365 tips for investment in 2014 - Forbes Magazine

http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2013/11/27/365-ways-to-get-rich/

From the Forbes 2014 Investment Guide, wealth building tips to last you through the year. (For more detailed advice, click on the link in each tip.)

#1
Sir John Templeton: “Invest at the point of maximum pessimism.”

#2
Don’t mistake a low P/E ratio for a value stock.

#3
Benjamin Graham: “Patience is the fund investor’s single most powerful ally.”

#4
Let your attorneys ride shotgun, but not in the driver’s seat.

#5
Remember Enron; reduce your employer’s company stock in your 401(k).

#6
Warren Buffett: “Rule No. 1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1!”

#7
Fund a Roth IRA if you’re eligible; your money grows tax free for retirement, and in an emergency you can take your contribution back without penalty.

#8
Barry Sternlicht: Pay attention to the big themes, because they are what will help you earn ten times your money.

#9
Back a friend or relative’s startup with a convertible loan, so you share in the upside.

#10
Use commodities as a hedge against inflation.

#11
Raise the deductibles on your auto and home insurance.

#12
Form family limited partnerships to transfer assets at a tax discount.

#13
Beat death taxes in 20 states by making big gifts while you’re alive.

#14
For simple federal tax-free wealth transfer, make $14,000 annual gifts to children and grandchildren. It won’t cut into your $5.25 million lifetime exemption from gift and estate taxes.

#15
Get tax advice before settling a lawsuit.

#16
Read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin LeFèvre.

#17
To keep peace with both relatives and the IRS, document all family loans.

#18
Peter Lynch: “Never invest in any idea you can’t illustrate  with a crayon.”

#19
View collecting as a hobby first and investment second; psychic returns can make up for a lower average return than in stocks.

#20
Add a personal items floater to your homeowner’s insurance to cover collectibles.

#21
When the bear charges, stand your ground.

#22
For protection from inflation and currency devaluation, buy the “gold you can eat”—farmland.

#23
Know your risk tolerance. Pick an asset allocation that lets you sleep at night, so you won’t panic and sell stocks at the bottom.

#24
Don’t keep too much in cash equivalents—over time, this “safe” investment barely keeps up with inflation.

#25
After setting an asset allocation, rebalance yearly;  it forces you to take profits when stocks have surged and to buy more shares when they’re cheap.

#26
Benjamin Graham: “Adopt simple rules and stick to them.”

#27
Buy Bitcoin as a speculation or political statement, not a hedge.

#28
Be a tax-smart investor. Hold taxable bonds in a 401(k) or IRA. Put individual stocks in taxable accounts so you can sell losers to harvest tax losses.

#29
Pay attention to the IRS’ wash sale rule when harvesting capital losses.

#30
Don’t invest in a hedge fund unless its audited results are reported in compliance with Global Investment Performance Standards.

#31
Build an emergency fund outside your 401(k).

#32
For the biggest tax break when donating collectibles to charity, make sure they’ll be displayed and not sold.

#33
Put alternative investments like real estate (but never collectibles) in your IRA.

#34
Burton Malkiel: “All index funds are not created equal. Some have unconscionably high expenses.”

#35
Keep an eye on—but don’t obsess over—mutual fund fees and expenses.

#36
Even committed indexers should use actively managed funds to buy municipal and high-yield bonds and value stocks.

#37
Yield is nice, but total return is the metric that matters.

#38
Gold is overrated as an inflation hedge—historically, its price moves are unrelated to inflation.

#39
For inflation protection, buy floating-rate corporate bonds.

#40
Don’t let the mood swings of Mr. Market coax you into speculating.

#41
Beware affinity fraud; find God, not hot investments, at your church, synagogue or mosque.

#42
Sir John Templeton: “The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.’”

#43
Don’t put more than you can afford to lose into a crowdfunded deal; startups are always risky, and the new JOBS Act reduces both paperwork and investor protection.

#44
Don’t underrate the importance of liquidity.

#45
Use Quicken or a Web service to track all your finances and see your big picture.

#46
Use different passwords for each of your online financial accounts; add optional security questions whose answers can’t be found in your Facebook or LinkedIn profiles.

#47
Write down your passwords and hide them; tell one person where they are.

#48
Don’t fight demographics—allocate a portion of your portfolio to health care and biotech stocks.

#49
Diversify globally to boost your portfolio’s risk-adjusted performance.

#50
Benjamin Graham: “Speculation is neither illegal, immoral nor (for most people) fattening to
the pocketbook.”

#51
Cash in on companies with stealth dividends—meaning stock buybacks.

#52
Diversify, but don’t overdo it.

#53
Set investing rules for yourself that block impulsive decisions.

#54
Look beneath a fund’s name, with Morningstar’s Style Box and X-ray.

#55
Use software to track your asset allocation.

#56
Ask for a “brokerage window” in your 401(k)—an opening that allows you to invest in any mutual fund and even individual stocks.

#57
Bond laddering is good, but diversifying your income investments is important, too.

#58
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) offer protection from inflation—not from rising interest rates.

#59
John Bogle: “Time is your friend. Impulse is your enemy.”

#60
Use salary increases to boost contributions to your 401(k).

#62
Defy conventional wisdom and increase your stock allocation after retirement.

#63
To make money in small-cap stocks, look for novel business methods and niches, not the next blockbuster drug.

#64
Don’t abdicate investment decisions to your spouse.

#65
Be suspicious—and investigate further—when a corporation changes its auditors.

#66
Carry a $2 million or bigger umbrella insurance policy to protect your wealth from liability suits.

#67
Warren Buffett: “Be fearful when others are greedy,  and be greedy when others are fearful.”

#68
Invest to meet goals, not to beat indexes.

#69
Clarify your own objectives by writing an Investment Policy Statement.

#70
When you get restricted stock in a startup, make an 83(b) election; if the company takes off, you’ll save big on taxes.

#71
Consider your marriage tax penalty (or bonus) before setting a wedding date.

#72
Aim to have five times your salary in your 401(k) and IRAs by age 55 and eight times before you retire.

#73
Dan Ariely: “If you can’t save money, be really nice to your kids.”

#74
Put peer-to-peer loans in your portfolio using sites like LendingClub.com for monthly cash flow and yields of from 7% to 9%.

#75
Peter Lynch: “Go for a business that any idiot can run—because sooner or later, any idiot is probably going to run it.”

#76
Never take on a mortgage just for the tax deduction.

#77
Keep no more than $250,000 in any one bank.

#78
Buy an index fund weighted to fundamentals.

#79
Remain anonymous after winning the Powerball jackpot.

#80
Work for a charity for ten years and get your federal student debt forgiven.

#81
Beware personal finance gurus pitching products.

#82
The most successful investors spend many hours at it each day and have passion and patience. There are no shortcuts.

#83
Warren Buffett: “Diversification is protection against ignorance.”

#84
Like Captain Kirk, have advisors from different planets.

#85
Before funding college accounts make sure you’re saving enough in your retirement accounts.

#86
To avoid a tax penalty, tap IRAs, not 401(k)s, to pay college tuition.

#87
Borrow from grandma at 4% for grad school; Uncle Sam’s Graduate Plus loans go  for 6.41%.

#88
Marry a billionaire, or perhaps even more rewarding, divorce one.

#89
When buying a luxury condo, ignore superfluous amenities like massage rooms and pet spas; they won’t contribute to resale value.

#90
Add commercial real estate to your portfolio.

#91
Wait for inflation to rise before buying TIPS.

#92
Howard Marks: “Rule number one: Most things will prove to be cyclical. Rule number two: Some of the greatest opportunities for gain and loss come when other people forget rule number one.”

#93
Before remarriage, discuss estate plans.

#94
Track gambling losses to offset taxable gambling winnings.

#95
Confess any tax crimes to a lawyer, not a CPA.

#96
Deduct your yacht loan as mortgage interest on a second home.

#97
Don’t do deals between yourself and your own IRA.

#98
Don’t roll your old 401(k) into an IRA if you might face a lawsuit.

#99
When creating a trust or family limited partnership for asset protection, don’t give it your own name or one obviously identified with you.

#100
Profit from stock market volatility: Buy into a VIX futures fund and use wild, seemingly irrational swings as buying opportunities.

#101
Gary Shilling: “The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.”

#102
Beware dividend traps—fat payouts supported by declining cash flow.

#103
Bet against weak currencies, like George Soros.

#104
Back up your financial records using a secure cloud service.

#105
Before investing in your own state’s 529, compare its fees and tax breaks to New York’s rock-bottom cost plan.

#106
Buy liens on homes of real estate tax deadbeats.

#107
Know thyself: Read books like Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational and Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig.

#108
Learn a lesson from each stock-picking mistake.

#109
Julian Robertson: “Buy into forgotten markets.”

#110
Join an angel investing club.

#111
Keep your own entrepreneurial options open by refusing to sign onerous noncompete agreements.

#112
Buy stocks of companies still controlled by their billionaire founders.

#113
Leon Black: Do your homework, but still don’t  bet the ranch.

#114
Louis Bacon: “As a speculator you must embrace disorder and chaos.”

#115
Almost all great value investors look for market anomalies or disconnects that they can exploit.

#116
Warren Buffett: “Big opportunities come infrequently. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.”

#117
Always keep some investment powder dry.

#118
Allocate investments against your life risks.

#119
Andrew Tobias:  “A penny saved is two (pretax) pennies earned.”

#120
Deduct losses from your sideline/hobby by bunching your expenses and showing a small profit in 3 of 5 years.

#121
Postpone real estate gains tax with a 1031 exchange.

#122
Qualify as a “real estate professional” to save big  on taxes.

#123
Be leery of investments sold for tax savings.

#124
Burton Malkiel: “Start saving now, not later: Time is money.”

#125
Before making a big discretionary purchase, calculate future cost—what the dollars you’re spending could grow to if invested for 20 or 30 years.

#126
Read How to Make Money in Stocks by William J. O’Neil.

#127
Buy designer goods at consignment shops; when you get bored with them, sell for a profit on eBay.

#128
Discuss any prenuptial agreement way in advance of your wedding.

#129
Hell hath no fury. Never cheat on your taxes and your spouse at the same time—exes are a big source of IRS leads.

#130
Don’t buy a large amount of a thinly traded stock all at once.

#131
Buy and hold at your own risk.

#133
Don’t be afraid to buy into strength.

#134
It’s okay to chase performance—sometimes.

#135
Burton Malkiel: “In the stock market, past is not prologue.”

#136
Start a 529 college savings plan for yourself before you have children. If you don’t use it for graduate school, transfer it to your kid.

#137
Make your kid rich by helping him fund a Roth IRA.

#138
Deplete Junior’s UTMA—you can spend it on a laptop, camps, private school and tutoring—before applying for college financial aid.

#139
Reduce your student loan interest rate with auto debit.

#140
Julian Robertson: Suggest your kid take an accounting course—“It was the course that helped me more than anything.”

#141
Robert Shiller: “If you want to get rich, go into finance or a related field. Finance is the technology for making things happen.”

#142
Identify companies that gouge you yet keep your business. Buy them.

#143
Buy stocks like socks—good quality on sale.

#144
Buy into big ideas just like a global macro hedge fund for as little as $1,000 to start.

#145
Use limit orders when buying small-company stocks with low trading volume.

#146
Don’t leave it all in the dollar. Invest globally for currency diversification.

#147
Dollar-cost average the whole stock market.

#148
Buy companies with high ratios of gross profits-to-total assets.

#149
John Neff: “Buy on the cannons and sell on  the trumpets.”

#150
Monitor your individual stocks; set a Google news alert and watch for signs of possible trouble.

#151
Bone up on “risk parity” diversification.

#152
Always know how a financial advisor is getting paid and what if any commissions she’ll earn.

#153
Watch out for paid shills at investment seminars.

#154
Ken Fisher: “You know who didn’t have bad years? Bernard Madoff—until he got caught.”

#155
Buy a retirement annuity cheap by delaying Social Security until 70.

#156
If you need to tap retirement cash early, study up on the exceptions that let you avoid a 10% penalty, including taking “substantially equal periodic payments.”

#157
Burton Malkiel: “Tune out the financial TV channels. Watch the cooking channel or the gardening channel if you want useful advice.”

#158
Warren Buffett:  “Returns decrease as motion increases.’’

#159
Ron Baron: “Don’t waste your time short-selling. Show me the short-sellers’ yachts.”

#160
If you earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, fund a nondeductible IRA and convert it.

#161
If divorcing, get a “QDRO” from the court that allows you to split retirement assets without owing immediate tax.

#162
Claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit for your kid’s college—if you’re eligible.

#163
Don’t make multiple $9,900 bank deposits—the government might seize your money and keep it on the grounds you’re trying to skirt anti-money-laundering laws.

#164
Do a bond fund swap to harvest tax losses.

#165
Gain funding—and a market—on Kickstarter.

#166
Barry Ritholtz: “Never confuse investing with trading.”

#167
Don’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog.

#168
Hold illiquid assets in a Roth IRA, not a regular IRA.

#169
Be like Peter Thiel and put hot startup stock in a Roth IRA to make all gains tax free.

#170
Learn about your fiancé’s debts, before you walk down the aisle.

#171
Beware high-yield investments pitched as being like a bank CD.

#172
Watch out for stock hoaxes on Twitter.

#173
Be leery of pitches involving a self-directed IRA.

#174
Benjamin Graham: “It is absurd to think that the general public can ever make money out of market forecasts. For who will buy when the general public, at a given signal, rushes to sell out at a profit?”

#175
Avoid sudden lifestyle changes after a windfall.

#176
Automatically divert money from your paycheck into savings to the point where it hurts.

#177
Retire to a place without state estate or inheritance taxes.

#178
Benefit from 20/20 stock market hindsight by reversing a Roth conversion if stocks tank.

#179
Donald Trump: “Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”

#180
Ben Stein: Don’t move into a neighborhood of poverty. Avoid any situation that could leave you with too much unsecured debt.

#181
Get an entrepreneur mentor from SCORE, an organization of retired business folks.

#182
Tap your ethnic community for business funding.

#183
To get the best effort and thinking from employees in your startup, give them stock options.

#184
Like Spanx’s Sara Blakely, solve an irritating problem.

#185
Larry Page: “It is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. …Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition.”

#186
Don’t blindly rely on a target date fund in your 401(k).

#187
Don’t let your advisor manage you.

#188
Don’t rely on regulators to protect you from financial fraud.

#189
Warren Buffett: “What is smart at one price is dumb at another.”

#190
With large-cap stocks, focus more on cash flow than earnings.

#191
Strong stocks tend to stay that way. Buy high and sell higher.

#192
Don’t let family wealth become a curse on your children.

#193
Start your kid at the bottom of your business.

#194
Read Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher.

#195
Buy a gift annuity from your alma mater.

#196
John Neff: “When you feel like bragging, it’s probably time to sell.”

#197
Mine your closet for eBay gold.

#198
Mine your network for investment ideas.

#199
Warren Buffett: “The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.”

#200
Sell put options like Warren Buffett does.

#201
Buy stocks when a magazine cover declares “The Death of Equities.”

#202
Don’t count on an inheritance. If you get one, don’t blow it.

#203
Leon Cooperman: “Getting rich takes hard work, a passion for what you do and luck.”

#204
If you win the Powerball jackpot, hire a tax advisor before making any decisions.

#205
Hunt down pensions from old employers.

#206
If you’re 50 or older, with substantial self-employment income, use a custom-designed defined benefit plan to shelter $100,000 a year or more from tax.

#207
Max out your 401(k) contributions: In 2014 you can contribute $17,500, or $23,000 if you’re 50-plus.

#208
If your marriage is shaky, make a copy of all financial documents.

#209
If your spouse is shady, file separate tax returns.

#210
Burton Malkiel: “Never buy anything from someone who is out of breath.”

#211
Know when to fire your financial advisor.

#212
Be skeptical of “principal protected” products—ask how much is guaranteed and at what cost.

#213
Be wary of companies that have gone public in reverse mergers.

#214
Low-priced stocks aren’t necessarily cheap.

#215
Make sure a stock’s dividends are less than its cash flow and likely to remain that  way.

#216
Warren Buffett: “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”

#217
Beware unlisted REITs.

#218
Save remodeling receipts to add to your home’s basis and cut gains taxes when you sell.

#219
Buy no more house than you can afford.

#220
Don’t accept a high property tax assessment of your home—you can appeal and talk it down.

#221
Don’t assume you should buy a house. Start by calculating rent-versus-buy costs for homes in your market.

#222
If you have no time for complexity, diversify your portfolio with just three mutual funds.

#223
Buy a deferred fixed annuity to make sure you don’t outlive your money.

#224
Build your own ersatz retirement annuity with savings bonds.

#225
Boost income with closed-end, covered call funds.

#226
Burton Malkiel: “Trust in time, rather than timing.”

#227
Delay retirement as long as you can.

#228
But don’t assume in your planning that you can work full-time until 70.

#229
Compare insurance costs before choosing a new car model.

#230
Then go shopping for that model at month’s end.

#231
To save even more, don’t own a car, share one.

#232
Hold actively managed mutual funds—the kind that pass on the most-short-term gains—in tax-deferred retirement accounts.

#233
Hold real estate in your IRA—but carefully.

#234
Don’t let the groupthink of investment clubs cloud rational investment analysis.

#235
Warren Buffett: “Diversification is a protection against ignorance.”

#236
Follow top money-manager moves. Even the great investors piggyback on other smart investors.

#237
David Dreman: “The time to buy is when there’s blood on the streets.”

#238
Beware superstar CEOs with weak boards.

#239
Compare benefits (including options) before switching jobs.

#240
Find out how your 401(k) rates at BrightScope.com; if expenses are high or fund choices poor, lobby for a better plan.

#241
Don’t give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan; adjust your withholding so you don’t overpay your taxes.

#242
Even if you can’t pay, file your tax return.

#243
Take a cue from Mark Zuckerberg: Get maximum tax savings for your charitable buck by giving appreciated assets to a donor-advised fund or supporting organization.

#244
Read Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager.

#245
Warren Buffett: “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”

#246
Don’t chase yesterday’s winners unless they’re still winning.

#247
Purchase “own occupation” disability insurance.

#248
Remember that market underperformance—just like costs—compounds.

#249
Ramit Sethi: Set up systems to automate desired behaviors. Leave your gym clothes at the foot of your bed. Have contributions to savings automatically deducted.

#250
Open a spousal IRA for a stay-at-home husband or wife.

#251
If you work from home, get a rider on your homeowner’s insurance policy to protect you if the FedEx man slips.

#252
To maximize college aid, make Roth 401(k) contributions, not pretax ones, while your kids are in college.

#253
Like Warren Buffett, make concentrated bets in stocks that you have high confidence in.

#254
Live dangerously; invest your emergency fund instead of keeping it in cash.

#255
Barry Sternlicht: Study outliers rather than eliminate them. You can learn everything there
is to know about the industry or the player  from the company that  is performing better or worse.

#256
Don’t wait until expiration. Always look to buy back cheap options.

#257
Most stock market gains since 1950 have occurred in the November-April period.

#258
Over the long run, small-cap stocks have outperformed big blue chips.

#259
Take only calculated risks on the smallest Pink Sheet stocks.

#260
Move inherited IRAs from trustee to trustee only.

#261
Name primary and contingent IRA beneficiaries so your heirs can enjoy the maximum years of tax deferral.

#262
Maximize your Social Security using a couples claiming strategy.

#263
Open all mail from the IRS.

#264
Don’t cheat the IRS and your business partner at the same time.

#265
Never ignore a 1099, even if it’s wrong—the IRS won’t.

#266
Don’t lie to your tax pro.

#267
After you hit 70, take the required minimum distributions (RMD) each year from your traditional IRAs or face near-confiscatory tax penalties.

#268
If you don’t need your RMD, consider rolling it directly to a charity.

#269
Sign a living will, health care proxy and power of attorney, even if you’re still healthy.

#270
Get a will. What happens to property if someone dies without one (intestate) varies by state and might not be what you would want.

#272
Warren Buffett: “No matter how serene today may be, tomorrow is always uncertain.”

#273
Insure your home for its replacement value; buy flood insurance if there’s a risk of water damage.

#274
Scan in your tax records, and keep a copy on the cloud or on an external drive at work; fires and floods happen.

#275
Keep business and personal expenses separate.

#276
Maintain at least some financial accounts separate from your spouse’s.

#277
Peter Lynch: “Know what you own and know why you own it.”

#278
Have your kid read The Little Book That Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt.

#279
Don’t fall for cheap stocks that are really worth even less.

#280
Read the classic Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr.

#281
Run from a pitchman “guaranteeing” high returns.

#282
Benjamin Graham: Speculate only with a separate small portion of your capital.

#283
Snitch on tax cheats and collect a multimillion-dollar IRS whistle-blower award.

#284
Learn what behavioral economists have found about self-destructive investor behavior—so you can try to avoid these common and expensive mistakes.

#285
Understand the risks of using leverage and inverse ETFs, which rebalance assets daily.

#286
Benjamin Graham: “Every nonprofessional who operates on margin … is ipso facto speculating.”

#287
Register for Medicare at 65, even if you’re still covered by your workplace insurance, to avoid having to pay a penalty later.

#288
Rob Arnott: “No strategy can make up for inadequate savings or premature retirement.”

#289
Start saving for retirement in your 20s to put the compounding winds at your back.

#290
Use the Rule of 72: Divide your expected percentage return into 72 to figure how long it will take you to double your money.

#291
Never sell a stock that keeps on rising in price.

#292
Warren Buffett: “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”

#293
Ben Franklin: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

#294
Use ETFs to be your own international fund manager.

#295
Don’t try to impose your ego on the market.

#296
Set up 10% trailing stop-loss orders to avoid unexpected nosedives in your portfolio.

#297
Barry Sternlicht: You have to be willing to change your mind. If you are a stubborn mule, you’ll get killed.

#298
Read Warren Buffett’s favorite book, Benjamin Graham’s Intelligent Investor.

#299
Be a vulture investor: Buy distressed bonds at pennies on the dollar like Marty Whitman and David Tepper.

#300
Pay attention to moving averages. When the 20- or 50-day average crosses below the 200-day average it’s bearish.

#301
Monitor the level of fear in the market with the CBOE put/call ratio and the VIX.

#302
Get tax help if you’ve got incentive stock options—they carry tax benefits but also a nasty alternative minimum tax trap.

#303
Pay public school tuition for your overachieving teen by getting steep discounts at great private colleges.

#304
Don’t treat your 401(k) as a piggy bank; you’ll regret it come retirement.

#305
Read Money Masters of Our Time by John Train.

#306
Never buy anything from a cold-calling broker.

#307
Be alert for the signs that a bubble is forming.

#308
Use sentiment indicators as contrarian tools.

#309
Don’t confuse correlation with causation in markets.

#310
Small-cap stocks with lower price-to-book values tend to outperform.

#311
Tap an IRA—not a 401(k)—without penalty for a first-time home purchase.

#312
Leave the dollars in a Health Savings Account growing tax free for retirement while you cover medical deductibles and copays from your current income.

#313
Use a “flight path” approach to asset allocation, raising your exposure to stocks as you become a more confident investor.

#314
Know your sell rules before you buy.

#315
Read letters of great investors such as Warren Buffett and Jeremy Grantham online.

#316
Become an online stock researcher.

#317
Beware of asset protection scams.

#318
When stuck paying AMT, accelerate some income.

#319
Rent out your vacation home for two weeks a year, tax free.

#320
Most people don’t need a whole life policy; buy a 20-year level-premium life insurance policy before your first child is born.

#321
Warren Buffett: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”

#322
Save $40,000 or more by sending your overachiever to community college and then have her transfer to a top public university or the Ivy League.

#323
Save on a master’s—for yourself or kids—by earning it in Britain in one year.

#324
Have your eldest child take a gap year before college so that more than one child is in school at the same time—you’ll get more financial aid.

#325
Rothify—Roth conversions make sense in more cases than most people realize.

#326
Time 401(k) contributions to make sure you grab your full employer match.

#327
Factor your individual health and life expectancy into your decision on when to take Social Security.

#328
Use an online calculator to help you determine the best strategy to maximize your Social Security benefits.

#329
Put junk bond funds in tax-deferred accounts.

#330
If your spouse dies, file an estate tax return to preserve his $5.25 million estate/gift tax exemption (rising to $5.34 million in 2014) for your own use later.

#331
Buy master limited partnerships late in life to avoid their tax drawbacks.

#332
Only buy closed-end funds trading at discounts to net asset value.

#333
Invest in businesses with sustainable competitive advantages.

#334
Don’t fight the tape.

#335
Remember, three out of four stocks follow the market’s overall trend.

#337
Spend 25% less than you make—it will give you flexibility to pursue the big opportunity.

#338
Bruce Greenwald: To get really rich, copy the hedge fund, private equity and VC masters and “get your hands on somebody else’s money.”

#339
Warren Buffett: “Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies.”

#340
Watch out for high fees hidden in some tax-sheltered products like 529s and variable annuities.

#341
Protect your assets before there’s a claim against you; after-the-fact moves can backfire.

#342
Check your advisor’s ADV at www.sec.gov.

#343
Remember Bernie Madoff: Make sure your investment advisor keeps your money in an account with an independent custodian.

#344
Gary Shilling: Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, intelligently and efficiently apply what is already well known.

#345
Warren Buffett: “You don’t have to make money back the same way you lost it.”

#346
When selling a business, plan ahead and you may be able to save big on tax.

#347
Retire to a place where jobs are plentiful.

#348
Factor taxes into your retirement income strategy.

#349
Take $500,000 per couple in gains on the sale of your home, tax free.

#350
Don’t be afraid to deduct a legitimate home office—you can now claim up to $1,500 a year, with minimal recordkeeping.

#351
Review the assumptions an ex-employer has made in calculating your pension. Mistakes aren’t unusual.

#352
Keep 5% of your portfolio in gold.

#353
Own gold through ETFs like GLD.

#354
When pundits declare the death of “buy-and-hold” it could well be the sign of a market bottom.

#355
Warren Buffett: “It’s optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.”

#356
Burton Malkiel: “ ‘Efficient markets’ does not mean that the price of every security at every moment in time is correct.”

#357
Look for undiscovered stocks with market caps between $1 billion and $10 billion.

#358
Understand how the businesses you invest in make money.

#359
If the short sellers are swarming around your stock, investigate the bears’ thesis.

#360
When company insiders buy, you should, too.

#361

Benjamin Graham: Those who want “freedom from concern” must accept lower returns.

#362
Warren Buffett: It is “far better to buy a wonderful business at a fair price than to buy a fair business at a wonderful price.”

#363
Burton Malkiel: “Avoid the temptation to follow the herd.”

#364
Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

#365
Plan.