Groupon is offering a $10 gift card to Sephora for $5. Can be used in store, online, via mobile devices, or at any Sephora inside JCPenney. Limit one per person. I was going to say I've never shopped there, but I think I did buy a gift once. … [Read the rest]
Chart: Investment Returns Vary, Even Over The Long Run
Posted on August 28, 2013 // 34 Comments
Updated and revised 2013. You often hear that stock investing is a sure thing over the "long run". But as this chart from the NY Times and Crestmont Research shows, there is still a lot of variability involved. The matrix below visually … [Read the rest]
Betterment Bond Portfolio Asset Allocation Changes 2013
Posted on August 26, 2013 // 7 Comments
Online investment manager Betterment.com recently announced an upcoming change to their portfolio asset allocation, specifically their bond portion. Here's a visual example of the ETF changes: (click to enlarge) I have mixed feelings about this … [Read the rest]
Smart DIY Home Security Startups: Canary and Piper
Posted on August 26, 2013 // 8 Comments
I've written about my Simplisafe DIY security system which I still use and like, but Canary and Piper are two new startups that are trying to disrupt the industry even further. Similar to what Nest did to thermostats, they use a combination of … [Read the rest]
Toys R Us, Babies R Us Price Match Policy Update
Posted on August 26, 2013 // 2 Comments
Toys R Us and Babies R Us recently improved its in-store Price Match Guarantee policy to include online retailer prices from select merchants (press release). Previously, it only matched price from other physical store. The eligible retailers … [Read the rest]
Stat of the Day: Tuition Discount Rate
Posted on August 23, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Right now, freshmen are moving into dorms all around the country and parents are scrambling to pay the bills. I've written about how many students don't pay sticker price on college tuition, but I recently ran across another statistic that tracks … [Read the rest]
New Class Action Settlements: Naked Juice, Barbara’s Bakery
Posted on August 21, 2013 // 26 Comments
Here are a few new proposed class action settlements that may affect you. They both involve popular food products that marketed themselves as "All Natural" and ran into some controversy: Naked Juice. If you bought an eligible Naked Juice product … [Read the rest]
LendingClub and Prosper vs. High Yield Junk Bonds
Posted on August 21, 2013 // 6 Comments
Yesterday, I posted a 9-month update on my $10,000 P2P lending portfolio with loans from Prosper and LendingClub. Every so often it is pointed out that lending unsecured money directly to random people at high interest is not very safe, and you … [Read the rest]
LendingClub vs. Prosper Loan Performance Comparison, 9-Month Update
Posted on August 20, 2013 // 6 Comments
I invested $10,000 into person-to-person loans in November 2012, split evenly between LendingClub and Prosper. It's been a little over 9 months since then, so I wanted to give a detailed update in addition to my brief monthly updates. The primary … [Read the rest]
New 401k Plan Fee Disclosures Completely Worthless?
Posted on August 19, 2013 // 15 Comments
I've written about how recent fee disclosure requirements for 401(k) retirement plans have brought a spotlight on bad 401k plans and their potentially embarrassed plan sponsors. But after reading the fee disclosure on my wife's own 401(k) plan, I … [Read the rest]
GMO July 2013 7-Year Asset Class Forecast
Posted on August 16, 2013 // 4 Comments
It may qualify as market noise, but I admit to looking at the GMO 7-Year Asset Class Forecasts whenever they come out once a quarter (or more often now?). You can read it and other market commentary from Jeremy Grantham (whose opinions I respect) … [Read the rest]
RedBox Instant by Verizon Free Trial Sign-Up
Posted on August 15, 2013 // 5 Comments
(Updated: Added details about newly-available Roku app.) Redbox, famous for their $1 DVD rental kiosks ($1.20 now), recently launched a movie streaming service called RedBox Instant by Verizon. We like their kiosks and the fact that you can browse … [Read the rest]
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