[Update: After evaluating the alternatives, I discovered a way to automatically download the transactions and price quotes and feed them to Money after Microsoft pulls the plug. See follow-up posts Replacing Microsoft Money, Part 5: OFX Scripts and Download Price Quotes to Microsoft Money After Microsoft Pulls the Plug.] Back in June 2009, Microsoft announced […]
Latest Blog Posts
Will Reward Checking Last In the Long Run?
You have probably heard of these checking accounts offered by smaller (“community”) banks and credit unions. They are branded different names but they work very similarly. The concept is called reward checking. A typical reward checking account offers no minimum balance no monthly fee high yield up to a point (4% up to $25,000 is […]
Rebalancing in a Bear Market
The stock market crash in 2008 provides a good case study for rebalancing. If you are not familiar, rebalancing means selling some assets to buy other assets and putting your asset allocation back to what you originally wanted. Rebalancing is good for maintaining a portfolio because you are buying low and selling high. For 2008, […]
Foreclosed Homeowners’ Rate of Return
Via a post on the Bogleheads forum, I read this piece of news from the WSJ Developments blog: Study Finds Underwater Borrowers Drowned Themselves with Refinancings From that WSJ blog post, I read this research paper: LaCour-Little, Michael, Eric Rosenblatt, and Vincent Yao, 2009. Follow the Money: A Close Look at Recent Southern California Foreclosures […]
Which Broker? You Don’t Need One
When people start investing outside their 401k or 403b plan for the first time, their very first question is often "Which broker?" The answer should be "You don’t need one." Vanguard is a great choice for beginning investors (and seasoned investors!), but Vanguard is not a broker. It’s a mutual fund company. Vanguard has a […]
What Is AAA, Really?
My AAA membership is up for renewal. I’m talking about the organization that provides emergency roadside service: towing, jumpstarting, and lockout. It used to be American Automobile Association. Now it’s just AAA. I have been a AAA member for a few years but I still don’t understand what AAA really is. I mean, is it […]
Does a Mortgage Escrow Account Pay Interest?
Escrow accounts are required to pay interest in some states. The mandated minimum interest rate can be higher than the interest rate you can get in the best savings account.
Buying a Car Extended Warranty
A family member asked me to help him buy an extended warranty for his car. I got the enviable job because the extended warranty costs a lot of money (over $1,000) and I have the reputation in the family for getting good value for money. Is an extended warranty on a car “worth it”? The […]
Why Are Some Companies Hated By Consumers?
Why are some companies hated by consumers while other companies are loved? That sounds like something Harvard Business Review would write about. And indeed, it has. In Companies and the Customers Who Hate Them, Harvard professors Gail McGovern and Youngme Moon said a company is hated when it sets adversarial rules to extract value from […]
Mortgage Ecosystem: Direct Lender
My mortgage refinance was completed on June 3. I made my first payment to my new lender today. I did the refi through National Mortgage Alliance (NMA), which is a division of a bank Georgia Banking Company (GBC). The name on my loan paperwork was “Georgia Banking Company dba National Mortgage Alliance.” Officially, I borrowed […]