Check the Cost Basis Tracking in Your Brokerage Account

When you sell your shares of stocks/ETFs/mutual funds in a taxable brokerage account, your broker will also record the specific shares and the original value at purchase (cost basis) at which you bought them. Even if you don't expect to sell your … [Read the rest]

US Bank Self-Directed Brokerage: Enabling Automatic Dividend Reinvestment

For those that are newer members of the US Bank checking/savings/credit card/brokerage ecosystem, most likely for the up to 4% cash back rewards from their Smartly credit card (current terms for new applicants are poor, but the grandfathered terms … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates Survey: Savings Accounts, Treasuries, CDs, Money Markets, ETFs – May 2025

Here's my monthly survey of the best interest rates on cash as of May 2025, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Banks love taking advantage of our idle cash, and you can often earning more money while keeping the same level of safety … [Read the rest]

Apple Siri Class Action Settlement: “Lopez Voice Assistant” Email

Apple has settled a class-action lawsuit that their voice-activated Siri assistant violated users' privacy by recording conversations and sending them to third-party contractors. Eligibility includes those that "owned or purchased a Siri-enabled … [Read the rest]

WisdomTree Prime Crypto: $100 Bonus w/ $1000 Deposit for 45 Days

New crypto exchange WisdomTree Prime is offer a $100 bonus in crypto after the following: Open a new WisdomTree Prime account. Deposit $1,000 into your account and maintain an average balance of $1,000 — based on deposits and withdrawals — … [Read the rest]

Gemini Crypto: $50 Bonus after Trading $100 (Referral Promo Code)

Update: Bonus now $50. Crypto exchange Gemini has upped their referral offer for a limited-time to a $50 bonus in crypto after you open a new account and trade $100. You should see the info on the link landing page. Above is a screenshot from … [Read the rest]

Best vs. Worst Mortgage Rates: How Much Are You Overpaying If You Don’t Shop Around?

If you are looking at mortgages and figure that the market must be competitive and that all lenders should offer similar interest rates, then you should check out this Axios article and Tomo Mortgage whitepaper "The Truth about Mortgages" (via … [Read the rest]

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: 75,000 Miles (Worth $750 in Travel)

The card_name is a premium travel rewards card with a flat 2 Miles per dollar on all purchases. 75,000 miles can be redeemed as a $750 credit towards any travel purchase made with the card (any airline website, any hotel website, AirBNB stays, … [Read the rest]

2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting Video, Transcript, and Notes

The 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting occurred on May 3rd, 2025, and you've probably already heard the big news: Warren Buffett will step down as the CEO at the end of the year, to be replaced by Greg Abel (recent Fortune profile). … [Read the rest]

Private Equity Creating Attractive Rates For MYGAs / Life Insurance?

One of the lessons from the 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting was that you never know where your next investment idea will come from, so you should “turn every page”. For example, I like to read the entire transcript of the Q&A session (thanks … [Read the rest]

Savings I Bonds May 2025: 1.10% Fixed Rate, 2.88% Inflation Rate (3.98% Total for First 6 Months)

Update: Savings I Bonds bought from May 1, 2025 through October 31, 2025 will have a fixed rate of 1.10% and inflation rate of 2.88%, for a total composite rate of 3.98% for the first 6 months. Compare the total rate with the current short-term … [Read the rest]

AI Pioneer Divides Assets Across Multiple Banks and Brokerages

I'm trying (and failing) to keep up with AI developments, but inside this interview with AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton (Wikipedia names him the Godfather of AI) was an interesting tidbit that relates to personal finance. Here is an excerpt from a … [Read the rest]