Canadian philosophy professor and YouTube hit Jordan Peterson recently attracted some attention when he published a book called "12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos," and a number of other folks on the internet got in on the act with their own "rules for life." You can read Peterson's rules here, if you're so inclined. I don't know whether they're good rules or bad … [Read more...] about Is intergenerational advice possible?
Should you use the Vanguard 529 Plan?
State-sponsored 529 savings plans are tax-advantaged estate planning tools that can also be used to save for "higher education" expenses, a category which was recently expanded to include private and religious K-12 tuition. I've had an account with the Utah Educational Savings Plan, which was recently rebranded as My529, for years and have been very satisfied with their … [Read more...] about Should you use the Vanguard 529 Plan?
You got your tax cut. Now what?
I had an interesting exchange in the comments of this post with reader sh on the subject of portfolio protection. I won't relitigate the question here since you can go read our exchange, but sh got me thinking about public markets and what they are, and aren't, for. I take for granted that the price level of public market equities, that is to say without dividends … [Read more...] about You got your tax cut. Now what?
Five questions about immigration
Immigration has emerged somewhat abruptly and I gather somewhat unexpectedly as a major political issue in 2018 due to the president's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offered work permits and reprieve from deportation to immigrants who entered the United States without authorization as children (this group of immigrants is sometimes … [Read more...] about Five questions about immigration
Thinking about portfolio protection
Downside risk protection is one of the more interesting things to think about in investing. After all, if you ask me, "should I own US stocks or international stocks?" my answer will be "yes." We can quibble or even fight about what proportion of your equities should be large cap, small cap, growth, value, etc., but those are all ultimately battles around the margin. The fact … [Read more...] about Thinking about portfolio protection