Getting young savers to make the initial commitment to start saving can be difficult. Consider a recent college graduate making $50,000 per year. If they save the recommended 10-15% of their income, that may leave very little for fun spending. The likelihood of them continuing to save decreases if they can't enjoy much of their income, especially during the years with lower income.

If they do give up on savings early, it can be a tough habit to regain, even as their income increases over their career. Because of this, I think it's great to encourage young investors to get started, no matter how small the amount. The power of making a commitment and being able to stick to it is significant…

I was recently talking with an advisor who had his identity stolen. An attempt had been made to take out a $100,000 loan in his name from his very own bank! Because the bank had sent him numerous emails offering loans that he had sent to junk, the email notifications for this loan had been lost in a spam folder.

This experience pushed him to do a lot of research and he came to this conclusion that he shared with me. You should assume that your personal information is out there…

When my wife and I first got married, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment that was the cheapest option in our zip code. We literally went to apartments.com, sorted from least expensive, and then signed on the dotted line. Our room was sandwiched between habitual smokers. Our assigned parking spot was a 5-minute walk to the front door. They didn’t plow the parking lot when it snowed.

And we were so happy…

As the year ends, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your continued support. I have received notes of thankfulness, encouragement, and feedback - I appreciate them all! If you have a friend or family member that you think might benefit from these posts, they can subscribe here or on the home page of my blog's website, Financial Field Notes. 

Here are three books that I found particularly informative this year…