Investment advice in 87 words! Check it out

Neither you have to go through heavy textbooks, nor you have to depend on advice from friends and families to understand how to manage your finances — This is what Scott Adams, an American artist and creator of the Dilbert comic strip, had said.

Adams initially wanted to publish a one-page book for personal finance advice. But when he couldn’t find a publisher for his one-page guide, he decided to release it along with the book Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels. He was quoted as saying “if God materialised on earth and wrote the secret of the universe on one page, he wouldn’t be able to find a publisher”. So later

The irony of the situation is what he said in humour makes sense even in these trying times . His first advice was to make a Will, and unprecedented times like shows us why he was spot on. Actually, with the uncertainty around, several estate planners have confirmed that more people have started taking estate planning seriously. His other piece of advice has been to maintain an emergency fund to fend off any kind of emergency. Again he nailed it given the uncertainty around today.

Adams completed his BA in economics from Hartwick College in 1979. Post his graduation he moved to California and earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986. He also worked at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco between 1979 and 1986.

The 87 words of advice given by the cartoonist in 9 points reflect his education and experience. The ability to say it simply is what sets him apart from the crowd of financial planners.

Here’s a list of 9 points with some little tweaking for the Indian context:

1) Make a will
2) Pay off your credit cards.
3) Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
4) Fund your 401K (EPF/NPS for Indians) to the maximum.
5) Fund your IRA (SIPs for Indians)to the maximum.
6) Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it.
7) Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account (liquid funds for Indians).
8) Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund (ETF for Indians) and 30% in a bond fund (Debt Mutual Funds for Indians) through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement.
9) If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on retirement, college planning, tax issues, hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio.