If you were part of the millions who lost a small fortune in the 2008-2009 financial crisis, then this Coronvirus fear and stock market shocks should be a cakewalk for you.
It felt just like this a decade ago, but it lasted for like 15 months.
But I’m here to tell you, “Don’t panic.” Since the Great Depression, America has survived World War II, The Cuban Missile Crisis, SARS, 9/11, and the Great Financial Crisis.
As Annie once sang: The sun will come out Tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar That tomorrow There’ll be sun!
We will get through this. You just have to buckle up and get through the ride like any rollercoaster; it has to come to an end.
Markets dropped 1,100 points on Thursday. That just means stocks are on sale.
I’m strolling down the stock market isles grabbing everything I can get my hands on.
This isn’t the time to hide. Stay and fight for your 401(k). It’s the time to run to the nearest online brokerage and scoop up some stocks on sale.
Berkshire Hathaway is sitting on $100 Billion cash just waiting for another 2008-2009 so they can get those deals.
Nobody wants to pay $3,000 for one share of the S&P when you can get it for cheaper.
So go out there and find some bargains!
SHOULD YOU BUY OR SALE
“Fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffet
I once read a story about a famous investor who in 1939, when World War II began in Europe, the 26-year-old investor borrowed $10,000 and bought 100 shares each in 104 companies that were selling at $1 a share or less, including 34 in bankruptcy.
A few years later, he made large profits on 100 of the companies; four turned out to be worthless.
This became the foundation for his $13 Billion global growth fund and the start of his road to wealth. He did not let fear stop him. His own the world philosophy made him a billionaire.
Sir Templeton looked fear in the face and marched ahead anyway.
Trust your gut and don’t make any decisions unless you know what you want to do. Fear is no place to make decisions from.
When you are coming from a place of great loss, you don’t sell the house, cut your hair, or make any big decisions until you are back in a place of control over your emotions. At least, that is what all the books say.
Same rules apply when investing. Buy when you are knowledgeable and ready. Not scared.
Knowledge is the slayer of fear.
FLIP A COIN
I could tell you what you should buy. The gurus and financial pundits will tell you that you should invest in this or that, blah, blah, blah, etc. etc.
Well here at Greenbacks Magnet, we keep it simple.
Just buy a good quality total index fund and keep it moving.
Studies have shown that no one can time the market. If you put 25 random stocks on a dartboard, you could do no worse than an active fund manager could by throwing darts to pick your investments.
It’s like the flip of a coin. 50/50 odds or worse. Tails you lose. Heads the house wins.
If you buy the whole market, you are bound to get some winners in there.
PUT YOUR FACE MASK ON FIRST
They say face masks are being bought up all over the world.
The mark up is getting unbelievable as some places are charging three times the normal going rate.
The surgeon general says masks are only good for those already infected to not continue to spread the virus.
Those that are healthy are wasting their money because a mask will not stop them from catching it.
Therefore, instead of wasting money on overpriced masks just invest in the company that makes them. They are making a killing right now!
Increase your wealth portfolio and put on your fiscal facemask for your future generations.
Your future self will thank you for investing that money.
“Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before
you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before
you die, give.” — William A. Ward
That’s right folks. Step right up. Don’t be shy.
I’m about to simplify your life. Your financial life anyway. A one-tweet financial plan is the way to go.
You see that quote at the start of this blog post.
There, I just gave it to you in the quote stated above. The
end.
Just kidding. But seriously, it is in the quote above. I will just expand upon it.
Warning this post is full of tweets! But lots of information. Stay with me! 😉
WHAT IS A ONE-TWEET FINANCIAL PLAN?
A financial plan that is 240 characters or less and can be sent out in a tweet.
"Whenever I make a decision, I always try to decide: Would I do this for $1?" – David Blaine @davidblaine
I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, right. Well, since seeing
is believing I will show you exactly what I mean.
Here is my one-tweet financial plan.
My 1-tweet financial plan
1. Have a 2-month emergency fund 2. Open a Roth IRA 3. Buy a home for 25% less than you can afford 4. Pay off student, personal, and auto loans ASAP 5. Max out your 401(k)
And due to the recent government shutdown, I have also created a one-tweet financial plan government shutdown edition. 😉 It’s kind of like how they created the Scrabble game deluxe. You take an already good thing and then just expand upon it and make it even better.
My 1-tweet financial plan government #shutdown edition. 😉
1. Save a 9-month emergency fund 2. Instead of maxing Roth IRA use extra funds for your rainy day fund 3. Do not get any student loans 4. Do not buy a new car, home, or go on vacation until rainy day acct 100% funded pic.twitter.com/Xmslbml3qC
I also like to think ahead to the future and plan for my taxes. You need to save today because the future gets more expensive. What costs a $1 today will cost $1.25 in the future. Plan ahead.
The committee’s analysis also found that Americans earning $75,000 a year or less would also face large tax increases by 2027 because of the Senate’s plan to allow individual tax cuts to expire at the end of 2025.
At the heart of the argument is new analysis by congressional number crunchers that finds the plan cuts taxes at first but by 2027 actually raises taxes for anyone making less than $75,000.
Courage is never giving up. Love that its spelled out here using letters from my favorite game: Scrabble. So never give up on your dreams. https://t.co/b7dQUUpZSZ
It is one of the best qualities you can have. Being a good listener can lead to lasting marriages, better employment, and happier relationships.
Fincon18 lessons: 1. Do not challenge @dreamer_money to a dance-off. 2. Take whatever advice @mjp2520 gives you. 3. Anonymous blogging is only annoying when trying to organize a group photo. 4. If you're too shy to approach people, challenging them to tic tac toe is 1 way to go
I started reading about personal finance and attending
seminars or conferences long before I started writing and tweeting about it.
Coming from a place of experience and information gives you a different point
of view (POV). That POV can make you an expert in your field. Never
underestimate the power of just listening and observing.
THINK
I want you to write down your goals, thoughts, wants, needs, and desires. Like I said before, seeing is believing. Think before you act.
My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to be financially independent.
There is nothing wrong with moving slowly or with caution. However, that does not give you the right to move like a turtle. First, think. Then act and move expeditiously once a decision has been made. Move quick. Make haste. Do not overthink it. This can lead to analysis paralysis.
Be careful not to overwhelm yourself, and only follow advice from credible sources, so you don’t fall victim to progress paralysis or unsuitable and potentially dangerous investments.
Moving slowly does allow you to more clearly see the path
ahead. But once you see it, I want you to run toward your goal. Not walk. RUN!
EARN
You have to earn money to save it. It is just that simple.
I was in debt up to my eyeballs. However, I did not toss my hands in the air and say who cares as I will be in debt forever. Nope. Not me. I chipped away at my debt. Then, I slowly started to have savings. I emerged from the debt cocoon I was in and became a soon to be debt-free butterfly.
All the reasons I want you to pursue financial indepence.
1. Freedom 2-100 see number one
That is the answer always, in the illustrious words of #buzzlightyear To infinity and beyond. 😂
I found ways to get rid of my debt. By any means necessary.
It didn’t matter if I had to sell items, save my change, get 0% deals on every
item I purchased, or stop buying chewing gum just to save a buck.
Once the debt started going away, I had tons of disposable income. Go figure.
I got inspired by @johnlegend to start paying off all my credit card debt from a book by @KSchwarzenegger. thank you. My 🙏 were answered because I needed some inspiration to payoff my debt. Money advice I got from John Legend https://t.co/jZmr1PMgew
I cannot stress this enough. Investing can be the difference between you being one of the haves or have nots. I hate to break it to you, but the top earners invest.
Investing is a long game.
I read the wealthy invest up to 20 percent or more of their income each and every year.
"On average, millionaires invest 20% of their household income each year. Their wealth isn't measured by the amount they make each year, but by how they've saved and invested over time," writes Ramit Sethi in his New York Times bestseller, "I Will Teach You To Be Rich."
The 1 percent are making a killing in the stock market. And you can too.
When I decided I was going to be rich, I turned my attention
toward investing. If you want to know where Greenbacks Magnet is investing,
then check out my post below. 😉
May I recommend the books The Millionaire Next Door, The Automatic Millionaire, and Prince Charming Isn't Coming by Barbara Stanny to add to your growing list 😉
According to Grant Cardone, CEO’s read 60 books and attend 6 conferences a year. The average person reads less than one book a year. I read that in the 10X Rule.
Read the 10x rule. Took his advice. Set 10x goals and do 10x more action. It worked. Many thanks! Went from saving $10 to $10k a year. #OBSESSED
I agree. I got like 11 books on my nightstand right now. Reading taught me how to say no to things and people. Money has to be respected and not just squandered. When I say no I tell people its not personal, it's just business. pic.twitter.com/wBARNSbLJ9
You know all those overnight success stories you hear? Well, those are garbage. It takes years of hard work, persistence, determination and sacrifice to get anywhere worth going.
According to the book The Millionaire Next Door, 80-86% of millionaires in America are self-made. Most wealth is earned. Meaning less than 20% inherit their wealth. This is down from a high of 50% or more who did so around the early 1900’s.
All those bands you hear about or people you see on television. They were honing their craft long before records executives starting signing them to deals.
Gene Simmons said he was going from gig to gig in an old van living off hot dogs with his bandmates in KISS.
Don’t be like Beetlejuice. Remember that scene in the movie where he took his number and was impatient. It was hilarious. One of Michael Keaton’s most memorable roles.
The point is that you have to be patient. I do not mean wait forever. I just mean that all good things do take some amount of time.
Don’t be so quick to judge or criticize others, before you know the full story.
“I praise loudly. I blame softly.” – Catherine II, Catherine the Great
FORGIVE
They say it’s divine.
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
And I make sure to forgive. I always forgive, once.
Investing is the ability to research, seek answers, make decisions & being patient. You may make mistakes but forgive yourself & move on. pic.twitter.com/BlJl4Smv26
Don’t be a quitter. Try first. You will never know if you
have got the goods to make it, unless you get out there and do it. Do
something. Don’t just wait to be discovered. Get out there and meet people.
Shake some hands. Knock down some doors. Make some phone calls. Just try.
SAVE
This one thing can change your life. Saving. It is the start of all things to come. The act alone is a reflection of who you are and what you value.
This is how I started, but on an even smaller scale. It took me six years, but I went from saving $1 a day to over $11,000 a year. NEVER give up on your goals. https://t.co/KK1UBABCLx
I read it is good to have 25 times your salary in life insurance. This is to protect your loved ones. At the very least I say 10 times. Just a suggestion. That means for 25x your income, if you make: $20k = $500,000 $40k = $1 million $50k = $1.25 million Are you insured enough?
Dealerships are offering 84 month car loans! Thats 7 years! Forget that. Do you know what you can do in 7 years? 1. Graduate college (twice) 2. Get married 3. Write the next great American novel 4. Learn a new language 5. Start a business 6. Watch all 13 seasons of #Supernatural
You give as a way to reach back and help those that come after you. It is a way to show your gratitude for all the things those that came before you have done.
There was a time there was no stock market. Or anesthesia. 😮
Let’s take a little walk down Wall Street.
The NYSE celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1992. Wall Street started under a tree in 1792 with commodities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was founded in 1896 with only 12 industrial stocks. Those 12 companies: American Cotton Oil, American Sugar, American Tobacco, Chicago Gas, Distilling & Cattle Feeding, General Electric, Laclede Gas, National Lead, North American, Tennessee Coal and Iron, U.S. Leather and U.S. Rubber.
My how things have changed. None of those stocks are now part of the DJIA.
The good thing about indexes is that unlike individual stocks, when things go south and a business performs badly or goes under, it is culled. That’s right. They remove it from the DJIA and replace it with another business. Usually one that is performing well. That is the reason you invest in indexes. For the protection against a business going out of business and you losing your shirt!
General Electric (GE) is the only member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average that has been in the index since it’s beginning in 1896. It is being taken out and replaced by Walgreens (WBA) as reported of July 2018. That’s a 122-year run.
— Naresh Nambisan | നരേഷ് (@nareshbahrain) July 19, 2018
They have made it easier for you to invest now than 100
years ago.
Dale Carnegie had to ask his mother to mortgage the house so that he could invest the funds in stocks that he knew. That was how he built his fortune. Remember to invest in what you know. Earn a fortune and then give it away.
Giving is one of the best ways to be philanthropic.
Remember that part in the movie Troy where Achilles asks his mother if he should go to Troy. And she says to him only if he wants his name to be remembered and live on throughout the ages.
Giving is a way to have immortality.
Case in point, Ms. Oseola McCarty inspired many others to donate to charity as well after she donated her life savings of $150,000 to a college in 1995. How’s that for a swan song? One of the biggest donors she inspired: Media Magnate and Mogul Ted Turner.
So why is it even noteworthy when Oseola McCarty, an elderly woman, donates $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi? In the case of Ms. McCarty, it is the heart behind the gift, and the lifetime of effort that went into it. For her act of kindness, she was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor and got to ring the stock market opening bell.
How about that for recognition in helping others? And she asked nothing for herself or in return. These things were given to her for her charitable contribution to society.
