**The famous "index card" of all financial advice** # The Index Card From **Harold Pollack**, original creator of the concept. 1. Strive to save 10%-20% of your income 2. Pay your credit card balance in full every month 3. Max out your 401k and other tax-advantaged savings accounts 4. Never buy or sell individual stocks 5. Buy inexpensive and well-diversified index mutual funds and ETFs (bucket of stocks) 6. Make your financial advisor to the fiduciary standard 7. Buy a home when you're ready 8. Insurance - make sure you're protected 9. Do what you can to support the social safety net 10. Remember this card # Alternate Blogger from "the simple dollar.com" did a critique of the above. He made his own variation, here. **Trent Hamm's Index Card** 1. Save at least 20% of your income 2. Pay your credit card balance in full every month 3. Save 2% of your income for every 5 years you didn't save 4. Save in a 401k up to employer match, then max out Roth IRA 5. When you invest, buy diverse index funds and hold onto them for the long haul 6. Teach yourself about finance and you won't need an advisor 7. Buy a home when it's more cost effective than renting 8. If you're married and considering kids, get a 30 year term life insurance policy for 10x your salary 9. Spend your spare time on skills and side gigs 10. Spend less than you earn. Always. # My Rewriting To for symmetry with other [[The Index Cards]]. ![[Image 5.jpg|https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fVgkojOggkSX_qY74C9jaNyXPM3OTXDg5ex2mJQSJ5IRxKdyReyDD7axmc9HBMz5YDKxJwPc86KRXJfemSopKTN7c_Os4Y0xkSlao_tVvwKqf0dho02fmo_F7lzuk-lU4a9O-MQm3ZWfefhSGP597eSA=w800]] Spend less than you earn. Avoid unnecessary expenses. Pay your credit card balance in full every month. Save at least 20% of your income. If you use an advisor, make them commit to a fiduciary standard. Buy a home when you’re ready to stay for ~5+ years. Buy inexpensive and well-diversified index mutual funds, and hold onto them for the long haul. Don’t buy or sell individual stocks. Avoid “actively managed” funds. Insure what’s valuable, including you. Max out tax-advantaged savings & employer match. **** # More ## Source - [[Freakonomics Radio]] - I'm pretty sure was my original source - Various google results & youtube summaries along the way ## Related - [[The Index Cards]]