Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Exploration 7: Why Hardcore Saving is much more Powerful than Masterful Investing

I chose the article "Why hardcore saving is much more powerful than masterful investing." We are talking about you, are a masterful middle-income saver: you are married and you and your spouse earn $120,000 combined per year – say $90,000 after tax. With skill the two of you can save 50,000 dollars per year, compared to the average personal savings rate in the US:
– 6% right now (which is actually higher than usual because we are in a recession),
– as low as 1% during the big credit and spending boom of the mid-2000s.
An average couple would save less than $5000 per year. By concentrating on SAVING  rather than minute details of investing, you are stacking the odds in your favor while also freeing up time for the real deal – maximizing your fun in a cash-efficient way.

I believe Mr. Mustache has a good point when he says "hrough my later 20s and 30s, I thought I was wise by squirreling lots of money away in the excellent Vanguard 500 (VFINX) index fund. But then Great Recession happened and (temporarily) backed out all those gains." He gives himself a good amount of credit since he's experienced the stock market and understands how it works.
A weakness I saw was his lack of. for a lack of better term, leniency. He comes off as though his way is the right way, and although he has a good point, no one wants to listen to someone who is a 'know it all' I can't give a direct quote from this, so a strength I found was " by concentrating on SAVING  rather than minute details of investing, you are stacking the odds in your favor while also freeing up time for the real deal – maximizing your fun in a cash-efficient way." He has a very valid point, by not putting your money in investments you know exactly how much you have, where it's located, and with the right help from Mr. Mustache you will know how to save it.

So to conclude, I don't like how Mr. Mustache portrays himself. I think he has a specific audience and I'm not sure that I'm part of it. He seems self-righteous just because he's well versed in giving people advice with saving. I am appreciative that we have someone helping others with tips and good advice, but he doesn't come off as personable. I do think everyone can find something useful from his blogs, hands down. Overall, I think he's okay, not my favorite, but his blogs are to the point and make sense, I think that's really important for people in this culture. Money has become very complicated and no one is here to explain it in layman's terms. Mr. Money Mustache does a good job of that.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/04/26/why-hardcore-saving-is-much-more-powerful-than-masterful-investing/


3 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading your review on this particular blog post. I agree with you that his way of trying to inspire people is strange and sometimes inappropriate but I think that in today's day in age, that is the type of attitude and persona that is necessary in order to get certain things in to peoples heads. Good job though really liked what you had to say!

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  2. I agreed with your strengths that you mentioned, as saving money seems a bit more of an intelligent route than letting your money float around the economy and not knowing where it is. Saving money is definitely a better route. Good review overall!

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  3. I agree with you that he seems to have his good moments, He manages to makes a couple of good points based off of what he has learned. All the while trying to leave the door open just wide enough for the consumer to make up their own mind about things. Some of the articles he does not seem to be that persuasive or inspiring. But he is human, so maybe he has not reached the level were he can do it 24/7.

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