First Baby! Things To Buy, Things Not To Buy? (Ask The Readers)

After a long period of trying and a month before our planned IVF procedure, we recently found out Mrs. MMB was pregnant! We were being carefully optimistic so we kept things rather quiet until now. We just had another ultrasound at 20 weeks that … [Read the rest]

Understanding the Habit Loop: Cue, Routine, Reward

Personal finance in theory is simple. Earn more, spend less. We all know that. But what makes it hard is changing our behavior, and much of that behavior is controlled by habits that we can't stop. A new book called The Power of Habit: Why We Do … [Read the rest]

Vanguard Lowers My Portfolio’s Fund Fees… Again!

There will always be debate regarding investing in actively-managed stock pickers vs. passive index followers. But even for active managers, costs matter more than star ratings and past performance. The lower the expenses, the less headwind year … [Read the rest]

AmazonLocal: $10 Amazon GC for $5

If it wasn't for the ads on my Kindle (no good offers recently... boo), I wouldn't even know that Amazon had their own Groupon-clone called AmazonLocal. I don't even bother subscribing to any new copycat sites other than Groupon and Livingsocial, … [Read the rest]

What Do People Regret The Most On Their Deathbeds?

Bronnie Ware was a nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last weeks of their lives, and recorded her experiences in a blog. She wrote an excellent post about the most common regrets of the dying, which … [Read the rest]

Kiva Microfinance Loan Update & Default Rates

I have been lending some money to people through Kiva microfinance to help alleviate poverty since 2007. While reinvesting some funds that were paid back, I noticed that I just reached $1,000 in money lent out through 40 loans of $25 each. Kiva … [Read the rest]

The Ethics of Credit Card Rewards and Bonuses

The NY Times has a regular column called "The Ethicist", and it recently talked about credit card rewards. A reader writes in and asks: When shopping at big retailers, take up the offer for a new credit card to take advantage of the, say, 10 … [Read the rest]

TIPS and Historical Breakeven Inflation Rates

The Calafia Beach Pundit has an interesting discussion on TIPS (inflation-linked bonds). What caught my eye was a nice chart of historical TIPS real (after-inflation) yields vs. Treasury nominal yields. The difference is what inflation would … [Read the rest]

More Statistics On 401(k) Target Date Retirement Funds

Just as theorized by a previously-mentioned academic paper about target funds, a new Bloomberg article talks about how some mutual fund providers like PIMCO and Invesco are now adding things like commodities futures, options, and currency swaps into … [Read the rest]

Quicken Mac 2007 OS X Lion Compatible Version Released

I know that there was some noise when the Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was released and Quicken 2007 for Mac was reported by Intuit to be incompatible with any computer running the new operation system. Next, they release Quicken Essentials for Mac which was a … [Read the rest]

Poor Charlie’s Almanack: Wisdom of Charlie Munger – Book Review, Part 1

Charlie Munger is best known as the long-time friend and business partner of Warren Buffett, and officially as the Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Even though he is Buffett's partner in investing, Munger is different in that he does not enjoy … [Read the rest]

Buffett on Charlie Munger: Work For Yourself An Hour Each Day

I've gotten to the part in The Snowball that involves Charlie Munger. A very interesting person, although perhaps not someone I'd like to have a beer with (I'd feel stupid), he is probably best known as Buffett's long-time friend, business … [Read the rest]