Increase Your Financial I.Q.

Managing finances is both very easy and very hard.  The basic principles of budgeting, saving, and giving are easy to understand.  People who struggle financially can generally tell you what they did wrong and what they should do differently. 

The details of keeping track of spending, tax law, investment choices, loan choices, banking fees, 401K rules, IRA rules, insurance options, etc.. is very tedious and often confusing.  This is the hard part of managing finances.

You can become an expert in anything if you simply spend 15 minutes a day studying what you want to excel at.

Since managing money is often considered the number one issue in marriage, why not become an expert in this area?

I started doing this about 15 years ago when I was asked to teach a church class on managing money.  I have been reading and studying finances ever since.  We committed to living with financial margin early on and it has eliminated financial stress in our family.  We have plenty of other issues to solve.

I realized the other day that I fret over every purchase over $50 but every day the stock market moves 1% I gain or lose more than $1000.  It is really important that I invest well.  If a person can gain an extra 2% per year in one investing strategy vs. another, it makes an enormous difference in the long run because of compounding interest.

I now spend 15 minutes a day (on average) reading something on investing.  I have learned a ton over the last ten years and my investment strategy has changed as a result.  Investing is so challenging that I still feel like I have a long ways to go.  There are many contradictory investing strategies.  Studies have shown that even the paid professionals on average cannot beat a randomly selected portfolio of stocks.  After going through two major market meltdowns in the last ten years, I cannot just sit back and hope that my investments will go up.

Following are the best resources I have found to increase financial I.Q.

Debt Elimination

www.daveramsey.com - Debt elimination guru.  Go to one of his classes if you need motivation.

www.stressfreefinance.com - My free website.  Click on Path to Stress Free if you are self-motivated.

Consumer Help

www.clarkhoward.com - Avoid scams, insurance advice, loan advice, etc....

www.consumerreports.org - Best advice on buying high quality products.

General Financial Knowledge

Kiplingers magazine - Monthly articles on every financial subject and a web site.

www.investopedia.com - Great investing tutorials.

www.businessweek.com - Daily business news.  Learn what drives the markets.

www.finance.yahoo.com - A good general site for studying various stocks, funds, bonds, and financial news. Free portfolio tracking.

Christian Advice and Giving 

www.crown.org - Excellent articles on various financial questions from a biblical viewpoint.

www.worldvision.org - One of my favorites charities.

www.compassion.com - Another favorite charity.  Change the life of a child forever.

Index Investing

John C. Bogle - Mastermind of index fund investing.  Search Google.

www.allaboutprosperity.com/articles/schiff-portfolio101.htm - Very simple and effective indexing strategy.

Mutual Funds

www.morningstar.com - Learn how to find the best mutual funds.

Stock Charts

www.bigcharts.marketwatch.com/ - Good long-term stock charts.

http://clearstation.etrade.com/ - Good short-term stock charts and technical trading tutorials.