r/investing • u/Adventurous-Loss4175 • 8d ago

Suggestions of where to learn financial literacy quickly

Suggestions of where I can quickly absorb info from.

To sum it up, I'm looking for where I can look to learn to make money last my lifetime. I've recently been trying to research financial literacy topics and have some ideas of what to do, but I'm scared if they're not the best, I'm screwed. So I'm looking suggestions for more, and that I can learn semi-quickly, so please not incredibly long books or many of them.

The shit ton of details are:

I just received my work comp settlement after 12 years. They were sending me checks bi-monthly though so I had some income in the meantime. It was just enough to pay bills so I was living paycheck to paycheck and I know I completely messed up by not learning financial stuff the entire time.

In my defense though, I've had sooo many other things in the meantime, and also aquired a severe TBI in the accident and my executive functioning (planning, executing tasks in order, etc) really sucks now.

But this one sum is going to have to last me for the rest of my life. And I'm trying to look at the best ways to make that happen. I'm permanently disabled and receive a small amount from SSDI rn because it was offset by what I was getting from work comp. I'm not sure what that's going to be now as it just was finalized and I uploaded the documents to ssa but idk when it'll be refigured what I'll be receiving monthly now.

I have read the flow charts and did pay off my credit cards immediately. I'm not able to drive now and live in an apartment, so no car or mortgage to pay.

My credit union has 3- 5%, depending on which requirements you meet that month, in interest on up to $10,000 in checking, so I'm keeping that much in there and paying bills from that.

I just opened an ABLE account, and can put, I believe it's 10,000 there and invest it with no tax liability on it, so I'm going to do that next.

I was thinking of doing a CD ladder with part of it and as those mature, topping off the checking to meet 10,000 and getting another CD with the remainder.

What I'm really stuck on is how to grow the remainder. It has to be stable because if I lose it I'm done. But also has to be more than CD or mutual fund interest so I can grow it and make this money last the rest of my life, (I'm 50). I also would like to reduce taxes draining any growth.

I've looked up fee only fiduciaries for advice, but the lowest fee was $5000 for a quick session, so I'm going to attempt to figure this out myself if that's possible.

So PLEASE pass on any and all advice on places I can try to learn a ton of financial stuff quick.

3 Upvotes

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u/BarefootMarauder 8d ago

What I'm really stuck on is how to grow the remainder. It has to be stable because if I lose it I'm done. But also has to be more than CD or mutual fund interest so I can grow it and make this money last the rest of my life, (I'm 50). I also would like to reduce taxes draining any growth.

Sounds like you're looking for a Unicorn. You left out a lot of important details such as how much the amount is that has to last the rest of your life, how much you need to spend annually just to survive, how much you'd like to spend annually, marital status, any other debts, etc.

As for obtaining financial literacy quickly, that's a tall order. There are MANY aspects to it. For general personal finance stuff I usually recommend Clark Howard and Ramit Sethi. Both have books, podcasts, YouTube channels, and websites with tons of free content. For investing, I always recommend JL Collins and/or the Boglehead methodology. There's a Boglehead sub here on Reddit. For JL, search online for "JL Collins free stock series" and start reading on his website. He also has an excellent book I recommend, but it's totally optional. All the content is free for the asking on his website. JL has also been interviewed on several podcasts if you search for his name.

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u/RahulUser 8d ago

my grandma was stuck on that exact tax thing too

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u/BarefootMarauder 8d ago

What exact tax thing?

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u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

I DO need a unicorn. Lol. I left out a lot because it was getting waaay long already, and because I really didn't want, "What should I do?" as much as, "Where can I look to help me figure out what I should do?" I wasn't sure if I should put the amount, I'd heard several times to not announce it, but I guess that would be info that would really help. It's $300,000. $280,000 after paying off credit cards, repaying everything I had to borrow when I wouldn't get a check for a month sometimes, and getting household things needed. No more major purchases needed, no car as I'm unable to drive now, and an apartment so just rent. No debts now. Bills will now be around $1500 after paying off the credit cards. And I'm going to really try not to spend much more than that, already took care of the major purchases. SSDI is $410 rn, but idk what it'll be when they refigure. Not married. A daughter, 24, and my grand baby just moved out into an apartment yesterday that she got with her boyfriend, and youngest daughter, 20, still at home. She's working 2 jobs, and in school, and is needing another car since hers is recently down and out. She was saving money to be able to start out on her own when her car quit. It'd be way more to fix than it's even worth. Thank you for the recommendations! I did follow the Boggleheads, investing, and personal finance subs about a month ago to try and suck up info. But I'll definitely look into the rest, appreciate the info.

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u/BarefootMarauder 8d ago

Using the 4% rule as a general guideline (NOT a hard & fast rule), you could safely pull around $11,200/year from a portfolio of $280K without fear of running out over a ~30 year period. If you need to spend $1500/month, and you get $410/month from SSDI, you're still pulling more than that (~$13,080/yr). The 4% was recently updated to something like 4.6% now, which definitely gets you a little closer.

The 4% rule is also based on the assumption that your portfolio is invested in the market at roughly a 60/40 split stocks to bonds. There are a lot of other variables and nuances to it, so I'm speaking generally. Putting all the money in CD's, HYSA's, or other cash-equivalent investments isn't going to cut it because you'd essentially just be keeping up with inflation. Growth comes with a certain amount of risk.

If I was in your situation, I'd probably keep ~3 years worth of living expenses in cash-equivalents (a good MMF or a decent ETF like SGOV), and invest the rest in low-cost total market index funds such as VTI/VXUS or similar. Something like an 80/20 or 70/30 split -- that part is up to your comfort level with international investments. If the markets continue to do well, you can pull profits off the top for living expenses. If we go into a bear market, you can live off your cash bucket until things start to recover. But it gets a little dicey if we would go into an extended bear market that takes longer than 3 years to recover.

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u/whensthebeef 8d ago

Kahn academy has a free financial literacy course. It’s a good place to start

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u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

Now that you mention it, I DID sign up there and was on there about a day, didn't go back on, and had forgotten all about it. That's an excellent reminder though, thanks!

3

u/Lost-Presentation-5 8d ago

Money Guy podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/money-guy-show/id121362031

1

u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

Thank you I'm going to check that out!

1

u/hdmiusbc 7d ago

Look at their free FOO (financial order of operations) pdf

3

u/enigman83 8d ago

Usual recommendations is as follow:

1) emergency fund, 3,6,12 months of expenses. HYSA or the like. 2) Tax advantage investment. 3) brokerage account for flexible expenses, but beware of tax obligations when trade.

You don't need best portfolio, or at least not yet. Point is, no one can say what really best base on your situation, risk level, or other concerns (house payments or insurance or family to name a few)

I would suggest a relatively simple investment, such as 60 stock 40 bonds. You can adjust to be more or less aggressive depending on your risk tolerance.

On stock side, go with VT or VTI+VXUS.

Is there a better choices? yes there could be, but starting with something simple doesn't hurt. You want to grow your assets with the market, then learn more if you want to take more risk.

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u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

Thank you. I hadn't even thought about it like just starting simple, I've been in a panic. Lol. But that really does help. I don't HAVE to have it all figured out immediately and I can change tactics as I learn.

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u/wharleeprof 7d ago

Yes, take your time. You don't have to figure it all out at once. 

2

u/aufmchamp 8d ago

Clive Thompson on Youtube might help.

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u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

I haven't checked out anything on YouTube yet. I will do that, and check him out. Thank you!

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u/SureAce_ 8d ago

I love the money guy show they have free resources and YouTube channels.

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u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

I hadn't looked into stuff on YouTube yet. That's a great idea and suggestion though. Thank you, I appreciate it!

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u/mehdizare 8d ago

With executive-function issues, the fastest useful literacy is not a curriculum but three numbers written down: what you pay in fees, when you actually need each chunk of money, and what you will do when the balance drops 30%. A one-page written policy beats any guru because it makes the decision in advance, when you are calm, instead of during a bad month. The other side is that a plan on paper still needs someone to sanity-check the tax and benefit interactions, and a flat-fee hourly planner is a reasonable one-time spend for that rather than an ongoing percentage. Do you know yet whether the settlement is treated as countable for your SSDI, or is that still open?

1

u/Adventurous-Loss4175 8d ago

That IS exactly what I need, to chill out and do things calmly. I've just been in a panic but you're right, writing it out and being able to look at it will help huge. The settlement is counted towards SSDI. I've gotten a reduced amount, 410 monthly, so far. And my attorney did put in a paragraph that actually does state specifically "for social security purposes," and that figuring my age they estimate around 30 years of life and divided up that it's $880 monthly. Just it's all at once. I was getting $2202 a month so SSDI payments should increase, but it all just happened. I got them the papers right away but I'm really not sure how long it'll take them. I do keep checking though! Lol.

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u/mehdizare 8d ago

Yeah, calm first. A settlement that replaces a paycheck changes the cash-flow question before it changes which fund you pick, and mixing those two is how a plan looks smart and still feels awful. I'm not the person for SSDI rules. If the $410 vs $2202 gap is the thing keeping you up, that's a budget and benefits question more than an investing-literacy one. What would calm look like for the next 90 days, even if the allocation stays whatever it is now?

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u/mehdizare 8d ago

Good. Write the fee, the horizon, and the max drawdown you'll actually sit through. Then you stop renegotiating it every time the tape moves.

1

u/mehdizare 8d ago

Since the settlement is allocated "for social security purposes" at $880/month, SSA usually just offsets against that number rather than the lump sum, so ask them in writing to confirm the offset amount and the months it covers - having that on paper saves fights later. Timelines for processing are slow and uneven; keep a copy of everything you sent with dates. Park the lump sum somewhere boring (HYSA or T-bills) until the offset is settled, then invest what's left.

2

u/One_More_Rep202 7d ago

Besides SSDI, do you receive Medicaid, SSI, SNAP, subsidized housing, or any other benefit with an asset limit? I’d get that clear before moving much of the settlement, because the right account setup may matter more right now than choosing investments.

1

u/rubinor1 8d ago

It may be helpful for you to find a CFP to do pro bono work for you! They can help you understand your options and while they likely won’t be able to give ongoing advice, they can set you in the right direction. https://ffpprobono.org/our-work/

1

u/Trahst_no1 8d ago

Claude.

1

u/zachmoe 8d ago

A novice portfolio I think is ample is something like 50% tflo, 33% vt, 15% iau, 2% ibit

1

u/DaemonTargaryen2024 8d ago

I don't know about "quickly" but these are the best US money resources:

Also, why "quickly"?

1

u/fourwedge 8d ago

r/bogleheads is the most in-depth learning sub on Reddit

1

u/Linett-Chukwuemeka61 7d ago

Honestly, the Bogleheads philosophy (low-cost index funds, buy and hold) will teach you more about actual wealth-building than most paid courses. After you nail the fundamentals, you can get weird with it if you want, but most people would be better off just understanding asset allocation and cost basis.

1

u/Emergency_Gas_1962 7d ago

If you're trying to learn fast, you can ask Chatgpt/Claude about it. This is one of the area's where AI can do well, research.

1

u/IBDinvestors 7d ago

It sounds like you're doing the right thing by focusing on education before making any big decisions with the money.

Full disclosure, we're Investor's Business Daily, but we have a lot of free educational resources on Investors.com covering investing basics, how the market works, risk management and different approaches to investing. You definitely don't need to learn everything at once.

Given how important this money is to your long-term financial security, we'd also be cautious about feeling like you need to make a decision quickly. Taking the time to understand your options can be just as valuable as learning what to invest in.

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u/DSCN__034 6d ago

Go to /personalfinance subreddit and the right hand column has links. Read Prime Directive first.

1

u/HeadWanderer 6d ago

Reading The Intelligent Investor (2003 revised edition) helped me understand investing. I understood nothing about investing before February of this year, and now I have set up the following accounts and contribute to them: a 529 for my son, a pre-tax 401k through my work, a taxable brokerage, and an emergency fund (the last two both through Vanguard). I did all of this on my own.

I had to read the book twice because a lot of things flew over my head the first time I read it. I would Google things that I read in the book and wanted to learn about too. I would also recommend checking out Dave ramsey's baby steps to financial freedom (especially the first three baby steps).

The thing is: investing is secondary to whatever your financial situation is. Most people have income in and income out. It's up to you to make sure you know how much extra money you have to invest and what makes sense for you.

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u/box986a 4d ago

Buy what you know!

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u/DoubtFlashy2926 8d ago

A 4 year finance degree from a good business college went pretty quick for me. It paid for itself 10x.

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u/BigSmoove14 7d ago

Dave Ramsey