There are thousands and thousands of well-worn financial suggestions – bits of conventional advice that people rattle off here and there. And, a lot of these adages provide great guidance given the right set of circumstances. However, real financial wisdom is a little less common.
Here are 15 financial suggestions that are better than the conventional advice you probably already have rattling around in your head:
1. A Penny Saved (and Invested) is (More) than a Penny Earned
I am a big fan of Benjamin Franklin, but he could have done better with his admonition of “a penny saved is a penny earned.”
He was not wrong. The phrase underscores the importance of frugality, thriftiness, and saving money. It is absolutely true that saving and avoiding unnecessary expenses are good habits that enable you to increase wealth.
However, Franklin missed an opportunity to make a perhaps even more important point. A penny saved and invested is actually worth MORE than a penny earned.
Want more investing wisdom? Check out quotes from John C. Bogle.
2. Dynamic Withdrawal Strategies Are Better than the 4% Rule
The 4% rule has long been a cornerstone of retirement advice, suggesting you can safely withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year without running out of money. But real life isn’t static, and neither should your retirement income strategy be. Markets fluctuate, spending needs change, and unexpected events (like inflation spikes or healthcare costs) can throw a rigid plan off course.
Dynamic withdrawal strategies offer more flexibility and resilience. Instead of blindly sticking to a fixed percentage, you adjust your withdrawals based on portfolio performance, life events, or updated goals. For example, you might tighten spending during a market downturn to preserve capital or increase withdrawals in strong years when your investments outperform.
This approach helps your money last longer and gives you more control. It acknowledges the reality that retirement isn’t a straight line—and allows your plan to evolve as your life does.
3. You Actually Need to Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
While the old saying warns “don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” in financial planning, doing exactly that –looking ahead and projecting outcomes – is not only smart, it’s essential.
Anticipating your future income, expenses, and potential risks allows you to make more informed decisions today. Whether you’re planning for retirement, considering a career change, or helping your kids with college, running projections helps you see if your goals are realistic and sustainable. It’s not about assuming everything will go perfectly, it’s about modeling scenarios, stress-testing your plan, and preparing for both the best- and worst-case outcomes. In other words, counting your future chickens may be the key to making sure they actually hatch.
Use the Boldin Planner to count your chickens!
4. Don’t Avoid Risk with Retirement Investments, Embrace the Right Amount of Risk
It’s common to think that once you hit retirement, you should shift all your investments into something “safe.” But playing it too safe can be risky in itself. With people living 20, 30, or even 40 years in retirement, your money needs to keep growing to outpace inflation and preserve your lifestyle over time.
The key isn’t to eliminate risk—it’s to take the right amount. A well-balanced portfolio with a mix of growth-oriented and stable assets can help you generate long-term returns while still protecting against market downturns. This might mean keeping a portion of your portfolio in stocks, even after you stop working.
Ultimately, embracing the right amount of risk helps ensure your money keeps working for you. It’s not about being aggressive—it’s about being strategic, informed, and prepared for the decades ahead.
5. The Joneses Don’t Matter (and They Aren’t as Rich or Happy as You Think They Are)
“Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses” is a classic financial suggestion – and for good reason, three good reasons actually:
You shouldn’t try to live someone else’s life.
Your financial plan should reflect your values, your goals, and what brings you peace of mind. Not someone else’s highlight reel.
Build a financial life that allows you to:
- Feel in control of your day-to-day expenses
- Withstand life’s curveballs—like inflation, a job loss, or a medical emergency
- Sustain a lifestyle you truly enjoy, now and in the future
- Pursue meaningful goals without being constantly derailed
When you focus on your own path, confidence and contentment follow—and ironically, that’s when others start wishing they were more like you.
The Joneses aren’t as rich or happy as you think they are
A flashy lifestyle might be built on debt, stress, or insecurity. Meanwhile, the family living in a modest home and driving older cars may be far wealthier and more financially secure than anyone suspects.
It’s better to admire earners, not spenders
It’s natural to notice what others buy. We’re surrounded by curated lifestyles and social media gloss. But instead of being impressed by spending, shift your attention to the habits and mindsets that build real wealth.
Admire people who:
- Save consistently
- Invest wisely
- Live below their means
- Stay focused on long-term goals
That’s where real financial strength comes from – not from what you see, but from what’s quietly working behind the scenes.
6. Don’t Buy Low and Sell High, Just Buy
If you could forecast the future, there is no doubt that “buy low and sell high” would be a good suggestion. The thing is, you can’t predict what is going to happen tomorrow, let alone over the next 10-plus years. So, it is impossible to really know when the low and high points will be.
Because we don’t know what will happen, many financial experts advise that you don’t try to time the market and buy low and sell high.
A better investment strategy for most people is to just buy. And, more specifically, to buy into the market at regular intervals, no matter the price of the investment.
This strategy is called dollar-cost averaging. By investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, investors can reduce their exposure to market volatility. Rather than investing a lump sum at one point in time, dollar-cost averaging allows investors to spread out their investments over time, potentially reducing the impact of short-term market fluctuations.
Dollar cost averaging:
- Reduces the impact of market timing, as it avoids the need to predict short-term market movements
- Encourages disciplined investing
- Eliminates the urge to make emotional investment decisions based on short-term market volatility
7. How You Spend Your Money AND Time Are Reflections of Your Values
Your budget and your calendar are two of the clearest windows into what you truly value. It’s easy to say that family, health, freedom, or purpose matter most – but the way you spend your money and your time reveals whether those values are actually guiding your life.
Look at your recent spending. Look at your last week. Does it reflect what’s most important to you? Or are your resources being drained by habit, obligation, or comparison?
Aligning money with meaning
Too often, financial suggestions focus solely on saving, investing, and avoiding mistakes. But a good financial plan also helps you intentionally direct money toward what makes life meaningful:
- If you value quality time with loved ones, budget for shared experiences.
- If you value health, invest in good food, movement, and care.
- If you crave freedom, prioritize debt payoff and build flexibility into your plan.
Money is a tool – not just for survival, but for expression.
Time is your most finite asset
You can always earn more money, but time is non-renewable. If you’re constantly overworking or overspending to “someday” enjoy your life, you may be ignoring your present values. Just like with money, track where your hours go:
- Are you spending time in ways that energize you, or drain you?
- Are your priorities showing up on your calendar?
- Are you reserving space for rest, relationships, and purpose?
Financial and time alignment doesn’t happen by accident – it happens by choice. When your spending and your schedule reflect your values, you feel less anxious, more grounded, and more fulfilled.
8. Better to Go to Bed Hungry Than to Rise in Debt (Unless You Own the Home Where You Are Waking Up)
Buying a home can be one of the greatest ways to create wealth, even if you buy the home with debt.
When you purchase a home, you get the utility of a place to live – a necessity. However, you’re also building equity as you pay down your mortgage. Equity represents the portion of the property that you own outright. Over time, as property values tend to appreciate, the value of your home can increase, allowing you to build even more equity.
This can provide you with a valuable asset and potential wealth accumulation.
Use the Boldin Retirement Planner to model the future value of your home and explore how you can tap your home equity to help cover retirement or other expenses.
9. You Don’t Need to Be a Finance Whiz to Build Wealth
Too often people think that personal finance is about math and insider information. It’s not. There are simple strategies to employ and all it really takes is discipline to:
- Spend less than you earn
- Save and invest
- Use a planning tool like the Boldin Planner to organize your money and run scenarios for better decision making
Look, financial success for most people requires something like 5% intelligence and 95% discipline to be able to control spending, save, invest, and make financial decisions based on your values.
10. Money Can Buy Happiness
Sure, material wealth and possessions do not guarantee genuine happiness or fulfillment. However, a certain level of income to cover basic needs is foundational to happiness. And, once past covering for your needs, there are many different ways to spend to improve your well-being.
Explore 11 ways to spend money to increase happiness.
11. Actual Investment Returns Are Likely Significantly Less than You Think They Are
Your investment returns are probably not exactly what you think they are.
Investment return refers to the gain or loss on an investment relative to the amount initially invested. It is a measure of the profitability or performance of an investment over a specific period of time. Basically is is a measure of how much has your money increased (or decreased). (This measure is more specifically referred to as nominal return.)
The thing is that inflation, taxes, and fees should also be considered when calculating returns. And, these factors can really eat into your profitability.
- Inflation: When you factor inflation into your investment returns, you basically take your rate of return and subtract the inflation rate to get your “real investment return.” So, if you earned 10% on an investment, but the inflation rate is 4%, then your real rate of return is only 6%. (When you include inflation as a factor in investment returns, it is called a “real rate of return.”)
- Fees: Many households pay investment fees to brokerages or advisors who invest their money. These fees are typically around 1-1.5% of the money they are investing for you. So, if you earned 10% on an investment and are paying 1% in fees, you only really get to keep 9% (10% minus the 1% fee).
- Taxes: How your investments are taxed can be complicated. But, it is another factor that can eat into your returns.
Your actual returns may be half what you think they are or more when you consider inflation, fees, and taxes.
NOTE: The Boldin Retirement Planner provides comprehensive modeling. While you enter your nominal rate of return, the system factors in inflation to all of your projections. Fees can be subtracted from the rate of return you enter for investments or you can add the fee as an expense.
12. Advisors Can Help You Compound Your Savings, They Also Compound Costs
John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, said: “The miracle of compounding returns is overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs.”
You see, if you are paying an advisor an assets under management (AUM) fee to invest your money, you are typically paying .25% of your account balance for a robo advisor or 1-2% for a financial advisor.
And, if your advisor is delivering personalized planning, proactive guidance, and long-term peace of mind, the cost may be well worth it. But if you’re paying for basic investment management you could easily automate, it’s worth reconsidering your options.
Flat Fee Advice is an Alternative to Assets Under Management: Boldin Advisors offers flat fee engagements. You get all the advice (and more) you would get from an AUM advisor, but you execute the plan yourself. Depending on the value of your savings, this can save you tens of thousands of dollars every year. Book a FREE Discovery session now.
13. Investing Should Be Boring, Not Exciting and Glamorous
Look, if you’re excited about an investment, it may be a bad idea. Gambling is exciting. Investing should be boring.
When you are trying to invest for the long term, you want:
Aim for consistency and patience
Successful investing requires consistency and patience. It involves staying committed to a well-thought-out investment strategy and avoiding impulsive decisions based on short-term market fluctuations or noise. This patient approach may not involve frequent trading or chasing the latest investment trends, which can make investing seem unexciting or dull.
Focus on long-term goals
Investing is primarily about achieving long-term financial goals, such as retirement savings, funding children’s education, or building wealth over time. The process of steadily contributing to investment accounts and maintaining a diversified portfolio may not involve constant excitement or dramatic gains. Instead, it requires a focus on the long-term perspective and the discipline to stay the course despite short-term market fluctuations.
Minimize risk
Boring investing often revolves around minimizing unnecessary risks and avoiding speculative or volatile investments. Instead, it emphasizes strategies such as diversification, asset allocation, and investing in low-cost index funds or other proven investment vehicles. By taking a more conservative and measured approach, investors aim to protect their capital and generate steady, reliable returns over the long term.
Reduce emotional decisions
Emotions can be detrimental to investment success. Boring investing promotes rational decision-making and discourages emotional reactions to market movements. By maintaining a calm and objective mindset, investors can avoid making impulsive decisions based on fear or greed, which can lead to poor outcomes.
14. Financial Suggestion: Happily Pay Interest When It Will Increase Your Wealth
Most debt, particularly high-interest credit card debt, is bad.
However, debt can also be an effective tool for increasing wealth, especially with careful consideration of interest rates, loan terms, and repayment capabilities.
Examples of using debt to improve your financial situation might include:
Investing in real estate
Whether it is your own home or an investment, you can leverage debt to increase wealth. By obtaining a mortgage or a loan to acquire property and benefit from potential appreciation in property values over time, rental income, or profits from property sales. The use of debt allows you to access larger investments than you could afford solely with your savings, increasing their potential for wealth accumulation.
Education and skill development
Using debt to invest in education and skill development can significantly increase earning potential and long-term wealth. Taking out student loans to pursue higher education or vocational training in fields with high demand and earning potential can lead to improved job opportunities and higher salaries.
Flexibility
By securing a line of credit or borrowing against your home, you can increase financial flexibility. For example, a low interest loan can sometimes be a better source of funds than selling investments at a loss.
Not sure? Run a “what if” scenario using the Boldin Retirement Planner to determine if debt could actually improve your financial picture.
15. Retirement Shouldn’t Be About Retiring
The dictionary defines “retirement” as unwilling to be noticed or be with other people.
While you may want to get away from your work colleagues, retirement these days is not usually a calm solitary time. It is a tremendous opportunity to live life on your own terms and do exactly what you want to do, preferably with adequate social engagement.
Updated May 2025