It had been a while since we last organized an open meetup. The group has grown significantly since the last time we gave an introduction to our philosophy so we decided to host this introduction to Common Sense Personal Finance and Investing. And the turnout was great! We could barely fit everyone in the room :-)
During this meetup we discussed how powerful investing can be for your personal finances but only if it is done following some simple principles.
We discussed the pitfalls of the financial industry and how it can seriously hurt expats in particular. Our group believes that to avoid these traps, education is key.
We then briefly presented the Bogleheads® investment philosophy. We highly recommend all expats to learn and follow these simple investment principles.
Once you know these basic principles, you are then much better prepared to manage your investments. In this group, we help each other learn DIY investing, by applying a simple long term buy-and-hold strategy with a limited number of low cost index fund ETFs purchased through discount brokers.
Even Warren Buffet, the no.1 stock picker of all times agrees with our approach.
For new investors, we recommend starting with the Bogleheads® investing starting kit, then followed by additional learning such as:
- The Stock Series, by JL Collins
- The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing, by by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf
- The Global Expatriate's Guide to Investing, by Andrew Hallam
At the end of the presentation we also talked about financial independence and early retirement. We discussed the 4% safe withdrawal rate (SWR) rule of thumb and explored how it can hep us estimate the required portfolio amount to sustain a certain level of living expenses.
Here is a great explanation of the 4% SWR by Mr. Money Mustache.
If you're interested in learning more about these topics, please join us for one of our upcoming meetups!
See you soon!
Sebastien