9 Simple Money Rules All On 1 Index Card

US based

In 2013, University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack offhandedly mentioned that the best money advice fits on a three-by-five inch index card while interviewing financial journalist and author Helaine Olen on The Reality-Based Community blog.

A commenter, Alex M, asked for the actual index card.

Although he was originally speaking in metaphor, to prove his point, Pollack grabbed a pen and four-by-six inch note card, and scribbled the basic financial rules he’d been following the past decade.

Pollack’s next blog post, titled “Advice to Alex M,” included a picture of the card. It quickly went viral.



The advice is pretty simple:

1. Max your 401k or equivalent employee contribution.
2. Buy inexpensive, well diversified mutual funds such as Vanguard Target 20XX funds.
3. Never buy or sell an individual security. The person on the other side of the table knows more than you do about this stuff.
4. Save 20% of your money.
5. Pay your credit card balance in full every month.
6. Maximize tax-advantages savings vehicles like Roth, SEP and 529 accounts.
7. Pay attention to fees. Avoid actively managed funds.
8. Make financial advisor commit to a fiduciary standard.
9. Promote social insurance programs to help people when things go wrong.