Where do I start?

[Executive]

I am a 16 year old dude that wants to secure a financial future. I really do not know anything about investing or finance. Where should I start? Books?, Blogs?. Your advice is valued

[Tristan]

It's nice to see a teenager think about his financial future. To put your proverbial financial house in order, you first have to start with a strong foundation. I recommend reading some books to get a clearer picture. The first two that come to mind -- and I wish I had these books when I was your age -- are "Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach and "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. They're super easy to read, and I believe everyone could learn something from them.

Now, these two books are definitely not the end-all of financial strategic discussions/ideologies, but they will help you shift your perspective (and hopefully your decisions) in a healthy direction. I'm not extremely well versed in finance books, and I can guarantee other members will recommend much more than I have; however, "Automatic Millionaire" and "Total Money Makeover" helped me gain a solid understanding of the steps I needed to take to put my financial house in order.

It's a continual learning process. That's for sure.

[clydewolf]

Executive,

It is always good to start a solid foundation early.

Some basic ideas, do not incur debt.
Spend less than you make.
John Wesley is to have said, "Earn all that you can. Save all that you can. Give all that you can.

One book that can help inform you on many aspects of finances, and then investing is Austin Pryor's book, Sound Mind Investing. The book discusses many aspects of personal finance, and then many ideas for investing using no load mutual funds. The book is available at Amazon for about $16. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...+pryor&x=0&y=0

[4jacks]

Wow,

So awesome, So jealous.

Anyhoo, I ditto what Tristan and clyde said. Basically if I coulda known one thing then, that I know now it would be "Spend less than you make" It seems so Simple, and I guess I was SO DUMB. I went right away for a car loan and credit card (So I could build good credit). And I spent 7-8 years with a payment mentality. (Can I afford this monthly payment) It was SO DUMB. It got me no where but 50k into credit card debt. Don't do that.

My recommendations.
1) check out Bob's blog every now and then
2) listen to Crown Financial and Dave Ramsey on your iPod or computer, every now and then
3) Read the Treasure Principal by Randy Alcorn (VERY short book)
4) then do TMM by Dave Ramsey, then Automatic Millionaire
5) then Sound Mind Investing

1 and 2 you can do throughout, but the reason I put the Treasure Principal first is becuase it will give you a great sense of how God wants us to handle our money and view our money. Total Money Makeover TMM kinda takes you through the great 7 steps. But keep in mind it's for people who have debt, if you have no debt you get to skip a few steps. Automatic Millionaire will get you ready to invest, and Sound Mind Investing, (I still haven't read it) is a step by step on what to do with you money once you save some up.

[KrozFan]

Awesome question man. I'll second what everyone has said so far and add a bit. I'm a big Dave Ramsey fan and suggest that when you read Total Money Makeover you pay attention to the debt myth section of the book. It explains why debt it bad, why it's not a tool like some people think, and why/how you can survive never having debt. That would be the most important thing for you at this age. Don't fall into the "I'm getting a credit card to build my credit" trap. Like Dave says why build a credit history just so you can go more in debt if the goal is to not be in debt.

I would also recommend taking a look at the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. I haven't actually read it yet myself but it has been recommended to me many times.

I'm not sure if you subscribe to any blogs like ChristianPF, or if you just go to the site occassionally, but you should set up an RSS reader account. Google has one at google.com/reader for example. From there you subscribe to sites with an RSS feed and you just need to go to one place to see all updates, instead of going to every site you follow to see if they have updated. Some blogs I follow are:

Christian PF (obviously)
http://www.thesimpledollar.com
http://www.goodfinancialcents.com
http://www.fivecentnickel.com
http://www.ncnblog.com
http://personalfinancebythebook.com/
http://www.christiancommoncents.com/


Keep in mind that not ever blog is right for everyone, and some may contradict eachother. For example the guy at Good Financial Cents advocates credit cards, but Dave Ramsey doesn't. Not a big deal to me, even though I don't use credit cards.

If I can take you in a slightly different direction I'd like to talk about job/career stuff and more personal advice rather than just financial, because it's all tied together. Take time to think about your career. Figure out what you want to do in life and figure out how to get there. I strongly advise against going to college with no life path but going just because your friends are going and taking out loans along the way. If you go to college with a plan and the plan changes that's fine, but don't get into debt being some random liberal arts major with no path. Bad start. From there I would recommend checking out Dan Miller at 48days.com. He is a career coach and has written a few books and has a podcast. Check out his podcast for some ideas about careers.

I would also highly recommend listening to some things by Zig Ziglar, ziglar.com. If you go there you can sign up for his newsletter and download a few of his things for free after you sign up. Listen to "Biscuits, Fleas, and Pump Handles" (one of the free gifts). It is part motivational, but also tells you about setting up goals which I think is really important.

I would also recommend http://www.artofmanliness.com it's not a financial blog but it's a good site for a young guy, or any guy for that matter.

[Executive]

So much great advice. Thank all of you So much. So many great places to start. Yall Rock!

[Ang_e]

Boy do I wish I would've asked this guestion at your age ! It looks like your heading in the right direction already by even being curious and asking . All I knew at your age was work hard and make as much / spend as little as possible . Now, I'm 35 a stay at home mom that is starting to worry greatly not only about retirement but, leaving something for my kids. I found this site in my search for answers and though I didn't post the original question. I'm thankful for the advice . I only wish I had know to do this at your age. What a difference it would've made. My children will know better !!!!