What is the first rule of investing?

Asked by: Ruthie King  |  Last update: July 14, 2025
Score: 4.6/5 (64 votes)

Warren Buffett, one of the world's most successful investors, has shared plenty of advice over his long career. But one piece of advice stands out as his top rule: “The first rule of investment is don't lose money.” And if you ask about the second rule?

What is the first best investment rule?

Rule No.

1 is never lose money. Rule No.

What is the 30/30/30 rule in investing?

The retirement saving 30:30:30:10 rule helps you invest income in an organized manner. It suggests investing 30% of savings into stocks, 30% in bonds, 30% towards real estate, and the remaining 10% in cash and cash equivalents. This gives birth to a balanced financial portfolio.

What is the golden rule of investing?

1. Keep some cash ready. Just like markets, life can have its share of ups and downs too. So whatever you're investing in, first make sure you have enough money that you can easily access to cover any unexpected expenses.

What is the 1 investor rule?

According to this rule, after purchasing and rehabbing the property, the monthly rent should be at least 1% of the total purchase price, including the cost of repairs. This guideline helps ensure that the rental income covers the mortgage payment and operating expenses, leading to positive cash flow.

Tim Bennett Explains: The first rule of stock market investing

30 related questions found

What is the 1 rule of investing?

Warren Buffett and his mentor, Ben Graham, championed Rule #1 for one fundamental reason: minimizing loss. By minimizing losses, even in subpar investments, you increase your chances of finding winning investments over time.

What is the 4 3 2 1 rule in real estate?

Analyzing the 4-3-2-1 Rule in Real Estate

This rule outlines the ideal financial outcomes for a rental property. It suggests that for every rental property, investors should aim for a minimum of 4 properties to achieve financial stability, 3 of those properties should be debt-free, generating consistent income.

What is Warren Buffett's golden rule?

Many novice investors lose money chasing big returns. And that's why Buffett's first rule of investing is “don't lose money”. The thing is, if an investors makes a poor investment decision and the value of that asset — stock — goes down 50%, the investment has to go 100% up to get back to where it started.

What is the 7% loss rule?

Always sell a stock it if falls 7%-8% below what you paid for it. This basic principle helps you always cap your potential downside. If you're following rules for how to buy stocks and a stock you own drops 7% to 8% from what you paid for it, something is wrong.

What is the simplest investment rule?

The 90/10 investment rule is a rule of thumb for setting up your investment portfolio. The rule is relatively simple, advocating for splitting your portfolio, placing 90% of your assets into a low-cost S&P 500 index fund and the remaining 10% into short-term government bonds.

What is the 80% rule investing?

YOUR INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

In this case, many investors will find that roughly 20% of their investment holdings will lead to about 80% of their growth. While these percentages won't be exact, the general rule applies that a small number of your investments will result in the most growth.

What is the 10x retirement rule?

As a general rule of thumb, financial experts recommend having 10x your salary saved to live comfortably in retirement.

What is the best rule for saving money?

Key Takeaways. The 50-30-20 budget rule states that you should spend up to 50% of your after-tax income on needs and obligations that you must have or must do. The remaining half should dedicate 20% to savings, leaving 30% to be spent on things you want but don't necessarily need.

What is the Buffett rule of investing?

Some of his most important rules include: Rule 1: Never lose money. This is considered by many to be Buffett's most important rule and is the foundation of his investment philosophy.

Where to put your money first?

Open a savings or money market account at your local bank or credit union of choice. Each pay period, create your budget and title the first expense “savings.” Set a fixed amount or a percentage that you are going to save right away.

What is the safest most profitable investment?

Here are the best low-risk investments in 2025:
  • High-yield savings accounts.
  • Money market funds.
  • Short-term certificates of deposit.
  • Cash management accounts.
  • Treasurys and TIPS.
  • Corporate bonds.
  • Dividend-paying stocks.
  • Preferred stocks.

Which month is best to sell stocks?

Best Months to Buy or Sell Stocks. Our analysis of S&P 500 data from 2000 to 2024 also revealed some clear monthly patterns. November is historically the strongest month, with an average daily return of 0.107% and positive returns 57% of the time. April and July are the next strongest months.

Can I sell a stock and buy it back the same day?

So, if you profit from the sale of stock or securities, you can repurchase the same stock or securities right away without any penalty. The wash sale rule also doesn't apply to: sales and trades of commodity futures contracts or foreign currencies.

What is a 70/30 investment strategy?

A 70/30 portfolio is an investment portfolio where 70% of investment capital is allocated to stocks and 30% to fixed-income securities, primarily bonds. Any portfolio can be broken down into different percentages this way, such as 80/20 or 60/40.

What is the buffet $1 rule?

“We test the wisdom of retaining earnings by assessing whether retention, over time, delivers shareholders at least $1 of market value for each $1 retained.” This will assess whether management's capital allocation decisions are creating value for shareholders.

What is the rent rule?

A popular standard for budgeting rent is to follow the 30% rule, where you spend a maximum of 30% of your monthly income before taxes (your gross income) on your rent. 1 This has been a rule of thumb since 1981, when the government found that people who spent over 30% of their income on housing were "cost-burdened."

What is the golden rule of real estate investing?

Her golden rule is made up of two parts. The first part is good advice for any real estate purchase: make a 20% down payment. The second part is renting the property out to tenants for enough to cover the mortgage, even if you don't profit initially. Let's break down why this is such good advice.

What is the 1 percent rule in life?

The 1 Percent Rule states that over time the majority of the rewards in a given field will accumulate to the people, teams, and organizations that maintain a 1 percent advantage over the alternatives. You don't need to be twice as good to get twice the results. You just need to be slightly better.