7 Money Tricks Rich Guys Know

My dad taught me how to rig a mainsail, my college buddies taught me how to hold my Jim Beam, and my teachers taught me how to parse Chaucer. But somehow no one got around to helping me calculate compound interest or build a diversified portfolio. Arcane skills? Perhaps, but learning them is the best way to avoid spending your retirement years nibbling on Alpo. 

Of course, people teach only what they know, and previous generations had less cause to study the finer points of finance, says Charles Farrell, a Denver-based investment advisor. Most men died within a few years of retirement; the rest squeaked by on pensions and Social Security. Today, employer pension plans are largely history and Social Security is endangered, leaving us to rely on our own savings during our waning years. And with life expectancies rising, we'd better be prepared to grow those savings and make them last. "This generation has to figure out how to afford to live off its investments for 20 to 30 years," Farrell says. "It's never been tried before."

Ensuring your financial survival will require learning to be your own CFO. Herewith, seven skills to help begin your education. 

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