I wrote a few weeks ago Investing Is Simple. “You come up with an asset allocation, open some accounts, pick a few index funds, and you are done. Once in a while you see if anything is out of whack and you redirect your new money to wherever is lagging. It’s not complicated at all.” […]
Latest Blog Posts
Rollover IRA to Solo 401k
In preparation for converting my non-deductible IRA contributions to Roth IRA, I’m rolling over the pre-tax portion of my traditional IRA to my solo 401k. I set up the solo 401k last year primarily for this purpose — to provide a harbor for my pre-tax IRA money so I won’t get taxed proportionally on my […]
Sold PIMCO Foreign Bond Fund
I sold my entire position in PIMCO Foreign Bond Fund (Unhedged) Institutional (PFUIX). According to its prospectus, this fund invests in “… Fixed Income Instruments that are economically tied to foreign (non-U.S.) countries, … which may be represented by forwards or derivatives such as options, future contracts or swap agreements.” I bought this fund in […]
Chase Blueprint: Suggested Payment Calculator
By way of a post on the Payments Views blog, The Era of Responsible Credit Card Borrowing Begins Today, I heard that Chase recently launched a new Blueprint service for their credit cards. In a nutshell, Blueprint is a fancy suggested payment calculator. For customers who carry a balance, Blueprint lets them set up some […]
Investing Is Simple
I haven’t written much about investing lately, because investing is simple and I think I pretty much covered everything already. You come up with an asset allocation, open some accounts, pick a few index funds, and you are done. Once in a while you see if anything is out of whack and you redirect your […]
The Right Lessons and The Wrong Lessons
It’s the one year anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers. The media marked that event as the start date of the financial crisis. Several financial podcasts I listen to all ran features on “lessons from the financial crisis.” I’m more interested in the lessons at a personal level, not so much at the macroeconomic […]
Super-Easy DIY Car Maintenance
The title says it all. Some car maintenance jobs are very easy. If you do them yourself, you can save hundreds of dollars. I’m not a handy person at all. I have never operated a drill (don’t laugh). If I’m able to do some simple maintenance for my car, I’m sure you can too. Windshield […]
Download Price Quotes to Microsoft Money After Microsoft Pulls the Plug
There is a small piece of unfinished business in my series for replacing Microsoft Money. After giving my requirements and looking at Quicken, GnuCash, and Moneydance, I came upon two OFX scripts for downloading transactions directly from the financial institutions, outside of Microsoft Money. Those scripts will take care of the transactions. They will also […]
Mixing Money With Family and Friends
I picked up this book because of the title and the cartoon on the cover. Isn’t It Their Turn to Pick Up the Check is written by a couple Jeanne Fleming and Leonard Schwarz who answer money and ethics questions in their column Do The Right Thing in Money Magazine and on CNNMoney.com. This little […]
Replacing Microsoft Money, Part 5: OFX Scripts
This is part 5 in my series for replacing Microsoft Money. I gave my requirements in part 1. Then I looked at Quicken, GnuCash, and Moneydance. I still haven’t found a perfect replacement for Microsoft Money. Money isn’t perfect either, but it’s working. Well, sort of. I already know the bugs and limitations and I […]