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Welcome to Long-Term Mindset, the Wednesday newsletter that helps you invest better.

Today's Issue Read Time: <2 minutes

• Lesson: Two Simple Money Rules To Live By
• Timeless Content: Making Money in a Lousy Market
• Thread: Reading a 10-K Quick
• Resource: Anatomy of a Market Correction
• And more!

Friends,

[Stoffel here]

Believe it or not, money was never a topic of discussion growing up. Of course, part of this means I was privileged enough to never pick up on the stresses that come with parents who are constantly scrambling to make ends meet.

At the same time, with parents who held jobs as a professor and a small business owner, we were far from what I would have considered wealthy.

There were however, two pieces of money advice my dad mentioned more than once. And since it wasn't a topic often discussed, it stuck with me.

As time has passed, I'm convinced these two simple rules made a huge difference in my life.

Rule #1: Start investing and saving for retirement as early as possible

On more than one occasion, he would bring home newspaper clippings like this one from The Wall Street Journal:

The totals themselves aren't that important. Here's what stuck with me

• The late-saver (red) was putting away twice as much as the early-saver (blue)
• And yet, the early-saver had nearly twice as large of a nest egg come retirement time.

In my first job as a public school teacher, I put away the maximum to get my school's match. That was painful in my early 20's.

However, the lion's share of the nest egg we have now is thanks to the cash my wife and I both invested as public school teachers in our 20s.

Rule #2: Whatever you think something will cost, double the price

Investing early is a great offensive tool (building up wealth).

But it's also important to play defense: make sure you don't make huge money mistakes. As a small business owner, my dad learned from experience that large projects have a funny way of ballooning in cost. We also took that advice to heart.

That's why we ended up buying a house whose mortgage payment initially ate up less than 20% of our income, and waited until we had plenty of cash on hand before undertaking any remodels.

Again, it was a bit painful at the outset (a smaller house without amenities). But it's amazing how quickly we can adapt to our surroundings. Most importantly, this approach stopped us from making any huge money mistakes.

None of this to say is that my family has been perfect with money. Far from it -- it's actually these two rules which made many of our mistakes benign.

Have you gotten simple money advice that's made a difference for you? Hit reply and let us know what they are.

Wishing you continued investing luck,

Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers Long Term Mindset

P.S. Does stock analysis overwhelm you? We know the feeling. We've been working for months on a new tool that speeds up and simplifies the process. Want to learn more? Click here to join the waitlist and get updates.

One simple graphic

One piece of timeless content

Japan’s stock market performed horribly throughout the 1990s and 2000s. But did you know you could still make money in a two-decade slump with a simple strategy? Check out Ritholtz Wealth Management COO Nick Maggiulli's Now Do Japan to learn how.

One thread

The Investing for Beginners Podcast @IFB_podcast 1/7 How do you read a 10-k if you only have 30 minutes a day or less? Reading the 10-k or other financial docs remain the #1 way to learn about a biz and investing. Below is my method if I lack time. 🧵⬇️ 10:2 AM • Feb 8, 2025 51 Retweets 416 Likes Read 8 replies

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One resource

Worried about a market correction? Visual Capitalist put a series of great infographics together showing the Anatomy of a Market Correction to share how historical corrections have worked.

One quote

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