Comments on: Labour versus Investment Income

By: Living Off Dividends & Passive Income

Living Off Dividends & Passive Income — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:25:21 +0000

if your portfolio is $100k, you’re mostly making way above minimum wage and the same argument still applies!

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:43:38 +0000

It is a great point about the investment returns. Although if you own a business or influence a business, I think there is an interplay between investment research and work results. I like Buffet’s quote, (roughly) “I’m a better investor because I’m a business owner, and I’m a better business owner because I’m an investor.” This year it has led to a bigger emphasis on exports, but you still have to consider the time vs. ROI.

By: First Carnival | FinancialRamblings.com

First Carnival | FinancialRamblings.com — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:40:16 +0000

[...] Labour versus Investment Income [...]

By: Gates VP

Gates VP — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:40:03 +0000

Great one cheap.

Harkens back to last week and the education vs. extra work comment. As a 20-something, my suggestion to most peers is to maintain positive cash flow and push for a bigger salary (so that they can save more).

We always talk about the “compounding effect” of savings. But a good pay raise can be better than compounding early on. In fact, spending money to earn a (mostly) permanent pay raise is indeed a form of compounding.

By: Canadian business bloggers: Canada 9-5, May 2008 edition

Canadian business bloggers: Canada 9-5, May 2008 edition — Mon, 19 May 2008 01:21:46 +0000

[...] Good on you, Mike!) A good analysis of where to concentrate one�s financial effort is here, in Labour vs. Investment Income. Some PF bloggers spend tons of time analyzing stocks and devising sophisticated strategies that [...]

By: linklings, stupid Internet edition

linklings, stupid Internet edition — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:02:37 +0000

[...] Labour versus Investment Income This is an excellent point, despite the misspelling of the word “labor” that you really need to establish a base of capital before getting excited about investing. No point in getting huge rates of return on a $1000 nest egg. Perhaps “no point” is too strong, but the point is dead on. [...]

By: Enough Wealth

Enough Wealth — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:41:52 +0000

Totally wrong

I spent heaps of time learning how to boost my investment returns when I was strating out and my total investment portfolio consisted of a few thousand dollar worth of stock. It pays off later on when you’ve built up your portfolio to a sizeable amount – better to make the inevitable mistakes of a newbie investor when you only have a small amount of money at risk!

BTW it’s not an “either-or” so of question. I spend time at work earning a reasonable salary, I also spend time monitoring my investments and trying to maximise returns (for my chosen risk level) and minimise costs (eg. fees and charges). I also spend some time earning side income (eg. blogging) even though the amount is trivial compared to my hourly wage rate and my investment returns.

What’s best – earning an extra $1,000 / month, or a 1% monthly increase on their investments, or BOTH

By: Concentrate On Savings First

Concentrate On Savings First — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:47:07 +0000

[...] Free Magazines ← Labour versus Investment Income [...]

By: Aaron Stroud

Aaron Stroud — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:26:15 +0000

Great point Mr. Cheap, but I’d go a step further and suggest most investors would be better off if they left their investments alone regardless of their balance.

The vast majority of professional investors can’t beat a diversified array of low cost index funds. So why would any of us think we can outsmart the market?

By: growthinvalue

growthinvalue — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:38:56 +0000

If they were to go out and earn minimum wage from their time, they�d be far further ahead than trying to �juice� the returns on a small investment.

True, but maybe the person enjoys doing the latter a lot more than they would enjoy the time doing the former. Most people don’t spend an hour on a blog post for the 50 cents in Google Ad revenue it may bring in. They enjoy that time.

But what you’re saying certainly rings true. The “best” thing to do with your money is almost 100% dependent on your situation. As a general rule, to anyone who has any sort of debt at all, paying that off is almost always a smarter move than trying to invest and beat your interest payments.