03 Jun 2025
0 Comments
How to Increase Returns Buying ETFs Instead of Index Funds

How to Increase Returns Buying ETFs Instead of Index Funds

I read many financial investment books and follow many personal investment blogs and podcasts. My learnings haves been incorporated into Rule 7 of my 10 Rules for Life: To be rich, spend money on what you love. I have seen advice recently that suggests that there is little difference between investing in index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Wrong! I’m about to teach you how you may be able to increase your returns by buying ETFs instead of index funds. My trick has helped me earn an extra 1% on recent purchases, and several thousand dollars over the past…
Read More
13 Feb 2025
0 Comments
Howard Marks’ Uncommon Sense For The Thoughtful Investor

Howard Marks’ Uncommon Sense For The Thoughtful Investor

I recently watched a video listing top books for financial success. I had read many of the books, and shared thoughts on some of them before, but had never read the Howard Marks book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor. Marks co-founded Oaktree Capital Management in 1995 and remains Chairman of the Board. The California firm currently has $205 Billion in assets under management and Marks is a self-made billionaire. The forward by Warren Buffet states, “This is that rarity, a useful book.” I tend to agree! Below I share my notes from the book and…
Read More
13 Nov 2024
0 Comments
Key Components to Living a Good Life

Key Components to Living a Good Life

Have you ever wondered, "Am I living a good life?" We all have the same 24 hours in a day; however, each and every one of us spends them differently, leading to various outcomes. In this week's post, we're excited to share a TedTalk by neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki and HSBC Global Private Banking and Wealth's CEO, Annabel Spring, where they discuss the key components of living a good life. While watching, be sure to note where you are already meeting the mark and where you may need to improve for a good life! https://www.ted.com/talks/annabel_spring_and_wendy_suzuki_what_makes_a_good_life_a_neuroscientist_and_a_global_financial_ceo_answer?subtitle=en Key Components to Living a Good…
Read More
31 Oct 2024
0 Comments
Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be

Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be

I was recently reviewing a book about college admissions. In doing so, I thought it would be good to research the answer to a simple question, “how much does the college you attend matter in your future?” I have three children (two currently in college and one in high school) so I wanted to share my findings with them and others. This post summarizes the research, finding that where you go is not who you’ll be. Read on for some simple advice for high school students and parents navigating the college admissions process. Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll…
Read More
02 Oct 2024
0 Comments
Updated and Improved Financial Advice from Personal Kaizen

Updated and Improved Financial Advice from Personal Kaizen

Last month we shared new research on money and happiness and updated Rule 7 of our 10 Rules for Life to, “To be wealthy, spend money on what you love.” After updating the rule, I read through all of our previous Personal Kaizen financial advice blog posts to see what other information might be outdated or need an update. This post is a nice summary of all things financial. Personal Kaizen Finance Blog Posts Here is a list of our previous long-form posts related to finances and money: Personal Kaizen Rule 7: To be Wealthy, Spend Money on What You…
Read More
04 Sep 2024
0 Comments
New Data Shows More Money Leads to Greater Happiness

New Data Shows More Money Leads to Greater Happiness

Rule 7 of our 10 Rules for Life is, “To be rich, spend money on what you love.” As we introduce that rule, we note that as long as you have enough money (currently an income of around $100,000 per year), more money won’t make you much happier. This is based on a famous economic study, but a new study has the opposite finding. So, what is true? Does more money lead to greater happiness? Studies on the Relationship Between Money and Happiness It is very hard to study the relationship between money and happiness without controlling for other factors,…
Read More
05 Dec 2022
0 Comments
A Tip for Doing Well With Money

A Tip for Doing Well With Money

Check out our Personal Kaizen Motivational Monday quote! Ever wondered how some make doing well with money look so easy? This week we share a quote from Morgan Housel, a finance expert and former finance columnist at The Wall Street Journal who touches on just that! "Doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave."Morgan Housel Our Personal Kaizen topic this week will be on the Lean East site. We will share the share lessons from Morgan Housel's 2020 book The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness.…
Read More
27 Jul 2022
1 Comment
Five Easy Low-Cost Investment Strategies for FIRE

Five Easy Low-Cost Investment Strategies for FIRE

We recently suggested strategies for Putting Lazy Money to Work for You, a topic related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. We shared that “cash is trash” and showed how inflation destroys the spending power of your money. The best strategy is to make your money work for you by investing it. Here are 5 low-cost investment strategies that will help you retire comfortably or even achieve FIRE – financial independence to retire early! Note that I am not a financial advisor – these are all just personal opinions. Also, note that I am not…
Read More
25 Jul 2022
0 Comments
It’s Not About How Much Money You Make

It’s Not About How Much Money You Make

Check out our Personal Kaizen Motivational Monday quote! This week we share a quote from Robert Kiyosaki, an American businessman, and author who has written multiple books about personal finance. He has also written about business investing. We agree with his idea that it's not about how much money you make! Check out the full quote below. "It's not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for."Robert Kiyosaki Our upcoming Personal Kaizen post will share five low-cost investment strategies that will help you…
Read More
20 Jul 2022
0 Comments
Travel for Free With These Simple Tips

Travel for Free With These Simple Tips

The Personal Kaizen posts over the past several weeks have been focused on smart money habits related to Rule 7 of the Personal Kaizen 10 Rules for Life. We began by encouraging you to Stop Wasting Your Money with These 8 Simple Tips and gave advice on How to Improve Your Credit Score and Save Thousands and last week ways to Use Credit Card Bonus Points and Cashback. This post will provide step-by-step instructions that will allow you to travel the world for free. Want to Travel for Free? I booked hotel rooms and bought plane tickets for a vacation…
Read More