Interview with Top Money Hacks

Hi friends,

I am happy to share I was interviewed by Top Money Hacks.  Check out my interview here!

Top Money Hacks covers all topics of personal finance, particularly focused on valuable hacks to improve your financial condition.  It also features periodic interviews with bloggers in the finance and early retirement community. There was one question in the interview (by Fehmeen) that made me prioritize what I consider as three essential financial tips/hacks.   My answers to that question follow:

What are your top 3 financial tips/hacks that you’d like to share with our readers?

1. Prepare for Emergencies – Almost all emergencies leave a financial impact. Emergencies can strike when you are least prepared, so before you even think about investing, build a fund to take care of at least 6 months of your life. Put this in the best-interest bearing money market account you can find (make sure it is FDIC-insured in US or enjoys equivalent regulatory protection in other countries). After you build an investment portfolio of decent size, a separate emergency fund may not be required but it is absolutely essential to start your financial journey with one.
2. Live two ‘notches’ below your income level. By a ‘notch’, I mean 10%. So, if you are earning $60,000/year, live the lifestyle of a person earning 20% less, that is, $48,000/year. You can easily find such a person in your workplace or neighborhood and observe their lifestyle choices. Even if they are barely squeaking by, you are going to automatically save 20% of your income by doing this.
3. Invest efficiently – Too much of your hard-earned money ends up in the hands of the unscrupulous financial industry filled with charlatans and pseudo-experts who talk a good game, but almost never walk the talk. Cost matters enormously in investing, so invest in either low cost equity index funds or a diverse portfolio of high quality dividend-paying companies if you have the interest to build a passive income stream for the future.

What do you think?  Please post your comments or thoughts on the interview below.  

I am proud to have a high quality readership base here at Ten Factorial Rocks and always enjoy reading your thoughtful comments.

Mr. TFR

Raman Venkatesh is the founder of Ten Factorial Rocks.  Raman is a  ‘Gen X’ corporate executive in his mid 40’s.  In addition to having a Ph.D. in engineering, he has worked in almost all continents of the world.  Ten Factorial Rocks (TFR) was created to chronicle his journey towards retirement while sharing his views on the absurdities and pitfalls along the way.  The name was taken from the mathematical function 10! (ten factorial) which is equal to 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 3,628,800.