Two readers commented about avoiding the worst days on my post about the meaningless stats on missing the best days. The stock market had some bad days since then. I think some might be interested in reading about avoiding the worst days. First I want to emphasize that the whole point of my previous post […]
Latest Blog Posts
Rebalancing In Action: Bought More REITs
The stock market had a good year this year. Despite the 2% drop yesterday, the S&P 500 index is up 7.5% since January. When I looked at all the Vanguard index funds, everything is up, except REITs. REITs are Real Estate Investment Trusts, which invest in commercial real estate like office buildings, shopping malls and what […]
Personal Rate of Return: Dollar Weighted Or Time Weighted
After reading my post about estimating overall personal rate of return, a reader Brian asked: “I have a Fidelity serviced 401(k) and I had always wondered about how they calculated the personal rate of return. Do you know how/if other providers calculate personal rates of return? If I were to open a brokerage account, is […]
Settle for Good Enough
I came to know the book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by coincidence when I read an article in New York Times on a plane. I wrote about that article in Opt In or Opt Out: The Power of the Default Option. I finally got this book from the public library after […]
Out of the Market and Meaningless Stats
The stock market had a field day last Thursday (7/12/2007). The Dow rose 284 points, its biggest point gain in nearly five years. It reminded me of the stats about the risk of being out of the market. It goes like if you missed the best X days in Y years in the stock market, […]
ESPP: What’s In It for the Company?
After reading my post about ESPP, a reader David sent me an e-mail and asked I’ve read a bunch of stuff about ESPP and while everyone talks about what a good deal it is for the employees who are able to participate, or the tax consequences of the various ways to sell the shares, no one talks about what […]
Agency Bonds for Higher Yield Over Treasury
I invest my short-term money in a Vanguard money market fund and Treasury Bills. I also tested water with Agency bonds for slightly higher yield over Treasury for the same maturity earlier this year. Agency bonds are bonds issued by a federal government agency or a Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE). A GSE is a entity […]
$10,000 Lesson On Variable Universal Life (VUL)
Variable Universal Life insurance or in short VUL is sold by insurance agents as a smart investment to unsuspecting people. The pitch usually goes like this: You invest in VUL. The money in the policy grows tax deferred. You get to choose what you invest in, stocks, bonds, international, you name it. It’s like a […]
Disputed Credit Card Charge Against Priceline
When I go on vacation, I usually use Priceline’s Name Your Price™ service for a hotel room. You specify an area in the city, a quality level (3-star, 4-star, etc.), the dates, and the price you want to pay. Priceline tries to find a hotel for you at that price. If it accepts your bid, […]
The Commutative Law of Multiplication
The Commutative Law of Multiplication is a fancy way of saying when you multiply two numbers, it doesn’t matter which number you put down first and which number you put down second. a * b = b * a This basic law of arithmetic is taught in the second grade in elementary school. Yet it’s […]