While updating my portfolio spreadsheet, I noticed that it had been 10 years since I bought my first electronic savings bond. I recently listed Reasons To Own TIPS, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities and Reasons To Own Series I Savings Bonds. … [Read the rest]
In the Atlantic article Why Kids Want Things, Dr. Marsha Richins is interviewed about her research on materialism and children. She explores why kids tend to place the most importance on owning and having things during middle school: I think of … [Read the rest]
This is my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to get an idea of how much additional interest you'd earn if you are moving money between … [Read the rest]
Warren Buffett had his annual charity lunch today and was on CNBC for a short interview. As usual, he was asked about the current stock market situations and, as usual, he managed to sum everything up in a few folksy sentences. Here's a direct … [Read the rest]
Series I Savings Bonds (aka "I Bonds") are a unique investment sold directly to individuals by the US Treasury that pay out a variable interest rate linked to inflation. This post collects general reasons to own these savings bonds without going … [Read the rest]
This is not a happy post, but it's also the reality for a lot of people so I think it is a valid discussion. The Early Retirement forums had a thread recently titled What If You Run Out of Money?: I'm wondering--what would happen to someone who … [Read the rest]
Ally Invest (formerly TradeKing) has rolled out their own commission-free ETF list to augment their $4.95 trades and no account minimums. As an existing customer, they sent a short e-mail with the following paragraph: We're excited to announce … [Read the rest]
I've read Jeremy Grantham's quarterly letters and the GMO 7-Year Asset Class Return Forecasts for over 8 years. (Anyone can sign up at GMO.com for free.) Grantham gained successively more fame after avoiding the Japanese bubble, the Dot-com … [Read the rest]
After my last quarterly portfolio update, I rebalanced back to my target asset allocation this week. I sold some US stocks and went from 70% stocks/30% bonds back to 67% stocks/33% bonds. (I bought a little Emerging Market stocks as well.) In … [Read the rest]
Chase just announced a new free stock trade program as part of a new online brokerage arm called You Invest. This means another megabank is moving more heavily into "relationship banking" where they hope you will keep your bank accounts, credit … [Read the rest]
When it comes to constructing a portfolio, I used to think it was all about numbers and optimization. When you pick an asset class based on historical data, that assumes you hold through both the good times and the really bad times. It has helped me … [Read the rest]
Reading children's books to my kids has become a regular source of new wisdom. I guess that's not surprising, if the goal is to teach kids about life. Here's one that came across recently and keeps popping back in my head. I first read it in … [Read the rest]
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