In a low interest rates world, you should take a serious look at any loans you have. Although a 3.25% 30-year mortgage is often said to be "cheap money" or "almost free money" it’s neither cheap nor nearly free compared to the rate you earn on your bonds. This chart shows the difference between the […]
Latest Blog Posts
Find Out How Much You Paid Admin Fees In Your 401k Or 403b
Back in August, my 401k provider sent a disclosure required by the new Department of Labor rules. It basically said they may deduct fees from my account and when they do, the amount would show up on the quarterly statement. It didn’t say how much those fees would be. See my previous post New 401k […]
EE Bonds vs CDs and Bond Funds For Long-Term Investment
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 […]
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 […]