[polarbear]

Originally Posted by DAB

i had a BS in Mech. Engr.

never formally studied investing.

retired at 45, 10 years ago.

basics: find something you are good at. work hard. save some of each paycheck - the more the better. max out any retirement accounts, 401k, IRA, Roth IRA (some years, i dumped money in all 3), save other money in a taxable account. avoid stupid debt. getting a mortgage for a house is ok (don't get more house than you can afford), everything else - pay cash.

if i didn't have the money in my pocket or in my checking account, it didn't get spent.

wash, rinse, repeat for 20 or more years.

now i can do pretty much what i want every day.

that concludes your free lesson in finance. go apply it.

Great post. And yes, it is really that simple. There's a lot of variations to this, but the bottom line is people borrow too much for crap they don't need, and as a result don't save enough for a time when they will need.