7 Timeless Investing Ideas from Bernard Baruch

Bernard Baruch Investing Ideas

Born in 1870, in Camden, South Carolina, Bernard Baruch started his finance career by working as a runner for stock brokers.

In 1899, he bought a seat on the New York Stock Exchange for $19,000 (equivalent to roughly $670,000 today) with the money he made from trading stocks.1Source: Forbes

By the time he was 33, in 1903, Baruch had amassed an estimated fortune of $3 million.2Source: Nasdaq That’s about $105 million in today’s dollars.3Source: In2013Dollars.com

Baruch isn’t as well-known as his contemporary, Jesse Livermore (who I feature in my latest book , The Stoic Path to Wealth). It’s likely because Baruch wasn’t as fond of the spotlight as Livermore was.

As a business owner, Baruch founded a company that dominated the rubber market in the United States. His partners in the enterprise included big names like John D. Rockefeller Jr., the son of the Standard Oil tycoon, and the philanthropist George Foster Peabody, among others.4Source: University of California Press

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Learn From People Who DO; Not Those Who “Preach”

Learn from people who do

When it comes to valuable skills and training, we must learn from people who successfully executed what we aim to learn. And avoid those who can only talk about it.

The other day I heard about a new marketing trick that many newsletters use to collect new subscribers.

When I looked at the website of the service, I saw they featured a few prominent newsletters as “users” of them. So I thought, “Let me see what that looks like on their websites.”

Guess what?! The first two I checked didn’t even use the service. They might’ve used it at some point, but they weren’t using it at the time I checked.

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How to Feel Great Every Day (Backed by Science)

Feel Great Everyday

How often do you feel GREAT during the day? As in, fully energized, in a good mood, and not a sign of tiredness in sight.

Think about the days when you don’t feel sluggish or unproductive. Instead, you’re focused and you’re getting things done. You feel good. And there is a rewarding feeling when you finish the day doing exactly what you wanted to do.

I have that feeling on the days I write. Just the process of writing gets me energized.

Now, these “great” days don’t happen everyday. And there are various factors that are out of our control (like a stressful work task, or a traffic jam) that can ruin our day.

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4 Habits to Manage Impulse Buying

Do you sometimes get the feeling that you need to spend? Sometimes, and particularly when I get paid, I feel like buying something, anything. It’s no surprise that Americans spend an average of $314 every month in impulsive spending.1Source: Statista

This could be any purchase you made without planning to. Like adding a few snacks outside of your grocery list at the cashier. Or visiting a clothing shop “just to browse” and then going out with a brand-new jacket. Or even “treating yourself” to an expensive dinner after a stressful day at work.

Society has trained us to believe that we need to treat ourselves by spending our money. How does that work? You work hard to earn and then you spend that money in a few minutes? How does that give you satisfaction?

I’m not saying all impulse purchases are bad. They’re a natural part of life. But when things get out of control, your impulsive spending habits will destroy your finances and prevent you from building wealth.

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