The beginning of the year is a good time to check on the new annual contribution limits to the various available retirement accounts. Our income has been quite variable these last few years, so I regularly adjust the paycheck deferral percentages … [Read the rest]
The Vanguard Target Retirement Funds are one of the largest "set-and-forget" mutual funds that own a mix of stocks and bonds that automatically adjust over time based on your targeted retirement year, with combined assets across the institutional and … [Read the rest]
2021 is finally in the books! Most of my portfolio is in low-cost index funds across various asset classes, which I purposefully ignore most of the time as I believe the proper time horizon is at least several years long. However, I do check in … [Read the rest]
2021 end-of-year update. I have an informal goal each year of earning the equivalent of the maximum annual IRA contribution limit of $6,000 using the profits from various promotions alone. If you had put $6,000 into your IRA every year for the … [Read the rest]
[Programming note: Posting will be light through the end of the year. Hope you have a restful and rejuvenating holiday season!] The WSJ article Anthony Bourdain: Feast of Memory (link should bypass paywall as I am a WSJ subscriber) briefly … [Read the rest]
Here are a few of my favorite things, sorted roughly with the most recent purchases on top. I enjoy reading about other folks' favorite things much more than those generic gift guides. These are my answer to the question "If all your possessions … [Read the rest]
On top of everything else, December and January are busy times for finance as well. There are "year-end moves" like tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing your portfolio, making sure you contributed to your 401k/IRA/HSA/FSAs, and charitable giving. Then … [Read the rest]
Although you can rebalance the stocks and bonds in your portfolio back towards your target asset allocation at any time, I usually see more articles about it at years-end. This works out well as the evidence doesn't really support doing it more … [Read the rest]
card_name is a small business rewards card that earns a solid cash back rate with no complicated categories. There is also generous welcome offer for new applicants, which is great for a "keeper" business card. Here the highlights: Earn a … [Read the rest]
In order to use Fidelity's Fully Paid Stock Lending Program, I decided to transfer some of my individual stock holdings from Merrill Edge to Fidelity. I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth experience, and here is a quick review of the … [Read the rest]
A few readers asked about "fully paid lending programs" offered by some brokerage firms. The premise is very intriguing: You lend out the stock shares you own and earn interest, all while keeping full "economic" ownership. You still get any upside … [Read the rest]
One of my newer interests is better understanding individual businesses and how they work. Accounting is the "language of business" used to write annual reports, 10-Ks, 10-Qs, income statements, and so on. I was afraid a textbook would be too … [Read the rest]
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