How I Invest My Money

Finance experts reveal how they save, spend, and invest

Brian Portnoy, Joshua Brown

• Publisher: Harriman House
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780857198099
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Développement personnel
• Subtopic: Finances personnelles

The world of investing normally sees experts telling us the 'right' way to manage our money. How often do these experts pull back the curtain and tell us how they invest their own money? Never.How I Invest My Money changes that.In this unprecedented collection, 25 financial experts share how they navigate markets with their own capital. In this honest rendering of how they invest, save, spend, give, and borrow, this group of portfolio managers, financial advisors, venture capitalists and other experts detail the 'how' and the 'why' of their investments. They share stories about their childhood, their families, the struggles they face and the aspirations they hold. Sometimes raw, always revealing, these stories detail the indelible relationship between our money and our values.Taken as a whole, these essays powerfully demonstrate that there is no single 'right' way to save, spend, and invest. We see a kaleidoscope of perspectives on stocks, bonds, real assets, funds, charity, and other means of achieving the life one desires. With engaging illustrations throughout by Carl Richards, How I Invest My Money inspires readers to think creatively about their financial decisions and how money figures in the broader quest for a contented life.With contributions from:Morgan Housel, Christine Benz, Brian Portnoy, Joshua Brown, Bob Seawright, Carolyn McClanahan, Tyrone Ross, Dasarte Yarnway, Nina O'Neal, Debbie Freeman, Shirl Penney, Ted Seides, Ashby Daniels, Blair duQuesnay, Leighann Miko, Perth Tolle, Josh Rogers, Jenny Harrington, Mike Underhill, Dan Egan, Howard Lindzon, Ryan Krueger, Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Rita Cheng, Alex Chalekian

Dan Egan

Dan Egan is the Managing Director of Behavioral Finance and Investing at Betterment. He has spent his career using behavioral finance to help people make better financial and investment decisions. Dan is a published author of multiple publications related to behavioral economics. He lectures at New York University, London Business School, and the London School of Economics on the topic.

How I invest for myself is either incredibly boring, or very challenging, depending on your perspective. But it starts with the idea that money is always a servant, never a master.

Why even save at all?

I’m going to start more from a financial planning point of view. I save because there are things (generally expenses) in the future I want to be able to afford. I want to know and care about what I’m saving for. Generally speaking, I want to be saving to afford these, plus a bit more to deal with the unexpected. I then have assets I’ll use to offset those expenses.

Here’s the top-level view.

What	Percent	Ex-HC percent	Percent stocks
Human capital	75%	—	—
Retirement	11%	47%	90%
House	6%	26%	—
Natural land	3%	11%	—
Emergency fund	2%	8%	30%
Daughter college fund	2%	6%	—
Previous mistakes	1%	2%	100%

Let’s dive into each item.

Human capital

I’m about 40, and plan on working for another 20 years. So, my biggest asset is still my earning power—my ability to turn my time and effort into money. Since I began working at 16, my hourly wage has grown nearly 10-fold. That reflects a pretty steady stream of reinvesting in myself.

After college I worked and saved for two years to be able to afford a masters program with no debt. I’ve learned multiple programming languages, even a mobile app language. I’ve taken classes in graphic design, user research, databases and version control.

I’ve also put effort into soft skills: coaching and feedback on being a better communicator and presenter, and media training. I occasionally write essays that I want to be effective, and I hire a professional editor. Their feedback didn’t solely improve the pieces they’ve edited—it’s improved my writing substantially.

As the set and level of skills has grown, I’ve been able to deliver substantially more within my own company, and outside it. You’ll never see anything I’ve designed in production, but it’s been key for making the problem clear and clearing an initial path to solutions.

Finally I put effort into networking with people who are adjacent to me. While I love other behavioral finance practitioners, I’m probably not going to learn as much from them as I will from somebody who comes from a slightly different field where we can both cross pollinate. That means taking the time to reach out and converse with people who aren’t directly in your own wheelhouse.

So, my biggest asset right now is me, my time and effort, and how I spend it. That’s where I invest most of my attention.

Retirement

My wife and I have a joint retirement plan, aiming to...