BIO: After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, Chris Mamula educated himself in investing and tax planning.
STORY: Because Chris trusted his parents, he also blindly trusted their financial advisor. It was only after he stumbled upon better financial advice that Chris realized he’d wasted well over $100,000 in fees and another $100,000 in taxes.
LEARNING: Gain financial literacy and take responsibility for your financial situation. Don’t trust financial advisors blindly.
“The less money you spend on your financial advice and financial products, the more money you’ll have to invest.”
Chris Mamula
Guest profile
After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, Chris Mamula educated himself in investing and tax planning.
He now draws on his experiences to write and speak about wealth building, investing, financial planning, financial independence and early retirement (FIRE), and lifestyle design at the blog “Can I Retire Yet?”.
Chris is also the primary author of the book ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence.
In addition, he works one-on-one with those looking to improve their finances and use them to create a better lifestyle as an advice-only financial planner with Abundo Wealth.
Worst investment ever
Chris was a college graduate with a master’s degree starting to learn how to make and spend money. Like many people, he was overwhelmed and intimidated by the technical parts of finance, investing, and tax planning. The advice Chris would hear everywhere was; if you need help, seek a recommendation from someone you trust. So he went to his parents, whom he trusted more than anyone else. Chris’s parents were generally decent with their money as far as stretching a paycheck, managing a budget, and taking care of their children’s needs.
Chris didn’t realize that his parents used a financial advisor because they had no idea what they were doing. And because Chris trusted them so much, he started using the same advisor and blindly trusted everything he told him—no questions asked.
After a decade of this, Chris finally stumbled into some better investment advice and found out all the mistakes he had made. He realized that over a decade, he had wasted well over $100,000 in fees and another $100,000 in taxes. Because he’d started it so early in life, it could easily be a million-dollar mistake when you compound it over time.
Lessons learned
- So many conflicts with financial advice exist, so you can’t blindly trust anyone.
- When looking for an advisor, ask as many questions as possible. What does this person know well? Is there a conflict between your interest and theirs? Are you getting the best advice?
- Gain financial literacy and take responsibility for your financial situation.
Andrew’s takeaways
- Investing is actually quite simple, but financial professionals often make it complicated.
- Never invest in anything that somebody calls you about.
- A piece of advice could work for someone but not necessarily for you.
- You have the right to ask for further clarification if you don’t understand the fees you’re being charged.
Actionable advice
Be widely diversified and focus on the things you can control. You can’t control what market returns you’ll get or the sequence they’ll come in. But you absolutely can manage your own personal finances. So build your savings, put more money into the market, and draw down at low rates.
Chris’s recommendations
Chris recommends reading his book ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. The book has taken many different stories and distilled them down into common principles that you can use to create your own adventure and story.
He also recommends The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life and any book by John Bogle to learn about tax efficiency, limiting your trading, locating your assets, being widely diversified, and more.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Chris’s number one goal for the next 12 months is not to have a goal. He simply wants to decompress, refine his life, and return to a normal lifestyle. Chris wants to enjoy life over the next year.
Parting words
“It’s really not that hard. If you just take a little bit of time to educate yourself and find that confidence, you’re going to be very grateful in the long run.”
Chris Mamula
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