What Are You Going to Do in 2023?

I have a piece of advice for you…

You should save a lot of money in 2023 because 2024 will be… well, not so good. I think inflation will fall in 2023 but return next year at a much higher rate.

And if that happens, the response is going to be much more severe, ultimately leading to a big-time recession in 2024.

So, if you save all this cash, which you should, where do you put it? The reflex for the last 20 years has been to put it in stocks. But maybe that’s not your best bet this time.

Maybe you keep it in cash and put it in a high-yield savings account, a CD, or Treasury Direct. Because if you can get 4.5%–5% on your cash, that's a pretty good deal.

Now, I think this year will be a decent one for stocks. It won’t be terrible. But still, this is not a year that I’d want to be taking risks in the financial markets.

Don’t Wait to Buy a House

If you’re planning on buying a house, you’ve likely seen all these surveys that say now is a terrible time to do so.

I mean, it's not as good as it was before, but that doesn’t mean it can’t get worse. If we get to 2024 and interest rates jump to 10%, then it's really not going to be a good time to buy a house.

So, if you’re looking to buy a house, do it sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you might miss your window.

If you can get a mortgage under 6%, you should take advantage of it. And I realize it's not near the 2.5% in 2020—but we're not getting back there.

Master Your Personal Finances

Switching gears, I read recently that 19% of bankruptcy filers are college students.

And it's not student loans causing this—you don't make payments on your student loans until you graduate. Some of it could be a result of car loans, but it's probably just credit cards.

One-fifth of all bankruptcy filers are college students—and they're filing for bankruptcy on credit card debt? That's nuts. Really, this is something that could be solved with a personal finance education.

Look, I've made mistakes along the way… just not big mistakes. I've bought five houses, and I'm building a sixth. I've had a bunch of credit cards, but I’ve never carried a balance. I've owned a bunch of cars.

For a lot of my adult life, I didn't make much money. But I've done well by sticking to the core principles of saving and staying away from debt (but not staying totally away from debt, as debt can be useful to help you achieve your goals if used judiciously).

Personal finance is complex, but it doesn't have to be hard. Those are two different things.

It's about principles, not rules.

Jared Dillian