Peerstreet Case Study #1: 90-Day Late Condo Near-Foreclosure Recovery

I've invested over $50,000 of my "alternative" money into PeerStreet real estate notes because of the ability to diversify into 50+ different high-interest loans backed by physical real estate. Here is a case study from one of my first loans where I … [Read the rest]

Marcus Bank Promotion: 1% Additional Cash Bonus up to $500 (~6% APY 3-month CD)

Online bank Marcus (formerly Goldman Sachs Bank) has a new Cash Bonus Offer which includes 1% cash bonus (up to $500) on new deposits on top of their existing interest rate (currently 2.15% APY). Valid for both new and existing customers. Given … [Read the rest]

Amazon Prime Day 2019: Big List of Deals and Discounts (Updated)

Last call for deals + good stacking offer: Up to $60 Amazon credit for buying through the app. Amazon Prime Day 2019 is July 15th and 16th. I'll try to keep this post updated with the most recent offers (and remove the expired ones). There are … [Read the rest]

Unison: Your Home Has a ~30% Chance of Being Worth Less in 5 Years

Unison is a "home co-investment" start-up, which means it wants a share of the equity of your home. If your home value goes up, then it wants some of the gain. If your home value drops, then it will absorb some of the loss. In exchange, the … [Read the rest]

Our Family Travel Award Redemptions 2019

I'm not a Instagram travel blogger and I'll never visit every country in the world, but I do earn enough points from navigating the top credit card offers to fund a big chunk of our annual travel each year. We are a family of five including a … [Read the rest]

The Toddler IRA: Should My 3-Year-Old Have a Tax Shelter?

I love my Roth IRAs. They just keep on growing tax-free and never send me any annoying tax documents. Vanguard has a post about Working teens and Roth IRAs. I like the idea of a teenager putting some hours in at Jamba Juice and having the … [Read the rest]

Can You Teach Your Kid To Be Rich?

There is an ongoing debate about personal finance education in school. It sounds like a good idea, but multiple studies have found that financial literacy classes don't really improve future behavior. It may be too much to expect an easy fix to … [Read the rest]

Amazon Prime: Spend $10 at Whole Foods, Get $10 Amazon Credit on Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day 2019 is going to start on July 15th, where they offer big discounts because the holidays are too far away. If you're selective, you can grab some nice savings and promo deals. Here is a $10 Whole Foods promo - if you are an Amazon … [Read the rest]

Best Interest Rates on Cash – July 2019

Here's my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for July 2019, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Rates are dropping a bit, but it still pays to shop around. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to get an idea … [Read the rest]

Is Your Stock Broker Quietly Charging As Much As a Robo-Advisor?

Here's an educational post on How Discount Brokerages Make Money by Patrick McKenzie. It seems reasonable that a DIY investor understand these sources of revenue at a basic level: net interest, commissions, asset management fees, wealth management … [Read the rest]

Which Airline Miles Are Easiest To Redeem For Economy Awards? 2019

Cashing in your frequent flier miles for a free flight can be hit or miss, especially around a holiday. Which airlines are the most generous with making seats available? Each year, consulting firm IdeaWorks tries to run a fair comparison of all … [Read the rest]

Stocks and Bonds Asset Class Correlations 2009-2019

Morningstar has an educational series on How and Why to Invest in Bonds, and one of the included articles What Role Do Bonds Play in a Portfolio? had an interesting chart of the correlations between several major asset classes for the past decade up … [Read the rest]