How to plan Asset allocations for various life stages

 

As the saying goes: "Money is earned, not saved." It actually means that we need to earn AND manage money in order to grow it. Only when we have a clear financial management goal, can we better understand what kind of investment tools we will need, making financial planning more effective.

But before that, we should have a clear understanding of our financial values ​​in order to better "prescribe the right medicine." In a broad picture, people born after 1980 can be divided into the following 6 categories according to their financial values:

①  1. Diligent Group: Choose to struggle first and then enjoy. Actively save, know how to increase income and reduce expenditure, live within their means, can quickly accumulate funds, and use funds for investment and financial management.

②  2. Enjoy First Group: Enjoy first and then struggle, focus on the immediate enjoyment of life, have strong purchasing power and consumption power, spend as much as they earn, and basically have no savings.

③  3. The hard-working Group: In the initial stage, the main goal is to purchase real estate. In addition to the long-term pressure of housing loans, they also need to prepare for their children's education expenses.

④  4. Dink Group: Pay attention to personal development, do not have children after marriage, and prefer to live in the two-person world. It should be noted that when one of the parties has an accident or financial risk, it is easy to trigger a marital crisis.

⑤  5. Non-married Group: Although there is no huge financial demand-buying real estate or preparing children's education funds, one should understand the indisputable fact that one will eventually grow old.

⑥  6. NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) Group: One is mostly at home, does not start a business or work, and the living expenses are all provided by the parents. In addition to consuming social resources, it is also easy to cause adverse effects on society.

Specifically, the life cycle of a family can be roughly divided into four stages: the "formation period" from being single to the establishment of a family; the "growth period" when children grow up; the "maturity period" when the family and career develop together; and from retirement to the end-of-life "ageing period".

The following focuses on the three stages of "formation period", "growth period" and "maturity period", and provide corresponding asset allocation suggestions. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

Formation period: quickly accumulate wealth

Our life is not long nor short, the earlier you plan for financial management, the more wealth you can accumulate. We can start with the following 4 basic financial management steps:

1. Keeping track of income and expenditure: It allows you to understand your own consumption behaviors and habits, and can better control your future economic budget by sorting out whether each item of living expenses is reasonable.

2. Income: work hard and make money, set up a dedicated financial account for investment, and choose suitable financial products for investment.

3. Expenditure: living within your means and controlling shopping desires, such as coming up a shopping list before shopping and purchasing strictly in accordance to the list.

4. Value-addition: From the perspective of long-term interests, we will need to understand and improve professional ability. For example, to obtain various skills certificates to prepare for future promotion.

From the perspective of asset allocation:

Investment advisors used to recommend a rule of thumb where the investor will subtract their age from 100 to know the allocation for stocks in their portfolio. However due to the higher life expectancy, recommended formulae is to subtract your age from 110 or 120 to be more aggressive in stocks. The rest can be in less risky financial products such as bonds, ETFs, etc.

Growth period: emphasis on asset preservation and appreciation

The age of 30 to 50 is a period of heavy responsibility for life. This age needs to bear multiple financial pressures. Therefore, the proportion of investment in core assets can be adjusted appropriately.

From the perspective of asset allocation, planning can be made from the following four aspects:

1. Reserve a family fund: generally 6-12 months of family living expenses, in case of emergency.

2. Repay various types of loans: such as car loans, housing loans and general consumer loans.

3. Prepare children's education funds: to support children from kindergarten to university, the tuition and miscellaneous fees and various living expenses during this period will require a lot of money.

4. Retirement planning: The sooner you prepare for retirement planning, the less economic pressure you will bear.

Maturity period: Stay conservative and avoid risks

During the period from the age of 50 to critical retirement, our funds should be invested in more conservative or prudent financial products.

From the perspective of asset allocation, there is basically no income from work in the elderly after retirement, and they can only rely on CPF to pay for various expenses that may be faced, including necessary expenses for maintaining life, medical or nursing expenses, etc.

At this stage, good health is as important as wealth. Therefore, investment and financial management should prioritize "stability" and choose low-risk financial products, focusing on fixed income.

Do a good job in investment and financial management to achieve financial freedom

Financial management is lifetime homework. The greatest achievement of investment guru Warren Buffett when conducting financial management in stages, he always stays sober, adheres to medium and long-term investments, and follows the principle of asset allocation that is, investing in familiar ones. Only invest in what you are familiar with.

Read also:

The eight golden periods of financial management in life, have you missed them?

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Warren Buffett's time management: the free-er, the rich-er

When Bill Gates met Warren Buffett for the first time, Gates' mother asked them to share the most important factors for their success. Both Gates and Buffett gave the same answer: "Focus."

Warren Buffett follows the 5-hour rule, and when he spends 80% of his time reading and thinking, many people’s reactions are predictable: "He can do this because he is Warren Buffett. One of the richest people. I will never reach that point, nor can I do that."

Because the fact is: Buffett has spent most of his time reading and thinking since elementary school. Owning more money or managing a large company does not give you more free time. Free time, never appeared silently. Unless they retire, people will not have a lot of free time. On the contrary, free time is the result of a strategy, the result of looking at time in a different way. Regarding his book and most of the annual letters he wrote to shareholders, it is clear that the reason why Buffett can easily make such a schedule is because he used the most ruthless prioritization method in the world, which of course is a good way.

Here are six strategies Warren Buffett has adopted during his career in order to have more time to read and think. I invite you to "copy" them so that you have more time each day to do the things that are most important to you. When you read these strategies, one thing to note is that these strategies are not like the typical combination strategies you see on the Internet, they are not random. Most people have overlooked a deeper model-his primary mental model.

Buffett strategy 1: Kill busy work

Buffett has crossed out almost all tasks that the CEO must complete from its schedule:

He never talks to analysts (Buffett estimates that a typical CEO spends 20% of his time talking with Wall Street analysts).

He rarely accepts media interviews.

He does not participate in industry events.

He has lived in Omaha, Nebraska, a place outside of New York City for almost his entire career.

He hardly attends any internal meetings like a typical CEO.

The important thing is that these decisions did not happen by accident.

There are several basic facts about Buffett’s strategy: 20% of priority tasks will account for 80% of our results. Buffett’s top five goals are 20% of the 25 goals.

The real threat to our time is not simply the interference of things that we know are wrong. On the contrary, the real threat is those "wolves in sheep's clothing"-these activities make us feel like we are working hard, but in the end they cannot change the status quo. Buffett's "three-step" method is to prevent this!

The real challenge of prioritization is to say, "No!" It is easy to promise. What is really difficult is to say no to busy work, because busy work can make you cross one item from the to-do list and feel satisfied: fulfill your obligations to others, do a simple thing, write an email .

Buffett Strategy 2: Only work with people you think you can work with forever

"If you can't imagine that you can work with someone for a lifetime, then don't work with them for a day."-

Similar to Buffett's strict review of his work activities, he also conducts strict review of those who work with him.

Buffett only works with CEOs he trusts. These CEOs can achieve results, and he thinks he can work with them for decades.

Therefore, before acquiring a company, he rarely conducts negotiations and due diligence, and does not interfere too much with the CEO of the company he has acquired. In addition, he enjoyed the conversation with the CEOs.

(Note that the word "trust" has made Buffett give up buying many companies with attractive financial conditions, just because he doesn't trust the CEOs of these companies.)

Buffett Strategy 3: Keep things super simple

Buffett has eliminated almost all the bureaucracy in his company. Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio company has nearly 400,000 employees, but its actual headquarters has only more than 20 employees. This is one of the largest companies in the world.

Buffett's personal life is also very simple. He lives in a humble house (he has lived there for 60 years), and his personal expenses are low.

In our careers, in our company, in our lives, it is very easy to make things complicated. In fact, this is the norm.

When you get more profits, it's normal to hire more employees. As you make more and more money, it is normal to spend more and more money. What is truly powerful and unique is to keep things simple. This requires effort and skill. This is also part of Buffett's strategy.

It is strange to say that when you compare the lifestyle he may live with and the lifestyle he chooses, one of the richest people in the world is also the biggest minimalist.

Buffett Strategy 4: Focus on a few high-quality bets

Warren Buffett only makes a small amount of investment each year.

I remember the first time I heard this news, I was shocked. ``How could the richest investor in human history only make so few transactions?''

The founding partner of the Housatonic Partners fund, William Thorndike (William Thorndike) gave us the answer to this question in his book "The Outsiders":

Buffett believes that a concentrated investment portfolio will bring extraordinary returns, and excellent investment targets rarely appear.

He has told students many times that if they get a card with only 20 holes at the beginning of their career, which represents the total amount they can invest in their investment career, their investment results will improve.

As he concluded in his 1993 annual report, "We believe that if the policy of making the investment portfolio more concentrated can increase the investor’s intensity of thinking about a company, it will also increase his satisfaction with its economic characteristics before buying the company. Then this policy is likely to reduce risks.”

In short, Buffett means: "The trick to investing is to be there, watch the ball one after another and wait for the ball to reach your best height. If people shout, "Swing, you fool!" , Just ignore them.

Buffett Strategy 5: Focus on long-term investment

Buffett will hold his stock for a long time.

According to William Thorndike in his book "The Business Outsider", he currently holds the top five stock options for an average of more than 20 years.

In contrast, the average holding period of a typical mutual fund is less than one year. This means that investment activity is at a very low level, which Buffett calls "almost lazy inactivity."

Buffett has also used a similar concept in knowledge investment, which has brought him long-term returns. In Buffett’s only authorized biography, his biographer commented on what she learned from Buffett:

What you learn and invest in should be knowledge that can be accumulated, so that knowledge can be built on the basis of knowledge. Therefore, instead of learning something that may be out of date tomorrow, such as a certain type of software (no one will even use it in two years), it is better to choose something that will make you smarter in 10 or 20 years. I have been benefiting from this lesson now.

Buffett strategy 6: Avoid catching up with the technological trend

One might think that the greatest investor in history will always seek to master the latest technology in order to stay at the forefront of the times.

Interestingly, the opposite is true. Here are some examples:

There has never been a computer in his office.

He has never used a stock ticker.

He does not have a smartphone.

These unique choices reflect some of Buffett’s characteristics: Buffett is very clear about what data he needs to know in order to invest.

He has enough confidence in his own ideas, and he is unwilling to do things that are popular with the public.

He actively eliminates potential interference from the environment, rather than relying on willpower.

How to apply Buffett's core mental model?

Now, you understand. It is not accidental that Warren Buffett has reading and thinking time. His life was designed for this.

These are not random strategies... They all come from an important mental model: the 80/20 rule. In fact, 20% of our efforts will bring about 80% of the results in many areas of our lives.

In every area of ​​his life, such as interpersonal relationships, investment, technology, and setting priorities, Buffett is a master who ruthlessly prioritizes a few important matters and abandons everything else.

So, the question now is: how do you apply the 80/20 rule consistently and skillfully to your life.

Part 1: https://routetofi.blogspot.com/2021/10/warren-buffetts-10-classic-ideas.html

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Warren Buffett’s 10 classic ideas, learning to think like him

1. First understand, then act

The first one may be obvious. Warren Buffett put it very simply:

Never invest in businesses that you do not understand.

——Warren Buffett

 Never invest in ideas that you cannot understand.

You often see people who want to become artists, musicians, or other creative fields and one of their first impressions is that in order to be successful; they need to spend money on the best equipment.

People who like to paint will think that to become a good artist, he needs to spend thousands of dollars to buy the latest graphic tablet with integrated screen. Similarly, a new guitarist will also spend huge sums of money to buy expensive music equipment endorsed by a superstar.

This is not right. You don't need fancy equipment. A good musician can even play the worst guitar beautifully. A great artist can surprise you with an old ballpoint pen and a piece of shredded paper.

First of all, don't put your hard-earned money into such endeavors. Make sure you are determined to meet the challenge and can stick to it.

You can consider spending some spare money to invest in courses and training instead of expensive equipment. The equipment may be damaged at some point, but the lessons you learn will always be with you.

This leads to Warren Buffett’s next piece of advice, which is also the one most frequently cited-

2. Invest in yourself

Warren Buffett himself has said many times that this is the best advice he can give others.

The most important investment you can make is to invest in yourself.

——Warren Buffett

You are your greatest asset. Any investment that can help you improve your skills and learn new things is a worthwhile investment.

You can always monetize your knowledge-whether you learn programming through intensive training courses or a second language, you are now proficient enough to be a freelance translator.

By investing in improving your own skills, rather than buying new tools, you will become a more valuable asset for a long time to come.

There is a famous saying: It is better to teach people how to fish then  to fish for them

By focusing on improving your skills and spending a little time every day to learn new things, you can open up new business opportunities for yourself, enter new markets, and discover new possibilities.

3. Focus on one thing

Some of us may be good at doing several things at the same time. However, when you choose a career or something you want to pursue seriously, you should not be distracted elsewhere.

In the investment field, many people are often advised to "spread" their assets, as the old saying goes: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

For Warren Buffet, this suggestion is futile. He replied:

Diversification is the protection of ignorance. If you know what you are doing, there is actually no need to diversify your investment.

——Warren Buffett

If you do one thing well, you don't need any backup plan. They only consume your energy, and you could better invest those time and energy in what you are doing.

For people like me, this means focusing on one thing and sticking to it. What I personally lack sometimes is the effort and self-discipline necessary to persist in doing one thing. I didn't get the result I expected right away, so my motivation dropped and I invested less and less until I gave it up completely.

Success is not achieved overnight. If we want to succeed, we must put in a lot of effort. If you don't make any immediate progress, don't be discouraged. Keep going and you will see results sooner or later.

Don't be distracted to do other things. If you are too distracted on your main goal, you will waste time, and it will even take you longer to reach the goal, which may make you even more discouraged.

4. The meaning of price and value are not the same

It is often difficult for us to find something at the right price. But Warren Buffett believes that we should not prioritize price at all. Instead, we should focus on the value derived from it.

The price is the price you pay. Value is what you get for the price.

——Warren Buffett

In fact, this sentence applies everywhere, not only in the field of investment. Don't just see the price tag, but also the value behind it. Because the two are not always the same.

You can find two marketing courses. The price of a two-hour course is US$40, and the price of another course of approximately the same time is US$250.

From the price tag, the $40 course is much cheaper, so what is the quality? You will most likely learn something that is outdated, or something you could have spent an hour learning on your own on Google.

At the same time, more expensive courses may cost you a lot of money now, but the knowledge and skills they share can earn you ten times that in your future.

Ignore the price (whether it is cheap or expensive) and only try to estimate the real value you get from the payment. This is the basis for the most decision-making.

This "law" also applies to you as a freelancer. You may think that setting a cheaper price for your work will have more benefits. For example, there will be more customers willing to pay, so there will be more income overall. But you probably underestimated your true value. You may have made some money through excellent work, but have you really made the money you deserve?

If the quality of the things you provide is good enough, higher prices will not necessarily turn consumers away. Some people may decide not to adopt you because you are "too cheap". Although it may seem counterintuitive to ask for more than your competitors, you will find it worthwhile.

5. Don't neglect quality just to save money

The following advice is part of Warren Buffett’s personal investment strategy, but it is not just for acquiring companies. It is far better to buy a good company at a reasonable price than to buy a reasonable company at a good price.

——Warren Buffett

This article is somewhat similar in concept to the previous suggestion on price and value. Your first reaction maybe is to choose a cheaper option. But cheaper does not always mean better. 

When my coffee machine broke down (a cheap $10 coffee machine in the store), we went to buy a new one. I took a fancy to a coffee machine from Nescafé, but it was priced at more than $80, so we decided to change to a $20 coffee machine, thinking that it Is merely a coffee machine and we can use the money in better places.

In about 3 years, this cheap coffee machine broke down. We replaced it with another cheap coffee machine for $15 in accordance with our philosophy, and we did that several times. In the end, we spent a total of more than 100 US dollars on the coffee machine, and then used it for a few months on average before having to replace it with a new one.

In the end, we chose an expensive coffee, which is not only of good quality, but also tastes better subjectively.

If we had long understood the difference between price and value, we could have saved some money.

Therefore, be sure to keep your eyes open when facing cheap offers. You may be familiar with phone shopping and the "unbelievable" offers they offer you. "This amazing mattress costs $250, since it is on fire sale, so you can buy it now for only $100!"

This is a common marketing tactic. The mattress was not worth $250 from the beginning, and the company certainly wouldn't spend that much money to manufacture or import it. But they make you feel an urge to buy.

So, don't be fooled by things like discounts, premium packages.

Don't buy a mediocre "company", just because they offer you a good price. Look at what is hidden behind. Then make your judgment.

6. Learn to say "no"

This is also a lesson you learn from people who want to help you become a better entrepreneur, freelancer or employee.

Especially when we first started working, we wanted to please everyone. We tend to promise any help others might ask of us. Our workload exceeded our capacity, and as a result, we were under more and more pressure, but we did not receive the gratitude or recognition we expected. The difference between successful people and truly successful people is that the truly successful people say no to almost everything. You must control your own time, and you cannot let others set your life schedule.

——Warren Buffett

The most difficult thing—especially when you try to become your own boss through freelancing and entrepreneurship—is to stick to your position. You need clients, so objectively speaking, you will accept most of the job offers you get, no matter how ridiculous they are.

If we say "yes" too often, we won't get the recognition we expect. Sooner or later someone will abuse this fact. The price we pay is unpaid overtime, work more than we get paid, and solve problems for others for free. Our personal morale and private life will be greatly affected, and we will drift further and further away from our dreams.

Learn to say "no". Some people may think you are unreliable or selfish. But in any case, these people are not good partners for your career. To others, your ability to refuse may even be attractive. You know your worth, and you stick to your position. People will accept the fact that they have to pay for your services. In every office, there is a guy who does everything for everyone. He came early and left late. Don't be that kind of person. Believe me, he must be unhappy when he goes home.

7. Don't blindly believe in others, especially those who want to "help you"

Almost everyone has an ulterior motive. If you are as naive as I am, you will often fall in love with people who look like saints, and they just forcibly give us their agenda.

——Warren Buffett

Now there are those big swindlers who fool you with their’ success’. Who doesn't want to make money every day? But if you believe those who claimed that they succeeded, then congratulations, you have been conned by them.

Be careful with the people you trust and the suggestions you adopt. Try to observe what they did and how they did it. If they preach the same thing over and over, they may be eager to get money out of your pocket.

Chances are that you help them more than they help you.

8. Invest in things that align with your own values

Warren Buffet mainly buys stocks in companies he personally likes, and he also agrees with the ideas of these companies. He said: Why not invest your assets in a company you really like?

——Warren Buffett

It feels great to make money with something. But if you are not fully committed, you will quickly lose your initial passion. If you want to be a writer, don't ignore the subjects you really like and just cater to the market.

Don't rewrite a sentence that you think is good because someone tells you they don't like it.

No matter what you do, you should put yourself and your own satisfaction first. If you feel trapped by a job you hate, don't waste time complaining. Don't think that there is no way out. There is always a way out. Although finding a way out can be difficult, if you focus, you can make changes—remember, find something you like to do.

If we like to do something, it will be ten times easier to do.

Don't sell your soul to make some extra money, remember to buy only the companies you like.

9. Don't stay too long in the past failures

You may have lost a customer because you asked for "too much money" (in their opinion), or an article you wrote didnt receive any attention.

Or you did something that you regret afterwards. But you have to know that even Warren Buffet has experienced failures. In the business world, what you see in the rear mirror is always clearer than what you see on the windshield.

——Warren Buffett

It is easy to find mistakes afterwards. It's just as easy to indulge in past failures too much. It's one thing to learn from your mistakes. This is normal, and it is the main motivation for us to try to do better next time.

However, if we are too entangled in past failures, we may subconsciously let ourselves face more failures in the future. Rather than spend time on the wrong place, it is better to try to improve your program and try again.

It's the same as Warren Buffett's rear mirror metaphor: if you drive too fast and miss a good opportunity, you may end up seeing this opportunity getting smaller and smaller in the rear mirror.

But if you look back for too long, you may accidentally miss your second chance.

So, don't look back for too long.

10. Don't put success and money above everything else

To be honest, for a person with more than $80 billion in assets, this sentence seems easy to say, but it is still true. For Warren Buffett, money itself is not a true sign of success: If you are my age, no one has a good impression of you, and I don’t care how many bank accounts you have, your life will be a disaster. Among the billionaires I know, money only allows them to show their basic qualities. If they were bastards before they were rich, they are now bastards with a billion dollars.

——Warren Buffett

There is nothing wrong with dreaming of becoming a millionaire or billionaire. We are all fighting for success. The worse your financial situation is, the more excited you are when you imagine huge wealth.

The most important thing here is to keep your mind in the right place. Don't sell yourself to make money.

You must know the phrase "money can't buy happiness", but you are often refuted by saying, "I would rather sit in a Lamborghini and cry than on a rusty bicycle."

I don't care where you cry. The bottom line is, you are crying. There is a big problem in your life. All the money in the world is not enough to solve this problem.

Emotionally, I agree with this suggestion. I am surprised by all millionaires and billionaires. But only those who show human dignity and admirable character, I will respect them. Warren Buffett is one of them. Elon Musk is another example of doing everything possible to achieve good goals.

I wish you all the best. 

Part 2: https://routetofi.blogspot.com/2021/10/warren-buffetts-time-management-free-er.html

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