The stock market got a little wonky there for a bit though has settled down…but it provided me with a good reminder to have patience and not panic.  If I had bailed when the market tanked, I’d have missed this latest recovery!  It’s important to not let little blips throw you off.

The best book I’ve read on this subject, by far, is MONEY – Master The Game by Tony Robbins.  As he often says, ‘success leaves clues’…he’s made a living (and a small fortune) by studying the success of others, and compiling that into a concise steps that others can follow to achieve similar results.  In this book, he took that same approach to financial planning, and it’s a great read.  One of the points he makes is that mutual funds are basically garbage…you’re better off just putting your money into an index fund (if you’re investing in stocks).  Warren Buffet recently won a million dollar bet involving exactly that…he bet that a low cost S&P 500 index fund would provide better results than a collection Protégé Partners hedge funds.  He won, with a 7.1% return compared to 2.2% from the funds.  Oh, and note that Buffet donated the winnings to Girls Inc. of Omaha, to help teen girls transitioning out of the foster system.  Anyway, the book is less than $15 at Amazon, it’s a small price to pay for the knowledge contained inside!