As I continue to realign my portfolio, the next investment I will be focusing on is international exposure. I have decided that I want to be more focused in Europe and will do so via an ETF strategy. The overall weight of my portfolio will remain in US equities at this time, so I am […]
Social Security Planning – The impact of delaying
The decision as to when you decide to take social is not to be taken lightly. Taking payments early will reduce the monthly amount, and delaying them will increase it, for the duration of your life. This post will attempt to shed some light onto the factors that come into play in this decision. Calculating […]
Credit Card Warranty Asset Pricing
As I mentioned at TravelCon I recently renovated my home and bought an array of appliances for the kitchen. I calculated that the biggest discount would be to buy Giftcards with double stacked rebate: 5% from the Old Blue Cash Amex and another 17% or so from Gas rewards. This path did create a future […]
I sold our last stock today
I sold our final stock. The holding I had was in HCP, and I’ve been a big fan of this position for many years, but I realized it was time to reallocate for several reasons. HCP is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) focused on the healthcare industry. I really like this conceptually as looking […]
Check your Zidisha accounts for auto lending…
Zidisha is a microlending site that connect borrowers in impoverished countries with lenders in peer to peer model. It differs from Kiva in that it doesn’t charge high field partner loan rates, and also passes an interest rate back to the lender.I’ve written about them twice, first as an intro, and then as a follow up: […]
Has this algorithm exposed a fiduciary flaw with Fee Only Planners?
Fee Only Planners hold a treasured title within the wealth management space. To be a Fee Only one must only be compensated directly by the client, rather than in the form of a commission from a product. The theory is that this eliminates a conflict of interest. However, it does not eliminate all conflicts of […]
Your washing machine is NOT an investment
That’s right bozo. It’s not an investment. You can’t expect to put money into washing machines and later make a profit. First off, they lack liquidity (other than what you put in them) have you ever tried to sell a washing machine? Not easy. Actually I have a washer and dryer in my garage right now […]
TurboTax screwed you over? Check out H&R Block for free
TurboTax has just announced a new product line change that will require many people upgrade their accounts in order to file taxes. The changes impact the people using the Desktop version of TurboTax Deluxe, which no longer provides users with Schedule C,D,E, or F. If you want to stick with TurboTax you’ll need to upgrade to their […]
Budgets are Bollocks
I’m starting to prep for my silly month of spending no money, and was going to ‘update my budget’.. however, full disclosure here, I don’t have one and I think they don’t work in the way most people rely on them.I feel that budgets are analogous to a diet. In my opinion, diets don’t work […]
Don’t forget to check with HR about your FSA!
Typically this time of year I might send out a reminder to spend up your FSA money, as it was always ‘use it or lose it’. However, IRS notice 2013-71 provides for a $500 carry over into the next year. You might find that you are still being bombarded with emails saying ‘Spend your FSA […]