One of biggest lessons I learned early on in my career was the importance of asking questions. It took me a while, but I think being inquisitive is a great trait to have because the process of learning doesn’t have an end date. There is always more to learn. But I think you also have to understand how to ask the right questions. There are good questions that can be helpful but then there are great questions that really change the way you approach a decision or problem.
For example: How do I make money in the markets?
Not bad.
But an even better question is this: How do I get out of my own way to allow compounding to do most of the heavy lifting for me?
Here are some more good questions, along with what I consider to be even better questions:
Good Question: How do I manage to earn better returns in a potentially lower return environment?
Great Question: How do I manage to save more money?
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Good Question: How do I keep my investment fees in check?
Great Question: How do I keep my behavior in check?
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Good Question: How do I live within my means?
Great Question: How do I improve my career prospects to earn more money?
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Good Question: How do I get to the point where I know what to do in every market scenario?
Great Question: How do I get to the point where I’m comfortable doing nothing most of the time with my portfolio?
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Good Question: How do I decide when to add new investments to my current line-up?
Great Question: How do I define what I won’t invest in?
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Good Question: What are the general buy and sell guidelines for my investments?
Great Question: What are my checks and balances to ensure I’m not making it a habit of buying high and selling low?
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Good Question: What’s my investment strategy?
Great Question: What’s my investment philosophy?
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Good Question: Is a home a good investment?
Great Question: Is this home the right decision for myself and/or my family financially?
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Good Question: How can I spend more on the things that are important to me?
Great Question: How can I cut back my spending on those things that are not important to me?
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Good Question: How can I better manage my time?
Great Question: Have I ever actually deconstructed how I spend my day?
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Good Question: What are the implications if I’m right?
Great Question: What happens if I’m wrong?
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Good Question: How do I gain more responsibilities at work?
Great Question: How do I become indispensable to my company?
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Good Question: How do I set reasonable goals?
Great Question: How do I implement better systems?
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Good Question: How do I get out of debt?
Great Question: Do I have a budget in place to track my spending habits?
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Good Question: How do I get ahead financially?
Great Question: How do I not get behind financially?
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Good Question: How do I better understand how the markets operate?
Great Question: How do I better understand how human nature operates?
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Good Question: How can I plan for a unknown future?
Great Question: How do I learn to focus on what is within my control?
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Good Question: How can I make better decisions during stressful market situations?
Great Question: How can I automate good decisions ahead of time?
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Good Question: What’s the optimal asset allocation?
Great Question: What’s the optimal way to stick with the allocation I’ve chosen?
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Good Question: What’s my investment plan?
Great Question: How do my investments fit into my overall financial plan?
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Good Question: How do I save enough to reach my goals?
Great Question: How do I define what ‘enough’ means to me?
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Good Question: How do I figure out who to trust when looking for financial advice?
Great Question: How do I weed out my sources of information to know who to ignore when looking for financial advice?
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Good Question: How much can I spend from my portfolio during retirement?
Great Question: How do my current spending habits line up with my current assets and liabilities?
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Good Question: Is this the right investment strategy for me?
Great Question: Does this investment strategy align with my personality and temperament?
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Good Question: How do I get rich?
Great Question: What does a rich life look like to me?
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Good Question: Can I afford to buy this?
Great Question: Do I need to buy this?
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Good Question: How can I improve my money management skills?
Great Question: How can I improve my emotional management skills?
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Good Question: How do I plan for an uncertain future?
Great Question: What’s the best way to prepare for a wide range of outcomes?
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Good Question: How do I get smarter?
Great Question: How do I become wiser?
