Get Lucky

Written By Nick Hodge

Posted March 31, 2012

Luck.

I haven’t decided if I don’t believe in it, or if I make my own.

Frankly, I think most people who have “good luck” are just better at capitalizing on opportunity.

And the best thing you can do to put yourself in a position to be able to capitalize on opportunity is be financially prepared.

Chance favors the prepared mind — but it favors the prepared wallet even more.

No parking within a few blocks of your restaurant? Hit the valet or the garage.

Sleep wrong and got a kink in your neck? Get a massage; don’t live with it for days.

Having a financial cushion turns setbacks into non-events.

But how do you get that money? You have to be willing to act.

For starters, you have to save money to invest, even if your friends and neighbors are busy spending.

Set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to a brokerage account. The more the better: If you earn 20% on $100, you make $20. If you earn 20% on $1,000, you make $200. This is no-brainer stuff.

Once you have the funds, you need to be willing to act on investments.

You have to put money into oil and gas stocks and funds while everyone else is complaining about rising gas prices.

You have to take advantage of dividends to diversify and provide income.

You have to open IRAs and other accounts to manage tax liability and plan for retirement.

If you don’t know how to do all this yourself, you need to seek the advice of someone who does — preferably someone who takes a flat fee, and isn’t paid a commission or forced to guide you to only certain options because that’s what his corporate parent company sells.

I keep and contribute to a SIMPLE IRA through work, have another IRA and brokerage account with Scottrade, and investor checking and brokerage accounts with Schwab.

I manage the investments myself and pay an Enrolled Agent a flat fee for tax strategy and filing.

I manage everything electronically and haven’t been to a bank in over a year and a half. Schwab refunds all ATM fees and you can deposit checks with prepaid envelopes or a smartphone app.

You can do the same.

And then you’ll be ready to “get lucky.”

You can get lucky and be ready to invest in the next big winner we find…

Or you can get lucky and take your dad fishing in the Keys. That’s where I am this weekend, spending the money I made by compounding preparedness and work ethic, which we discussed a few weeks ago.

Everything else from this week is below.

Call it like you see it,

Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital


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