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Budgeting
The Index Card
by Helaine Olen & Harold Pollack
The entire personal finance system on one index card. When University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack scribbled his financial rules on a notecard during a podcast, it went viral — because everything you need to know actually fits. Olen and Pollack expanded it into a book, but the premise holds: this stuff is not complicated.
Key Takeaways
- →Max out your 401(k) and other tax-advantaged accounts before anything else
- →Buy index funds; never buy actively managed funds
- →Pay off your credit card in full every month, no exceptions
- →Make your financial life automatic so it doesn't depend on willpower
- →Ignore financial advice from anyone trying to sell you something