If someone were to ask me, “what would you consider a good investment?” my immediate response would be something along the lines of, a contribution to a portfolio that contains a mix of total market stock and bond index funds.” That’s it; it really is that simple. Sure, you could get a little fancy by […]
Bad Money Habits and the Excuses We Make for Them
We all have them: our own personal finance vices, our bad money habits. No one can be perfect all the time, and we’re all subject to giving in and spending a little more when we know we shouldn’t, or getting a little lax with tracking our spending and budgeting down to the last cent. Some […]
Are Preferred Stocks a Good Investment?
Even though this blog has seen nearly a 30% increase in readers since the beginning of the year I actually don’t receive many questions from readers anymore. Maybe it’s because my posts are so intimidating or maybe there is another reason. Either way, I always welcome reader questions since I can usually turn them into […]
Reader Question: What to do With My Company’s Stock Options
I got a very interesting question in my inbox last week from a friend. And to be honest, I had to do a little research before I could give him a good answer. I’ve never worked for a company with options (or been high enough up to receive them) but they are a pretty nice […]
Reader Question: $300,000 to Invest: What Should I Do?
I received an interesting question in my inbox the other day from one of my readers. I’ve edited it a bit but it went something like this: PF Pro. I’m 30 and I have very inconsistent income but when I do make money it’s usually a lot. I made $50,000 the last two months but […]
Through the Eyes of a Beginner: A Book Review of The Boglehead’s Guide to Investing
Editor’s Note: When I started my investing journey four years ago, the first book I ever picked up was the Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing. Looking back, I’d say this book was the absolute best thing that ever happened to me(finance-wise) since it really opened up my eyes to low cost index funds and the basics […]
Reader Question: How Should I Invest my HSA?
Editor’s Note: For those who aren’t familiar with Health Savings Accounts, I’ve written extensively on the topic before, take a look. Reader GP writes in this week asking about HSA’s: I’ve got a pretty substantial HSA balance now and I need to know how to invest it. Simple and to the point, I like those […]
Financial Checklist: 25 Things to Take Care of Before You Turn 25
It’s never too soon to start thinking about money, and more importantly, your own personal finances. But the financial world is huge, and it can be overwhelming to know where to start. To make it a little easier, we’ve compiled a checklist that every twenty-something should be able to use. There are some money matters […]
Diversify Everything
Whenever I hear someone get really excited about their latest investment, I tend to think the worst. It’s not that I don’t want that person to succeed but I usually worry they’re making a big mistake. Any time I see a friend buy a house, I wonder if they spent more than they can afford. […]
Can You Really Handle a Bear Market?
Over the last couple of weeks, stock markets around the world have seen swooping downward trends thanks to jittery and uncertain emerging market activity. If we could look at this objectively, we would barely bat an eye. After all, the stock market spent most of 2013 on a steady and dramatic upward climb and we […]
Does This Investment Pass the Smell Test?
If you’ve been reading this blog for any decent amount of time you know that my investment style is pretty boring. You won’t find any articles on this site about the hottest new stocks or magically high yielding investments. Instead, you’ll see me promoting low cost funds and figuring out ways to avoid any and […]
PenFed 5 Year CD’s are Now Paying 3%
When I first read about PenFed’s 3% CD’s a couple weeks ago I thought there was some sort of typo. I couldn’t believe there was a company out there offering 3% interest rates! That was over 1% of what their closest competitor was offering at the time. And since this deal popped up right before […]
I Finally Invested My HSA Money
It’s been a while since I wrote about my new HSA rollover strategy and lots of things have happened since then. I quit my old job, got free health insurance for a couple months, got my own insurance for a month and will have employer health insurance again next week! I’ll probably go with the […]
I Finally Filled Up My Lending Club Roth IRA
It seems like years ago that I wrote my two part series on opening a Lending Club Roth IRA and how to invest it. It was actually only 5 months ago, but it marked my first major investment into peer to peer lending. I was convinced to make a larger investment because my experimental account […]
No 401(k) Available at Work. What To Do?
I received an interesting question the other day about a topic I hadn’t given much thought to before. A reader e-mailed me asking what they should do if their work didn’t offer a 401(k) plan. I talk a lot about asset allocation, investing strategies and making contributions to your retirement accounts but it’s a lot […]
Everyone’s a Great Investor During a Bull Market
We all know the market has been on a tear the past couple years. The S&P 500 is at an all-time high and I know my 401(k), along with others’, has performed tremendously well. But my awesome returns aren’t due to the fact that I’m an investing genius, all I’ve done is maintain my portfolio […]
Part 2: Investing in a No Fee Lending Club Roth IRA
This is the second part in my series on investing in a Lending Club Roth IRA. You can read the first article here about Opening a No Fee Lending Club Roth IRA. Finding a Great Sign-Up Bonus Lending Club has always had some pretty solid sign-up bonuses. When I opened my account three years ago, […]
Part 1: Opening a No Fee Lending Club Roth IRA
I’ve been investing with Lending Club for three years now and my returns are still over 10%. I’ve developed a specific set of filters that I feel give me a distinct advantage over the average LC investor yet it’s nothing ground breaking. The average investor is doing pretty well according to Lending Club, but I […]
March CPI down 0.2%: May I Bond Rates Announced
On Tuesday, the labor department announced the latest CPI-U numbers. With these numbers, you can calculate the upcoming inflation portion of I bonds and determine whether it’s better to buy your bonds now or wait until May. As you may know, I bonds are composed of an inflation rate and a fixed rate. The fixed rate […]
What is Bitcoin and Should You Invest in it?
If you’re like me, you’ve probably sent a peer to peer payment before. Whether its the monthly rent, or gambling debts owed to a friend, sending money through Paypal or similar services is pretty easy(and free!). Bitcoin essentially does the same thing but with its own currency. Yes that’s right, Bitcoin has its own currency […]