It’s often said that one’s ability to delay gratification is an important factor of success in personal finance. When you don’t buy that new whatever until you have enough money to pay for it, you save on interest you would otherwise pay. When you save a portion of your current pay for retirement, you are […]
Latest Blog Posts
Tax Efficiency: Relative or Absolute?
Tax efficiency becomes a factor when you have investments in regular taxable accounts (versus a tax advantaged accounts such as a 401k or IRAs). Because you have to pay taxes on interest, dividends, and realized gains, an investment that loses less of its returns to taxes is said to be more tax efficient. Tax efficiency […]
Is Gas From Grocery Store Considered Gas Or Grocery For Credit Card Rewards?
Do you buy gas at a grocery store? Many grocery chains found that gas is a major attraction to get people into their stores because people are irrational about minor differences in gas prices. Grocery stores usually sell gas at prices slightly lower than the competition. When people go there for gas, many will get […]
Stocks or Bonds in Roth?
[This is a guest post from Bogleheads investment forum participant Bob’s not my name.] A number of spurious arguments are made for holding riskier assets in your Roth IRA as opposed to a Traditional IRA. Let’s examine them. For simplicity, we’ll refer to risky assets as stocks and less risky assets as bonds, but the […]
Double The Bond Yield: Maximize Your Advantages As An Individual Investor
QE3 is a tipping point to me. It hit me with the reality that we are going to be in this low interest rate world for the long haul. Instead of taking a punch in the face, I resolve to fight back. I’m tired of getting paid a puny amount on my money. I’m going […]
Guest Post at Michael Kitces’ Nerd’s Eye View Blog
Michael Kitces is Director of Research for Pinnacle Advisory Group, a private wealth management firm in Columbia, Maryland. Michael is also a very active writer and speaker in the financial advisory community. He provides very good insight for financial advisors, clients, and DIY investors on his blog Nerd’s Eye View. Michael published a guest post […]
How to Save $4,000 in Your Graduation Year – Part 2: Insurance
[This is a guest post from Bogleheads investment forum participant Bob’s not my name as a follow-up to his previous post How to Save $4,000 in Your Graduation Year — Part 1: Taxes.] In Part 1, we looked at the weird stew of education credits and deductions the government has cooked up. The government’s meddling […]
A Basic Checking Account That Pays More Than A High Yield Savings Account
The Fed’s keeping interest rate low with QE3 will change a lot of things. I thought of one more habit change after I finished the previous post 3 Good Money Habits Going Obsolete In a Low Interest Rate World. Old Habit: Earn Interest From Money On Deposit New Habit: Get Paid For the Banking Relationship […]
3 Good Money Habits Going Obsolete In a Low Interest Rate World
People form money habits over many years. Many of these habits are passed down from generation to generation as good ways to manage one’s money. Sadly some of these habits are going obsolete in the current low interest rate world. They made more sense when interest rates were high. They matter very little when interest […]
How to Save $4,000 in Your Graduation Year — Part 1: Taxes
[This is a guest post from Bogleheads investment forum participant Bob’s not my name.] If you are a college senior or if you graduated this year, pay attention. The year in which you finish college and enter the workforce presents unique tax circumstances. In addition, you may think you are achieving financial independence from your […]