If you've read enough investing books, you know about the "Dutch Tulip Mania" of the 1600s (Wikipedia) and how it was considered one of the first documented economic bubbles. At one point, 12 acres of land were exchanged for a single tulip bulb. … [Read the rest]
Interest rates are slowly inching upwards. Don't let a megabank pay you 0.01% APY or less for your idle cash. Here is my monthly roundup of the best safe rates available, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. I focus on rates that … [Read the rest]
Update 11/1/17. The fixed rate will be 0.1% for I bonds issued from November 1, 2017 through April 30, 2018. The variable inflation-indexed rate for this 6-month period will be 2.48% (as was predicted ;) ). The total rate on any specific bond is … [Read the rest]
It's Halloween as I finishing writing this, and soon little ghosts and ghouls will be lining up to score treats from my great-aunt. She's lived through some amazing times. It's really hard to predict how you will handle a scary situation until … [Read the rest]
Having been born after 1971, I have never lived in a time when the dollar was backed by gold. In an effort to learn more about the gold standard, I recently finished One Nation Under Gold: How One Precious Metal Has Dominated the American … [Read the rest]
XKCD has some clever observations about the pursuit of credit card rewards: I definitely spend more time thinking about optimizing things than is... optimal? rational? That's why I started a website, so I can justify it as a business pursuit! … [Read the rest]
For investment nerds, the recent Wall Street Journal article The Morningstar Mirage was high drama. The subtitle got straight to the point: Investors everywhere think a 5-star rating from Morningstar means a mutual fund will be a top performer—it … [Read the rest]
How do you know when you portfolio is enough to retire on? You have to figure out a withdrawal strategy first. This is a tricky question and full of worries about running out of money. You could take out a fixed amount (i.e. $50,000 a year). … [Read the rest]
Here is an update on my investment portfolio holdings after the third quarter 2017. This includes tax-deferred 401k/403b/IRAs and taxable brokerage holdings, but excludes things like our primary home, cash reserves, and a few other side investments. … [Read the rest]
I finally got around to reading an academic paper that looked a bit dry but had a great title: The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870–2015 [pdf] by Jorda, Knoll, Kuvshinov, Schularick, and Taylor. I wonder which of the authors came up with … [Read the rest]
If you are a California resident, check out this special offer on the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card that provides a shortcut to the SWA Companion Pass: Plus Consumer (CA Only), $69 annual fee, 40,000 point bonus Premier Consumer (CA … [Read the rest]
The Washington Post has a rather depressing article on The New Reality of Old Age in America, which includes the following chart about Social Security: For 1/3rd of recipients age 65+, Social Security represents 90% or more of all their … [Read the rest]
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