dream and an associated number with it is vital.
- Dream 1 - Financial security
- Being able to pay your mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, etc. without ever having to work again
- Figure out how much you need to pay each month for each of these things (US average is ~$35,000)
- Set up an emergency found that you can fall back on for 3-12 months but never touch this money otherwise
- For me, when my investments give me an annual income of $21,000 per year I have reached financial security and an annual income of about $80,000
- Dream 1 - Financial security
- Dream 2 - Financial vitality
- Financial security plus a little extra for some luxuries (half of monthly allowance for clothes, dining and entertainment, small indulgences and little luxuries makes up the additional cost of the vitality dream)
- For me, when my investments give me an annual income of $27,000 per year I have reached financial vitality
- Dream 3 - Financial independence
- Money is now your slave and you are not your money's slave
- For me, when my investments give me an annual income of $33,000 per year I have reached financial independence
- Dream 4 - Financial Freedom
- You have everything you need plus two or three significant luxuries and don't have to work to pay for these either
- For me, when my investments give me an annual income of $84,000 per year I have reached financial freedom
- Dream 5 - Absolute Financial Freedom
- Have the ability to do whatever you want, whenever you want
- For me, when my investments give me an annual income of $264,000 per year I have reached financial vitality
- Must remember that you are the creator of your life and not must the manager of your life's circumstances. You must connect to the things that you have created consciously in order to truly see that you are in charge
- If you come up with a list of "musts" instead of "shoulds," you'll find a way no matter what
- The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday
- What you get will never make you happy; who you become will make you very happy or very sad
- Interest payments can double your cost over time! Make early payments whenever possible
- Create a spending plan - know where your money is going but also ensures that you are saving enough each month
- Think about your expenses and think about how much enjoyment each one brings. If not a lot, try to eliminate or at least reduce it. You should not feel as if you are depriving yourself - it's about adjusting your spending habits to mirror your core values and indulge only in the experiences that truly matter to you
- Eliminate or reduce as many recurring expenses as you can - car insurance, cell phone bills, lunch money, movie tickets, etc.
- Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.
- Placing yourself in front of a trend is a sure and quick way to make a bundle!
- Find a way to add $500 a month to your income - over 40 years this can add up to $1.5M!
- Become as tax efficient as you possibly can
- Most important forces according to David Swensen to help you achieve the greatest returns - asset allocation, diversification and tax efficiency
- Save more, earn more and reduce fees and taxes and invest the difference
- Paul Tudor Jones used a rule of thumb where he was always looking for asymmetric risk/reward, a 5:1 investment - if he risks $1 he believes he can make $5
- Effective diversification not only reduces your risk but also offers you the opportunity to maximize your returns
- Think about living in a tax friendly state (TX, FL, etc.) as this can help you save 10-30% and even more extreme think about moving internationally where your cost of living can be cut in half
- Asset allocation is the single most important investment decision you'll ever make. How much you put into each bucket depends on how much time you have and how much risk you're willing to take. Once you know your percentage allocation, you don't want to alter it until you enter a new stage of life or your circumstances change
- Security Bucket
- Cash/Cash equivalents
- Bonds - low cost bond index funds is a great option as are US Treasury bonds
- Certificates of deposit
- Your home - a big myth is that real estate is an amazing market - Shiller has shown that US housing prices have been nearly flat for over a century
- Your pension
- Annuities
- At least one life insurance policy
- Structured notes - can give you 100% protection of principle and allow you to get some of the upside gains but beware of high fees
- Stronghold Financial can provide complimentary asset allocation done for you
- TIPS - will prosper if you believe we are heading into a period of inflation. Can balance with an equal amount of treasures that go down in price when interest rates rise
- Be aware that you can lose up to 50% of your money at any given time
- Risk/Growth Bucket
- Equities - ETFs can be appropriate but make sure you don't own any which are too specific for individual investors
- High-Yield Bonds
- Real Estate - Buying REITs is better than owning your own home
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Collectibles
- Structured Notes
- Diversify across securities, across asset classes, across markets and across time. The ultimate diversification tool for individual investors is the low-fee index fund
- Set aside some of your money just to play with and have fun with. Make it 5-10% of the total assets of your portfolio
- David Swensen Portfolio
- Domestic stock - 20% (Wilshire 5000 Total Market TR USD)
- International stock - 20% (MSCI ACWI Ex USA GR USD)
- Emerging stock markets - 10% (MSCI EM PR USD)
- REITs - 20% (FTSE NAREIT All REITs TR)
- Long-term US Treasures - 15% (Barclays US Long Credit TR USD)
- TIPS - 15% (Barclays US Treasury US TIPS TR USD)
- Owning the biggest American companies found in low-cost index funds are global companies!
- Realize that additional stress and worry is not worth a little higher potential return
- Create a Dream Bucket where these items are something you're saving for and excite you - strategic splurges
- If your risk/growth bucket grows a lot, take some of that risk off the table an invest in 1/3 security, 1/3 risk/growth and 1/3 dream
- Save a set percentage of your income and sock it away until you can purchase your dreams. Can be about 5-10%
- Make a list of your dreams, put them in order of importance and time frame. Write down why you must achieve them or experience them
- Many people have a lot of money but not much lifestyle....they miss out on the joy and enjoyment they can create and share along the way
- Nobody can consistently time and predict the markets. Get your investment schedule on auto-pilot so that you take your emotions out of the equation. Dollar cost averaging is vital and how you diversify across time - either monthly or quarterly. With this plan, volatility works in your favor and should go towards every holding in your portfolio. Stronghold can implement this automatically
- Take advantage of tax-loss harvesting as it reduces your taxes and that increases your net return
- Dalio (see Dalio's Principles - amazing compilation of what Dalio believes in and has built into his company, Bridgewater)
- The mission is to find out what is true and then figure out the best way to deal with it. This approach requires radical "radical openness, radical truth, and radical transparency." The survival (and success) of the the entire firm [Bridgewater] depends on it
- Dalio also stresses to expect surprises and continually ask of yourself and your colleagues "What don't we know?"
- A portfolio with 50% stocks and 50% bonds has much more risk than most people realize since stocks have 3x more volatility than bonds - 95% of your risk lies with stocks in this scenario!
- Essential to divide up your money based on how much risk/reward there is - not just in equal amounts of dollars in each type of investment
- Never confuse causation with correlation
- Unconventional wisdom is the only way you can succeed. Follow the herd and you don't have a chance
- All Weather Portfolio
- There are only 4 things that move the price of assets - inflation, deflation, rising economic growth and falling economic growth and 25% of your risk should go towards these different environments. By following this advice, you know that your investments are sheltered and will do well in any season.
- 40% bonds
- 30% stocks
- 15% intermediate US bonds
- 7.5% gold
- 7.5% commodities
- This portfolio has gained 9.72% net of fees over 30 years, has made money over 86% of the time, the average loss was just 1.9% and the largest loss was -3.93%! Now, the real magic lies in where specifically you place your money within these buckets
- The point is not to plan for a specific season or pretend to know what season is coming next.
- The younger or more risk averse you are, the more you can put into stocks
- Find the lowest cost index funds or ETFs, rebalance annually, be as tax efficient as possible
- There are only 4 things that move the price of assets - inflation, deflation, rising economic growth and falling economic growth and 25% of your risk should go towards these different environments. By following this advice, you know that your investments are sheltered and will do well in any season.
- The returns you get in the earliest years of your retirement will define your later years as it is off this base that you income will grow for the rest of your life. Timing of market fluctuations during this period of your life can have devastating consequences
- Immediate annuities are best used for those at retirement age or beyond as they beat every other potential vehicle for providing a guaranteed lifetime income. Variable annuities should be avoided
- Longevity insurance - allows you to create income insurance so that you have guaranteed rates of income from age 80-85 until your passing. For example, a one time deposit of $100,000 at 65 will yield close to $64,000 per year at 85. LifetimeIncome offers clear definitions of the right annuity products for your specific situation
- Private Placement Life Insurance (PPLI) - has been called the secret of the affluent as it allows unlimited deposit amounts, no tax on growth of investments, no tax when accessed and any money left over for heirs cannot be taxed.
- One of the simplest things you can do to protect your family is to establish a living revocable trust as it can save on costs if you pass but also protect your family while you are alive since it can set up clauses on how to handle your bills and other affairs if you are somehow incapacitated
- The Billionaire's Playbook
- Don't lose - all of the financial masters interviewed in this book are even more obsessed with not losing money than they are with making money
- Risk a little to make a lot - asymmetric risk/return
- Anticipate and diversify
- You're never done - learning, earning, growing or giving
- Carl Icahn
- From 1968 to 2013, Icahn was able to achieve a compounded return of 31% (vs. Berkshire's 20%!)
- Considers himself a shareholder activist - shines a light on public companies that aren't giving shareholders the value they deserve and wants to improve corporate governance and accountability which makes American companies and economy stronger
- When you buy a company, you're really buying its assets
- Wants to improve corporate governance in order to give shareholders the power they deserve - remove poison pills, implement staggered board elections and improve transparency
- Wants his legacy to be that he changed how business was done so that the CEO and boards are truly accountable to their shareholders
- David Swensen
- Chief Investment Officer of Yale University
- Yale investment model - divide a portfolio into 5 or 6 roughly equal parts and invest each in a different asset class. This is a long-term strategy that favors broad diversification and a bias toward equities, with less emphasis on lower-return asset classes such as bonds or commodities. Never have one of the following asset classes be more than 30% of your portfolio
- US stocks - 30%
- US Treasury bonds - 15%
- US TIPS - 15%
- Foreign developed equities - 15%
- Foreign EM equities - 10%
- REITs - 15%
- Swensen avoids rather than chases liquidity
- Only 3 tools that investors have to increase returns - asset allocation, market timing and security selection with asset allocation being the overwhelmingly most important
- Never bet against the US economy!
- Swensen was diagnosed with cancer and he did not have a moment of panic or want to travel the world. What he wanted to do was keep managing Yale's portfolio as long as he could!
- John C. Bogle
- Founder of the Index Fund and former Founder and CEO of the Vanguard Group
- Investors as a group can't beat the market because they are the market
- There is no such thing as a permanently good investment manager; they come and go
- People buy stocks for their dividend yield and its earnings growth. Half of the return over the long term comes from dividends
- Never get carried away by any fads or fashions or gyrations in the markets
- Most important investment decisions - asset allocation in line with your risk tolerance, diversification through low-cost index funds, as a crude benchmark - have as much in bond funds as your age
- Warren Buffett
- CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
- Value investor - looks for undervalued companies and buying stock with the expectation it will rise in price over the long term
- Recommends indexing - 90% in very low-cost S&P index fund and 10% in short term government bonds
- Paul Tudor Jones
- Founder, Tudor Investment Corporation and Robin Hood Foundation
- Macro trader - studies the impact of fundamentals, psychology, technical analysis, flows of funds, and world events and their impact on asset prices. Instead of focusing on individual stocks, he bets on trends that are shaping the world; from currencies to commodities to interest rates
- Defense is 10x more important than offense - diversification!
- Advises not to ever be a contrarian investor - ride the trends
- Looks at the 200 day moving average of closing prices - if a stock falls below its 200 day moving average, sell it
- Follows the 5 to 1 investment rule - risk $1 to make $5. This means he can be wrong 80% of the time and still not lose
- Ray Dalio
- Founder and Co-CIO of Bridgewater Associates - with over $120B Assets Under Management (AUM)
- The All Weather strategy is the ultimate tool for asset allocation
- Mary Callahan Erdoes
- CEO of JP Morgan Asset Management Division
- For me, leadership means not asking anyone to do anything I wouldn't do myself
- Need to be well rounded, well advised and stock to a plan
- Invest for the long term and only take out money if you truly need it
- T. Boone Pickens
- Chairman and CEO of BP Capital Management
- Bets on the direction of the energy futures and derivatives market
- Dependence on foreign oil is the single greatest threat to national security and economic well being
- Different in the sense that he is willing to take big risks to make big rewards
- Kyle Bass
- Founder of Hayman Capital Management. Predicted the housing crisis in 2008 and made a killing
- Believes that if Japanese bonds move just from 1.5 to 2%, the Japanese economy will fall apart. Paying .04% for bonds that he believes will trade at 20% yields or higher. Speak about asymmetric risk/reward - paying .04% for an option that could be worth 2000%!
- Doesn't consider himself a risk taker because he never sets himself up for a knockout punch
- Marc Faber
- Director of Marc Faber Limited and publisher of Gloom, Boom and Doom
- An economic and financial publication highlighting unusual investment opportunities around the world
- I don't want to buy the S&P Index at 1,800. I don't see any value. So best is to go on drinking and dancing and do nothing
- The most important thing is not to lose money. If you don't see really good opportunities. Why take big risks?
- Usually holds emerging market bonds but notes that these tend to move lockstep with stocks so his risk is higher than with most bonds
- Not important what you buy, what is important is what you pay
- Never have any idea what will truly happen. Diversify!
- Director of Marc Faber Limited and publisher of Gloom, Boom and Doom
- Charles Schwab
- Founder and Chairman of Charles Schwab Corporation
- Put the majority of your money into an index fund where you know the outcome is going to be predictable and returns will be really quite good
- Should be diversified amongst the ten biggest industry groupings and that is generally what you get in a general index fund
- Should have some chunk invested internationally where they are growing faster than the American economy
- Must have people around you who are better than you at most other things
- No matter what your business, never lose a customer
- Sir John Templeton
- Founder of Templeton Mutual Funds
- Got his start at the beginning of WWII when he decided to take all the money he had saved and borrow some additional money and buy $100 worth of every stock valued at $1 or less in the NYSE. This became the basis of his vast fortune and asset management empire
- Secret of success - give more than is expected and treat others more than fairly. Never try to take advantage of anyone or to hold anyone back in their own progress. The more you help others, the more prosperous you will be personally
- Biggest mistakes investors make - no self-discipline, do not put away part of their income every month
- Only sell an asset when you think you've found an asset that's a 50% better bargain
- Usually twice every 12 years there is a severe bear market in a major nation but they do not occur at the same time - diversify across different countries
- Be overwhelmingly grateful - think of 5 things every morning for which you're overwhelmingly grateful and you're not likely to be fearful but radiate optimism and do things in a better way which draws people to you
- "I am a student, always trying to learn. I am a sinner. All of us are. I've tried to be better day by day..."
- Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. It's important to remember what you're truly after: that sense of joy, freedom, security, or love - whatever you want to call it
- One of the biggest mistakes humans make is when we focus on mastering one form of wealth at the expense of all the rest
- Our decisions shape our lives and there are 3 key decisions that we make every moment - what are you going to focus on? - where focus goes, energy goes; what does this mean? - life becomes whatever meaning you give it; what am I going to do?
- Create a routine which primes your brain - 3 minutes to reflect what grateful for, 3 minutes ask for health and blessings for all those you love, 4 minutes on three things that you want to accomplish
- A man who has not found something he will die for is not fit to live
- Invest in experiences - travel, skill acquisition, taking some courses rather than acquiring possessions
- Buy time for yourself - outsource as much as possible so you can spend the maximum amount of time pursuing your passions
- Invest in others - give money away to charities you are passionate about. The key is finding something that will inspire you to want to give. That sense of mission - that's the ultimate power in life
- Must prime yourself to give away even when you think you can't afford to
- 7 Simple Steps: Your Checklist for Success
- Make the most important financial decision of your life - that you're an investor and have committed a specific percentage of your savings that always goes towards your freedom fund and automate it
- Become the insider - avoid fees as much as possible, avoid mutual funds, find a fiduciary, maximize tax efficient retirement accounts, find asymmetric risks/reward investments
- Make the game winnable - know exactly how much money you need to save and eventually have to live your dream, clarity is power, save as much as possible, earn more
- Make the most important investment decision of your life - asset allocation, percentage in security bucket versus risk/growth, define your risk tolerance, consider your stage in life, define short and long term goals for your dream fund, rebalance and dollar cost average
- Create a lifetime income plan - All seasons portfolio, Stronghold financial, income insurance, living trust
- Invest like the .001% - read and understand the interviews above with some of the world's best investors to get a sense of how they think and invest, be the most optimistic when it seems like the world is ending
- Just do it, enjoy it and share it - appreciate and be grateful of everything you have and everything around you, grow your assets but then give it away (Swipeout allows you to round up purchases and donate that extra money to help prevent hunger, slavery and disease)
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