Your Finances Are Under Control When …
You will probably have to work 30 or 40 years before you amass enough money to quit your job and live off your savings. But that doesn't mean you have to spend those 30 or 40 years fretting about money.
Indeed, while true financial independence may take decades, you can achieve a sense of financial freedom in just a few short years. How do you know when you've finally got your financial life under control? Here are 41 signs that you've become a savvy investor and a smart saver:
1. Shopping is no longer your favorite hobby.
2. You get excited when stock prices fall.
3. You're richer than your neighbors, and they haven't a clue.
4. You smirk when others boast about their stock-picking prowess.
5. You save part of every paycheck.
6. You may not make your heirs wealthy. But you've ensured they won't inherit a nightmarish financial mess.
7. You remember your investment mistakes, and they still make you shudder.
8. Before you buy an investment, you think about when you will need to sell.
9. You aren't 100% sure about anything.
10. You never open your credit-card bills with trepidation.
11. You know bonds will likely drag down your portfolio's performance, but you own some anyway.
12. You can bring yourself to sell losing investments.
13. You could easily afford to buy a new car, but you don't.
14. You check your portfolio every day, but trade only twice a year.
15. You don't trust anybody on Wall Street.
16. Whenever you hear about somebody with a huge house and a driveway full of new cars, you don't wonder how rich they are. Instead, you are in awe of the staggering sums they must have spent.
17. You never thought Beanie Babies were an investment.
18. You still haven't figured out how to beat the market. But you're a whiz at cutting investment costs and trimming your portfolio's tax bill.
19. You think CNBC is a font of useless insights, but you enjoy watching it anyway.
20. You are filled with horror when your neighbors describe their latest meeting with their broker.
21. You've given your executor a list of all your financial accounts. It fits on one page.
22. You view personal-finance columnists with suspicion.
23. You know enough about hedge funds to know you don't want one.
24. Your retirement dreams don't hinge on beating the market or earning double-digit annual returns.
25. Sure, you want the big house, early retirement, the fancy vacations and the kids to go to Harvard. But you long ago realized you couldn't have it all.
26. You don't own any investments you don't understand.
27. Yes, you worry about a market crash. But what really scares you is not having enough money in 30 years, when you retire.
28. You're appalled whenever you see somebody buying lottery tickets.
29. You realize remodeling the bathroom is a money loser.
30. You have all the insurance you need, and no more.
31. You can describe your investment strategy in 60 seconds.
32. You always make the maximum possible 401(k) contribution.
33. You would love to sell your house and buy a bigger one. But you get queasy thinking about the brokerage commission involved.
34. When the TV talking heads throw around technical jargon, you don't understand what they're saying. But you're pretty sure it's garbage.
35. Whenever a market sector rockets higher, you don't get greedy, you get scared.
36. You never do anything just to earn frequent-flier miles.
37. You have no idea which part of the market will perform best over the next year. But because you're well diversified, you're pretty confident some part of your portfolio will make money.
38. You earn more than your brother-in-law, but don't live nearly so lavishly.
39. You wince when you think about the time you carried a credit-card balance and ended up paying 17% in annual interest.
40. Every time you buy a stock, you wonder whether the seller knows something you don't.
41. Whenever people ask you for investment advice, they're almost always disappointed by your answers.
财务状况稳健的41个征兆
你可能还得干三十或四十多年才能攒够钱退休，然后靠自己的储蓄生活，但这并不意味著这几十年中你必须总为钱的事著急。
真正实现财力自主也许需要几十年，但其实你可以在短短几年间获得一种财力自由的感觉。你怎样才能知道对自己的财务状况成竹在胸呢？下面是41个征兆，它们可以判断你是否已经成为一个干练的投资者和精明的节俭者:
1.购物不再是你最爱干的事。
2.股市一下跌，你就感到很兴奋。
3.你比自己的邻居有钱，但他们却察觉不到这一点。
4.当别人吹嘘自己高超的选股技巧时，你会暗自笑话他的本事其实不怎么样。
5.每次拿到薪水，你都会将其中的一部分攒起来。
6.你可能无法让你的继承人很富有，但你可以保证不会留给他们一个财产烂摊子给他们。
7.你对自己的投资失误记忆犹新，想起来就感到战栗。
8.你在投资之前，你总会想到什么时候要卖出投资。
9.你对任何事情都觉得没有100%的把握。
10.你打开信用卡对帐单时，从来不担心看到大笔欠款。
11.你知道债券可能会拖累整个投资组合的回报，但你依然会投资一些债券。
12.你会卖出那些亏损的投资。
13.你可以很轻松的付钱买一辆汽车，但却不会这样做。
14.你每天都会看看自己的投资组合，但每年只会交易两次。
15.你不相信华尔街任何人。
16.当你听说有人有一座大房子，或者车道上停满了新车的时候，你不会去想他们多么有钱。相反，你对他们不菲的花销望而生畏。
17.你从来不认为买“豆宝宝”(Beanie Babies)玩具是在投资。
18.虽然你还不知道如何能有超过市场的投资回报，但你很擅长压缩投资成本和减少投资组合的纳税额。
19.虽然你觉得CNBC电视频道播放的都是一些无用的节目，但你还是会看它。
20.当你的邻居和你讲述他们最近与经纪商会面时，你会感到恐惧。
21.你把自己的所有金融帐户列出清单交给你的遗产执行人。这个清单不会超过一页。
22.你对个人理财专栏作家的观点总是持怀疑态度。
23.你非常了解对冲基金，你知道自己不想涉足其中。
24.你不会仅想著靠获得超过市场的投资回报，或是年回报率达到两位数字来实现自己退休的梦想。
25.你当然想有一座大房子，想早些退休，去度豪华的假期。但很早以前你就知道自己不可能拥有全部。
26.你对自己的投资没有一项是不了解的。
27.你担心市场大跌，但真正让你担心的其实是30年后退休时没有足够的钱养老。
28.当看到有人买彩票的时候，你会感到惊骇。
29.你觉得重新装修浴室是件亏本的事。
30.该有的保险你都有，不该有的你从来不买。
31.你可以60秒内说出自己的投资策略。
32.你总是根据401(k)计划存入尽可能多的钱。
33.你也想卖掉现在的房子换个更大一点的。但一想到这样做会产生中介费用，你就很不安。
34.当电视里的人满嘴专业词汇的时候，你虽然听不明白，但也知道他们是在胡扯。
35.当某一类股大幅上涨的时候，你从不贪心，反而你会感到害怕。
36.你从来不会为了享受某种优惠活动，就做一些本来不计划做的事。
37.你不知道未来几年那类投资表现最好，但由于你的投资是多样化的，你知道自己的投资组合中总有一部分会赚钱的。
38.你知道自己比别人挣得钱多，但你的生活不会因此就十分浪费。
39.你一想到如果信用卡欠款要支付年率17%的利息，你就不敢大手大脚花钱了。
40.你每次买股的时候都会先想想，是不是有什么东西是卖主知道而你不知道的。
41.当人们向你请教投资建议的时候，你的回答总是让他们失望。
