The LIN Session - Finance

Thanks go to Drs Lin and Shen for sharing important information to everyone. As someone who has been investing since high school, I have learned a bunch and still have more to go. I was happily surprised by Dr Shen's focus on market-participation rather than market-beating philosophies. I did have one little nit-pick as I was listening in the car, though: a mutual fund is not a basket of stocks, at least not necessarily. A mutual fund is essentially a pooled basket of money to purchase particular target securities. The majority include stocks, but others include bonds or other securities. Also, Dr Shen mentioned minimizing fees, but I think it's worth mentioning Jack Bogle's important contribution to personal investing knowledge -- that in investing, you get what you don't pay for. For those interested in more guidance, I suggest www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page and www.whitecoatinvestor.com. Happy saving!

Thanks this was a great session. I think any financial discussion also needs to touch on money management basics. I tell my younger colleagues the following - you don't make as much as you think you do, live below your means, plan for the unexpected (job loss, medical expenses, disability), pay off debt ASAP (including your house and those low interest student loans) and avoid the pitfalls of a big house (high carrying costs/taxes and maintenance) and expensive cars. Unfortunately divorce is a fact of life and I have watched it wipe out colleagues' finances mid-career as they can no longer maintain their former lifestyle. PS this is a frugal Canadian :)