The Only 3 Financial Numbers That Actually Matter by Tae Kim
- Savings rate
- Amount saved per year/amount earned per year
- Investment charges
- Anything above 0.5% is not worth it!
- Net worth (long term)
- Salary: Revenue
- Expenses: Operating costs
- Net worth/Personal balance sheet: Total value of everything you own - total value of everything you owe
- Better to see it this way to make better financial decisions, doing things to avoid reducing net worth and increasing assets to increase that
Main takeaways/personal thoughts:
- To keep a closer eye on my savings rate.
- Being able to have a good overall view of your finances is important - to continue on working with this!
- Tae gave some interesting quotes and examples but I don't know if the Jeff Bezos and The Rich Dad Poor Dad ones were the best...
- To explore more on the Rich Dad Poor Dad controversies. I watched this discussion on the book which served as a nice background on... everything surrounding this specific author. Worth reading more on cause wtf?
- I was reminded again of the Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, which served as a nice introduction to finance to my then not-very-financially literate person (though it is arguable that I am still that same person months later)! I should probably revisit this in 2026.
Note: The link to Housel’s book is an affiliate link! If you purchase through it, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.