Today I’m sharing my investing practice and personal finance habits.
Since I really enjoy learning about investing, economics, and personal finance, I hope you’ll gain value out of knowing what my money habits and investing process is like. You may get some ideas of what you might like to incorporate into your financial routine, too.
To be on top of general business and economic news, most days I like to scroll through the Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) home page and if I have time, watch some of their educational videos. Sometimes I go to the local library to read newspapers for more information.
I’ll either google about companies or investors, and read some articles that aren’t too hidden behind paywalls, like CNBC, Marketwatch, Seeking Alpha, and sparingly Bloomberg.
I also enjoy reading investing books that I’ve heard about on investing podcasts or which were recommended by famous investors like Warren Buffett.
I try to check up on my favorite companies’ annual (10K) and quarterly (10Q), investor presentations, and earnings call webinars and transcripts.
I’ve been reading Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway letters, and I also have Nick Sleep’s letters on my to do list.
Sometimes I read the blogs of Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Jeremy Grantham of GMO, and Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management.
I’ll watch investing-related videos on Youtube, especially any content on my favorite investors or companies on my watch list.
I regularly listen to investing-related podcasts like Invested or The Investors Podcast.
When it’s that time of the quarter, I check up on my favorite superinvestors like Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Mohnish Pabrai, or Guy Spier with their 13F filings on Dataroma.
I discuss investing with friends and professionals on social media channels and check out their content too. I’ve signed up to some newsletters with investing and economic indicators. I use some stock apps to get stock market alerts.
At least once a week, I check my financial accounts including my investments in brokerage accounts and my bank accounts.
Every now and then I’ll check for the latest high yield bank savings/money market interest rates and series I bond rates, which from November 2022 through April 2023 is now 6.89%. Surprisingly, the Series EE 2.1%, which is 2% higher than this savings bond used to be.
I like having a decent cash cushion for an emergency fund and getting the highest yields possible, like one of my higher bank interest rates is around 2.5% at this time. I hope it will go to 4-5% with the Fed hiking rates so much.
I used to read personal finance blogs more often when I was beginning my personal finance journey such as Nerdwallet, Investopedia, Bankrate, Mr. Money Mustache, and Financial Samurai.
My investing process in stocks includes doing research and calculations for companies’ valuations. When it actually comes to investing in stocks, I like to max out my Roth IRA, Roth 401k, and Health Savings Account (HSA) as much as possible.
I try to buy stocks in tranches or portions at a time, though sometimes I’ve allocated an entire amount I was planning to invest into a single position.
At times, I’ve sold some cash-secured puts or covered calls for cash flow generation or to bring my cost basis down, but this is not a primary focus for me. I’d rather be as invested as possible.
In my early 20s, I prioritized paying off my student loans and car loan as fast as possible so I was able to become debt-free in my mid 20s. I have my bills scheduled to be paid ahead of time, and many of them are automatically paid out of my checking account.
Without having to worry about debt or bills, I can focus most of my energy and 10-20 hours of my time each week on my investing practice.
I happen to prefer being a concentrated investor, like how Buffett says to focus on investing in a half a dozen stocks if you’re going to put the time and effort in. But if you want to save time, a low cost index fund like the S&P 500 is Buffett-approved too.
I hope that this rundown of my personal finance and investing habits was helpful to you!
If you’re interested in learning how to take control of your finances and start becoming an investor like Warren Buffett, check out my free PDF guide.
I look forward to making more investor friends! Add me on Insta: michellemarki