I’ve been thinking about this for some time. This is a follow-up to the previous post Lifestyle Design: Choose Where You Live. I took this picture during my vacation to help make the point: It was taken on the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. The classic Inca Trail takes four days and […]
Latest Blog Posts
Sell Cash-Secured Puts: Get Paid for Your Rebalancing Commitment
The previous two posts Pay a 30-Year Loan On a 15-Year Schedule and Borrow 30-Year and Invest The Difference showed how you can save money if you are committed to making higher monthly payments on your mortgage. This fits into a general theme: pay a lower price if you commit to something and you make […]
Payment Flexibility Insurance: Pay a 30-Year Loan On a 15-Year Schedule
Paying a 30-year mortgage on a 15-year schedule costs a lot more than getting a straight 15-year mortgage.
Professional Help vs Do It Yourself
If you want the luxury of not understanding anything about investment, a financial advisor will do it all for you. It’s just that it will often cost you a lot of money. You should still have an advisor, but a low-cost one.
Picking Stocks vs Investing In Index Funds
New York Times Your Money columnist Ron Lieber wrote an interesting article Picking Stocks After Facebook. He had someone look up the best performing stocks since 1982 in the Wilshire 5000 Index, which is basically everything except very tiny ones. It turns out that most of the best performing stocks are largely unknown (to me […]
Three Secrets To A Fat 401k
Making your 401k work as well as a pension is not rocket science.
Diversify Stocks and Bonds Investments With Rental Property
A co-worker told me she bought a house as a rental property in Las Vegas (we are nowhere near Las Vegas). She said a few other co-workers thought it was a great idea and bought there too. Clark Howard, a consumer advocate and personal finance guru on radio, also says now it’s a great time […]
Clearing Firm: Your Broker’s Broker
You learn so many things if you pay close attention. On my recent brokerage account switch from Wells Fargo to TD Ameritrade, I noticed this in my transaction history: Transfer of security from First Clearing Who’s First Clearing? I thought I was transferring from Wells Fargo Advisors. It turns out that my account had been […]
Brokerage Account Closeout Fee Tax Deductible Or Not?
By moving my brokerage account from Wells Fargo to TD Ameritrade, I earned a signup bonus from TD Ameritrade, but I also had to pay a $95 account closeout fee to Wells Fargo. I could’ve left the minimum amount necessary to keep the Wells Fargo account open and free, but because the signup bonus more […]
Brokerage Account Signup Bonus Taxable Or Not?
I’m following the lead from my own post Huge Bonus Offers From Brokers: Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, ETrade, Merrill Edge. Although I’m satisfied with the service of WellsTrade brokerage account provided by Wells Fargo Advisors, the huge bonus offered by its competitors is just too good to pass up. I moved my brokerage account from […]