I have some more, but you already gave the best yourself:
1) Never follow the crowd into a stupid bubble like oil, stocks, or real-estate have been in the past. This is of course the famous “contrarian” stance. First, we are not in paradise, and it would be impossible that everyone is getting rich without the equal amount of production. Second, you could never get a good price if everyone else competes with you for buying.
2) Use your own brain. If someone tells you that Y goes up because of X, just think it through yourself. Does it make sense in island economics? How did it do in history? Did it work in reverse, i.e. Y going down when X went down. There is so much nonsense on TV these days that can be dismissed immediately.
3) Don’t rely on any government program for your retirement. The rule of thumb I use is to put aside the amount per month that I want to live on later (per month, in today’s dollars). It works amazingly well. Say, I think $2000 would be an ok retirement nowadays. I now have to put aside pretty much $2000 every month (in various programs). The gains I make after tax are probably just around inflation, and if I work for 30 years, then it will last exactly for 30 more years, give or take. Sure, maybe I beat inflation a little, or maybe I work longer. But maybe I live a little longer too, or just live a little better. My point: The money can only come from you. The government and nobody else can pay anything that wasn’t created. If they print money it will just go into increased prices.
4) Of course, use the best vehicles for your savings, e.g. diversified investments, and max out Roth and IRAs.
