How to Money

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How to Money

My wiki-style document is to help you figure out money, invest, and hopefully “retire” early. Please send me a message if you find any mistakes or have any questions.

Start here and work your way down 👇

Hi 👋 and welcome here. I’m Werner.

My goals with money are 1. to have enough (to live well, but not in an overly luxurious or opulent or wasteful way); 2. so that I don’t have to work anymore (not unless I choose to do so); and to 3. achieve those things in the near simplest way.

I would describe myself as very independent. I despise the idea of relying on a monthly paycheck, with the risk and fear (and psychology) of that dependence; not the effort, frustration, and reward that comes with work.

So, a lot of what I wrote here is about getting to those goals (and keeping them). Your goals might be different, but hopefully what I’ve written down will help you a bit to define and achieve them.

I am not a registered financial advisor. What I write here is my opinion, thoughts, and experience — not financial advice.

Money and investing is a little bit about cold numbers and a lot about fuzzy feelings and psychology. If what I wrote here doesn’t work for you (and even if it does!) consider getting a professional to help you with investing, debt management, financial, tax planning, and so on.

You can use the pages on the 👈 left sidebar (desktop) or hamburger menu (mobile) to navigate around if you get lost. Go through every step from the first one; only skip the ones not relevant to you.

Let’s go! 🐎

1. How much is enough?

It will help a lot to get your spending under control (and increase your money available for investing) if you take a deep look inside your home, closet, and mind. Read:

Enough stuff⁠

⁠

After thinking a bit more about your “enough stuff” (and lifestyle), we need to find out how much money you’ll need to “retire” (early, hopefully). Read:

Enough money⁠

⁠

2. Your net worth & balance sheet

You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so let’s go measure your net worth. This is one of the most important things you have to start doing. Read:

Your personal balance sheet⁠

⁠

3. Get rid of debt

If you don’t have any debt, good for you! You have a head-start to early retirement. You can skip this section. If not, read:

Getting rid of debt⁠

⁠

4. Save for emergencies

Separate from investing (and growing the assets side of your balance sheet), you’ll need to save enough money for an emergency. Investing and saving are not the same thing, but we’ll get to that later.

Read:

Emergency savings⁠

⁠

5. Bonus!

Periodically check what belt you have earned and where you are on the path to financial independence.

Read:

Getting your black belt in money⁠

⁠

6. Invest

6.1. Learn

Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand. So, first, brush up on some investing terms. Read:

Investing basics⁠

⁠

6.2. Open an investment account and fund it

Read:

Investment accounts⁠

⁠

6.3. Buy index funds

Read:

Index funds deep dive⁠

⁠

(Unless you are using a robo-advisor (also called “robo-investor”) you will need to do this every month or quarter if you want to get and keep your black belt in money)

7. Understanding taxes

The topic is huge. There is a reason why there are so many well-paid tax lawyers, advisors, and specialists out there. Luckily, most personal taxes are straightforward and simple. The better you understand it today, the earlier and more comfortably you may retire one day. Read:

Taxes⁠

and

Suggested accounts⁠

for some types of accounts with tax advantages.

8. Cars

After accommodation (by buying or renting) one of our biggest purchases is transport, in the form of a stupid and rapidly depreciating asset: cars. Read:

Cars⁠

⁠

9. Accounts

At minimum, you should have the following accounts:

Cash / current account (for day-to-day spending)

Savings/money market account (for a three-month emergency fund, savings, and the cash part of your portfolio)

Tax-advantage accounts like retirement and tax-free accounts (to get “free” money)

Investment accounts (to grow your money)

See:

Suggested accounts⁠

⁠

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