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The basic concepts of personal finance are

how to earn more, how to spend less and how to invest the difference

Beware of the Sharks

The main goal is to keep you hooked to their products

The only reason someone says they want to make you rich

is because they want to make themselves even richer

Cryptos are not currencies

They lack everything that make a currency a currency

The 5 W Questions

WHO are your inputs?

I follow Mr RIP and Ben Felix, especially The Rational Reminder Podcast

WHY save money?

Saving is essential because you don't know what your income and expenses will be in the future, you can make predictions but you can never be absolutely sure. Extremists must be avoided: oversaving could make you the richest in the cemetery or overspending could make you buy things you don't need.

WHEN to begin investing?

You need to analyze your current financial situation by answering the following questions:

  • How much do you earn and why do you earn like this?
  • How much do you spend and why do you spend like this?
  • How much do you have and why do you have what you have?

You must evaluate if it is possible to maximize income and minimize expenses, then decide the part of cash flow to invest. When you are young and the earnings are not high, you should absolutely not think about investing money but investing in yourself that is to get a better paid job.

Furthermore, you have to consider the psychological aspect: what expectations do you have from investments and how could you react depending on the various scenarios that could arise?

WHERE do you keep your money?

The best way is to diversify, having money in different banking products allows you flexibility and security. My main bank account is with a traditional bank, then I have a secondary account with a fintech bank and finally I have a PayPal and Revolut account to handle simple and fast transactions.

WHAT is your experience?

I developed a web software to track my finances inspired by Mr RIP's advice and his spreadsheet which I find to be very professional and well structured (the one developed by me is a simplified version, has a single currency and does not have all the functions of Google Finance related to investments, but it satisfies my tracking needs). I'm not a finance expert but I'm very passionate about the topic, below I report my notes regarding some resources that I have seen and which I consider very useful.

The Rational Reminder Podcast

is a weekly podcast on sensible investing and financial decision-making
The Psychology of Money
Prof. Eugene Fama
The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy
The Math of Financial Planning
Basic Personal Finance Concepts
The Role of Debt in Financial Planning