Instead of giving cash on demand, financial writer Jonathan Clements gave his pre-teen children pre-loaded ATM cards for the month. When the money ran out, it was gone until the next month, forcing them to learn budgeting and consequences.
While compound interest is powerful, financial amnesia is stronger. Investors repeatedly forget the lessons of past market crashes and bubbles, highlighting the short half-life of financial literacy and leading them to repeat costly mistakes.
Clements relentlessly championed index funds in hundreds of columns, making him a pivotal figure in shifting American investors from high-fee active management to passive strategies, saving them billions of dollars in fees.
True fulfillment from money rarely comes from possessions. It progresses from using money for shared experiences with loved ones (creating memories) to its highest use: funding a purpose or cause bigger than yourself (creating meaning).
To repeatedly advocate for the 'aggressively boring' strategy of indexing without losing readers, journalist Jonathan Clements mastered the listicle format. He framed consistent advice in novel, often humorous ways to keep it fresh and engaging.
Jonathan Clements secretly wrote his final book after his terminal diagnosis, not for fame but because writing was his core identity. For him, it was a fundamental way to cope and make sense of his life, as essential as breathing.
For journalist Jonathan Clements, financial capital's primary goal was to eliminate dependence on human capital. Achieving a state where money is no longer a source of anxiety is the highest form of financial success, offering true peace of mind.
Faced with a terminal diagnosis, journalist Jonathan Clements observed with dark humor that the process of dying is easy compared to the difficult work of estate planning and ensuring loved ones are cared for after you're gone.