Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) are way to save money towards retirement that also saves on taxes. For 2019, the annual contribution limit for either Traditional or Roth IRAs increased to $6,000 (it is roughly indexed to inflation). The … [Read the rest]
Employer-based retirement plans like the 401(k), 403(b), and Thrift Savings Plan are not perfect, but they are often the best available option to save money in a tax-advantaged manner. For 2019, the employee elective deferral (contribution) limit … [Read the rest]
Instead of just looking at one year of returns, I prefer taking a longer view. Most successful savers invest money each year over a long period of time, these days often into a target-date fund (TDF). Don't get caught up in the daily news … [Read the rest]
Vanguard announced on January 16, 2019 that its founder, John C. Bogle, passed away on at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania at 89 years old. There will no doubt be many tributes; here are a few same-day articles from WSJ, Bloomberg, Reuters, and … [Read the rest]
If you invest in stocks, you know that they go up and down. Below is an S&P 500 histogram (source) showing the distribution of annual returns, which were negative 1/3rd of the time (and thus positive 2/3rd of the time). Not bad, you'll take those … [Read the rest]
Here's my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash for January 2019, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to get an idea of how much extra interest you'd earn if you are moving … [Read the rest]
Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) usually offers a special balance transfer promotion every January that is available to both new and existing NFCU credit cardholders. This year, I don't see anything on their website, but I did just get a paper … [Read the rest]
Here's my final quarterly portfolio update for Q4 2018. This is how I track my real-world holdings, including 401k/403b/IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts but excluding our house, cash reserves, and a few side investments. The goal of this … [Read the rest]
Another one in the books! I don't track the market daily as I think the discussion is full of noise and after-the-fact justifications. I check my portfolio quarterly to see where to reinvest dividends. At the end of the year, I like to record … [Read the rest]
Update: This offer is sold out/expired. I expect some sort of similar short-term deal to pop up again before April 15th. The benefit of “old-school” desktop tax software is that it doesn’t require your Social Security Number and financial details … [Read the rest]
I've been catching up on some memoirs and recently finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed. (I haven't seen the movie.) I mention it here because the author did a "Big Awesome Thing" in hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and I think achieving financial freedom … [Read the rest]
ETA (Executive Travel App) is an app that scans your calendar to automatically suggest travel options (hotels, flights, Uber) based on your calendar and personal travel preferences. They still have a new user offer of 3,000 United or American … [Read the rest]
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