Top 10 Money Fundamentals to Live a Rich Life

Complexity is all around us.

Finding a clear signal in all the noise can be hard.

There are endless options, ideas, and perspectives on what to do.

You ask yourself over and over again:

The antidote to complexity is focusing on the fundamentals.

Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise
- Michael Jordan

Almost anything can be distilled down into simpler, atomic sized ideas that are foundational to all the complexity.

Being able to identify and learn the fundamentals is one of the most important life skills you can have to live a simple, yet rich life.

That’s enough philosophizing, let’s talk about money.

10 Money Fundamentals

Personal finance is a topic that is filled with lots of complexity.

While complex, it can be “simple” if you learn the fundamentals of personal finance.

Here are my top 10 money fundamentals that serve as my financial foundation.

Money is a tool for living a good life, not an object to collect
Pay your future self first and invest in tax advantaged accounts
Automate all investments, savings, and payments for recurring expenses
Spend lavishly on what you value, be frugal on everything else
Balance living a rich life today while saving for the future
Deferred gratification is the key to building wealth and reaching financial independence where you can do what you want, when you want, with the people you love
Money is fungible
Maintaining and improving your financial fitness is a lifelong journey
Complexity will find you, so proactively prepare for the future
Combine all finances when married and build a plan to achieve your family’s finanical goals

As we know, money is complex.

There is a lot to know and this list just scratches the surface.

But like all that is complex, simplifying personal finance into the fundamentals helps provide clarity on what truly matters.

All the complexity.

All the small details.

All the pitfalls.

All the distractions.

All the nuance.

Your money fundamentals are the foundation that keep you grounded as this complexity inevitably creeps in (See, MF #9 is already coming in handy).

The fundamentals and financial fitness are something I plan discuss more of in the future.

Financial fitness is similar to physical fitness.

No matter how “strong” or “weak” you currently are with your financial situation and relationship with money, the name of the game is growth.

To build a system that works for you and is evidence-based, you need to learn more about the fundamentals and how to practically apply them.

You need to filter out all the noise, bad advice, and build a simple strategy that works for you.

I plan to expand on the 10 money fundamentals in future articles and delve into other important financial topics that are critical to know.

I want to help simplify what matters and provide actionable advice, all the while providing just enough nuance to get you excited.

If everything is important, nothing is important

Distilling down all the things that I think are important on personal finance into these 10 ideas was a feat in and of itself.

You may think there are some critical things that are missing.

I agree, there is a lot more to the story.

But as complexity easily creeps in, resist the urge to get lost in the weeds. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

If you are up for it, I challenge you to write down your top 10 money fundamentals.

Discuss your money values with your spouse.

Think about where you currently are financially and where you want to go.

Really clarify what you value and the life you want to live.

Doing this type of work is hard, but the result is well worth the effort.

Until next time, stay curious and keep on learning.

— Chris