“It’s both an embarrassment to watch and a testament to the fact that apparently tens of thousands of people don’t know what the f*ck they are doing, and have no apparent desire to learn.” — Mark Rippetoe on Crossfit programming and training
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If you’re not familiar, Crossfit is a branded fitness or workout regimen invented by Greg Glassman.
It built a solid reputation as “the sport of fitness,” combining olympic weightlifting, sprinting and other forms of cardio, and powerlifting into very intense workout sessions.
Some coaches think it’s the bee’s knees.
Other coaches, like Mark Rippetoe, don’t think very highly of the way Crossfit teaches the Olympic (and other) lifts.
I can relate.
The way budgeting, insurance, and investing is taught is horrendous.
People grow up believing money is the root of all evil… that budgeting requires making sacrifices, and that insurance is gambling and investing is as simple as buying index funds or paying an investment advisor some money for “insider secrets.”
This is all bullsh*t.
And the people promoting these ideas are usually either hucksters themselves or terribly ignorant human beings masquerading as experts (I dub these folks “ex-spurts”).
Wander into most personal finance forums and (assuming you’re armed with some formal training or education in financial theory) and it’s pretty apparent these ex-spurts have no clue what they’re saying or doing and… they don’t have any sincere desire to learn.
Fortunately for you, staying away from this mess is a simple affair: learn as much as you can and invest in things you understand, get high quality instruction and advice, and never put the bulk of your money into untested ideas. Take rational risks, only risk what you can objectively afford to lose, and have a safety net in place in case something goes wrong.
Study older books on personal finance like The Richest Man In Babylon. Most of the new books on finance are simply warmed-over (and badly re-imagined) versions of this classic text.
There are no “new rules of money” or tacticool tricks that will give you a leg up over everyone else.
There are only enduring principles.
Principles many people ignore (which, come to think of it, could give you an advantage over others I guess).
Moving right along…
If you want for-real financial advice and tips that’ll help you do a better job saving, insuring, and planning for your future, go hop on my email list, right now.