The Value of Not Checking Your Investment Statements

The WSJ asks an interesting question: Public REITs Are Down, Nontraded REITs Are Up. Which Is Right? (paywall?). Public REITs are traded on an open market with daily liquidity, and prices are down ~26% overall this year. Non-traded private REITs … [Read the rest]

Savings I Bonds November 2022 Interest Rate: 6.48% Inflation Rate, 0.40% Fixed Rate

November 2022 rates officially announced. May 2022 rate confirmed at 9.62%. 11/1/2022 press release. The variable inflation-indexed rate for I bonds bought from November 2022 through April 2023 will indeed be 6.48% as predicted. Every single I … [Read the rest]

Reader Question: Credit Card Bonuses, Paying Annual Fees, and FICO Scores

Here's a reader question via email that comes up pretty regularly, and I'm surprised that I don't have a dedicated post answering it. So here it is! 😁 Hi Jonathan, I have been following you for a long time and appreciate your work. … [Read the rest]

PNC Bank Checking Account Bonus ($200 or $400)

Update: Based on what I see in my zip code, it appears this bonus was extended to January 2, 2023. PNC Bank is one of the Top 10 largest banks in the US, and they have a nice bonus available as well. Enter your zip code into their checking … [Read the rest]

Discover Card Free Online Privacy Protection Review (Delayed Success!)

Follow-up: Although the initial scan did not find any hits (even though my data was on the sites), a subsequent scan did a better job and Discover removed my data from 33 different hits from the 10 people search sites. I randomly spot-checked them … [Read the rest]

The Average Portfolio Asset Allocation of a Millionaire (You Might Be Surprised)

The current issue of the Journal of Financial Economics has a new paper titled Millionaires speak: What drives their personal investment decisions? about how millionaires invest their money (via Alpha Architect): We survey 2,484 U.S. individuals … [Read the rest]

Target Date Retirement Fund Average Glidepath Trends 2012-2022

Everyday investors now have trillions of dollars invested inside Target Date Funds (TDFs) with their "set-and-forget" simplicity that provides "industry-standard" investment advice for a relatively low cost. Many people are out there selling better … [Read the rest]

Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity (MYGA) to Immediate Annuity Example (Rates Now 5%+)

Many people hold a blanket assumption that all annuities are bad investments. Indeed, many annuities offer confusing promises with high hidden expenses, but I believe that certain annuities can be a very useful tool in retirement planning. First, … [Read the rest]

Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Application Website Now Open

Update 10/18/2022: You can now apply for the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief Program at https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application. "Time to Complete: About 5 Minutes. No Login or Documents Required." Original post 8/24/2022: The … [Read the rest]

Firstrade Broker Deposit or ACAT Transfer Bonus: Up to $4,000

Firstrade is a broker unique in that they include $0 online stock/ETF trades, $0 options + $0 per contract, and $0 mutual fund trades (including no-load). Most of the major brokers charge per options contract and for no-load mutual fund trades. … [Read the rest]

Starbucks + Delta Airlines Promo: 500 SkyMiles + 150 Stars

Delta Airlines is partnering with Starbucks, including with a account linking promo worth an easy 500 Delta Skymiles and 150 Starbucks Stars (worth a free drink of any size or breakfast/snack item): 150 Stars and 500 miles when you link before … [Read the rest]

Public Stock Brokerage App: Up to $10,000 ACAT Transfer Bonus (New Tiers)

Update January 2023: Public has been gradually making the bonus tiers higher and/or the bonus amount lower, but the offer is still alive. Please visit the offer page for the most current tiers and terms. Updates 10/11/22: Here are a few … [Read the rest]