Doing it yourself

Encouragement

For many people, reading financial material or carrying on a financial discussion is a baffling and humbling experience. Jargon flies, everyone but you seems to know what's being talked about, and you don't know how to distinguish good information from noise.

This firm's purpose is to provide good information, simplified enough that the average person becomes able to handle their finances on their own and at minimal cost. The information on this site is necessarily abbreviated and not at all tailored to your own circumstances. Complexities and subtleties have been glossed over.

However, the following simplified recipe is 80-100% of what the average person needs to know about personal finance. Following the recipe will allow you to achieve 80-100% of what you should achieve financially, a significant improvement over the 50% you are likely to get if you consult the typical salesperson at a typical financial services firm. The typical salesperson is not incompetent or a thief, but the typical fees will consume half your wealth over time. No subtlety is as expensive for you.

If you're already fed up and can't stomach reading the rest of these short lectures, here is the super-condensed version:

• Spend less than you earn.
• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
• Watch the pennies and the dollars will look after themselves.