I admit I did not get myself emotionally attached to the health care reform one way or the other when it was being debated in Congress. I keep myself loosely informed from reading my friend Austin Frakt’s blog The Incidental Economist. Now that the final legislation is passed, everybody inevitably asks “What’s in it for […]
Latest Blog Posts
Last Train for Mortgage Refinance
On March 16, the Fed announced it would stop buying mortgage-backed securities effective March 31. Instead of going up, the mortgage rates reached a new low on the next day. As a result, I’m doing another no-cost refinance to lower my rate by a quarter of a percentage point. I think this really will be […]
Opportunity Cost and Paper Loss
Is an opportunity cost a real cost? That’s the question I have been pondering. I was deciding whether to buy an air ticket a few weeks ago. I saw a good price when I did the search in the morning. I was at work at that time and I decided to make the purchase that […]
How to Shop for Furniture?
The furniture I bought during the New Year’s holiday finally arrived. By the time they arrived, I almost forgot what they looked like. I’m so used to comparing products online. Buying furniture proved to be an entirely different experience. Although many stores sell furniture, there is actually very little information online. Many furniture stores don’t […]
Refundable and Non-Refundable Tax Credit in Charts
This article explains the difference between refundable and non-refundable tax credits with illustrative charts.
Low-Minimum Index Funds and Commission-Free ETFs for Small Investors
The deal for small investors is getting better. If someone wants to invest in index funds and ETFs with very low cost, Vanguard is no longer the only choice. Competition is really good for customers. Schwab has 5 index funds that require only $100 minimum initial investment. The lineup is not as extensive as Vanguard’s, […]
Spending Other People’s Money
Someone bumped into my car in a parking lot but wasn’t decent enough to leave a note. The hood of my car was damaged. I went to two reputable body shops. One quoted $850; the other quoted $740. As body work goes, it’s a small job. Because the bill isn’t much more than my deductible, […]
Why Is ACH Slower At Some Places Than Others?
ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. It’s low-cost method to move money from one account to another. When you have payroll direct deposit, it’s done by ACH. When you give your bank account to an insurance company for automatic monthly payments, it’s done by ACH. When you transfer money from a checking account to an […]
The Origin of Solo 401k
Solo 401k was made possible when employee’s contributions didn’t have to be counted in the maximum tax deduction by the employer.
No Sugar Coating Please: It Was a Lost Decade
Happy New Year! With the first decade in the new millennium having come to the end, there’s a lot of retrospection in the media. What happened? What should’ve happened but didn’t? In the investing world, some say the decade was a “lost decade” and some apologists say how it wasn’t. I read articles from both […]