A regular reader Don sent me a post entitled Long Term Buy And Hold Is Still Bad Advice. Okay, fine, everyone and their mom has been telling me this recently. But I read it, and it was such a bad analysis that I had to rebut it here. I think … [Read the rest]
VanguardAdvantage: All-In-One Checking Account At Vanguard?
Posted on June 27, 2009 // 21 Comments
I saw that Vanguard has a new account called the VanguardAdvantage account. On the surface, it looks great. In addition to having full brokerage features (buy individual stocks, ETFs, options, and even brokered CDs), you also get full checkwriting … [Read the rest]
Discover Miles Card: Rewards / Travel Credit Redemption Info
Posted on June 25, 2009 // 8 Comments
Well, looks like I've squeezed all the free money out of another credit card offer. This time it is the Miles Card by Discover. It used to have a good 12-month no-fee 0% balance transfer offer, but has recently added a balance transfer fee. However, … [Read the rest]
5-Step Guide to Finding The Lowest Rate For Hotel Rooms
Posted on June 24, 2009 // 26 Comments
Whenever I'm not traveling on the company dime, I usually run through a checklist to find the lowest price on hotel stays. Let's say you're like me and need to find a room in New York City for a few nights, checking in August 30th. I'd like to stay … [Read the rest]
Create a Balanced & Simple Portfolio With Five ETFs
Posted on June 23, 2009 // 30 Comments
In a recent Money magazine article about ETF Investing, there is a nice illustration of a simple and diversified portfolio made entirely of ETFs by author/money manager Rick Ferri: Put simply, ETFs are essentially mutual funds that trade like … [Read the rest]
Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction on Rental Property
Posted on June 22, 2009 // 69 Comments
As pointed out by reader Jason, another consideration when evaluating the cashflow potential for a rental property is whether you can deduct the mortgage interest on your taxes. To see what the rules are, I always like to start directly at the … [Read the rest]
MyPoints: Earn Points For Reading E-mails & Visiting Websites
Posted on June 19, 2009 // 26 Comments
Well, I just burned a few minutes and grabbed another $25 Amazon.com gift certificate from MyPoints. It's one of the few surviving "read e-mails for money" websites from the dot-com boom, and is a great example of Bored Money - ways to earn some … [Read the rest]
Finding an Investment Property with InvestorLoft and PropScout
Posted on June 18, 2009 // 19 Comments
CNN Money recently listed 5 new tools for homebuyers, one of which was InvestorLoft.com. At first glance, it looks like a Zillow for investment properties. I decided to run a quick search using their PropScout tool for an investment property in … [Read the rest]
Income-Based Repayment of Federal Student Loan Debt Starts July 1st
Posted on June 17, 2009 // 73 Comments
If you have a student loan debt balance that is close to or exceeds your annual income, this is for you. Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a new way to lower your federal student loan payments starting July 1, 2009. It caps monthly payments and … [Read the rest]
Microsoft Money Discontinued, Transfer Your Data To Quicken
Posted on June 17, 2009 // 95 Comments
If you use Microsoft Money to manage your finances, you should know that Microsoft will no longer be selling MS Money after June 30th, 2009. From the Microsoft product page: With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options … [Read the rest]
The MPG Illusion: Comparing Fuel Efficiency Can Be Tricky
Posted on June 16, 2009 // 20 Comments
While researching the benefit of swapping one of my 21 mpg cars for a 31 mpg Honda Fit, I came across a site called the MPG Illusion. The easiest way to illustrate their point is via a quick quiz. Pop Quiz The full quiz and explanation is here. … [Read the rest]
Does My Car Qualify For The Cash For Clunkers Program?
Posted on June 15, 2009 // 73 Comments
You've probably heard about the new "Cash for Clunkers" bill that is offering up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new car. The idea is to stimulate demand for new cars as well as raise overall fuel efficiency by promoting the trade-in of … [Read the rest]
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