Become a Patron! The other day I saw an amazing tweet by someone who had turned the famous "long-time nuclear waste warning message" into an iconic "Live Laugh Love"-style etched board: Every line is funny and poignant in its own way, but the one that keeps coming back to me is, "the danger is still present in your time," because this is the most important warning … [Read more...] about The Danger Is Still Present In Your Time
investing
Three approaches to cutting federal bonds out of untaxed accounts
Become a Patron! Last month I wrote about the curious fact that mutual funds designed to be held in retirement accounts, where their distributions are generally untaxed year-to-year, nonetheless hold federal bonds that are exempt from state income taxation. I suggested that it should be possible to optimize your retirement account holdings by replacing those federal bonds … [Read more...] about Three approaches to cutting federal bonds out of untaxed accounts
Don’t pay for tax benefits you’re not using
Become a Patron! I had a very interesting conversation today that got me thinking about a tax issue I had never given serious thought to before, and which I think is probably totally unknown to most investors, but that affects virtually all of them: the exclusion of US federal interest payments from state income tax liability. Upon just a moment's reflection, I realized that … [Read more...] about Don’t pay for tax benefits you’re not using
The (weird) optionality of Series EE savings bonds
Become a Patron! There's a cliche at least as old as I am, that while ATM's were expected to reduce the demand for bank tellers, banks actually increased the number of tellers they employed, for the counter-intuitive reason that a bank branch was much easier to administer once simple deposits and withdrawals were handled by machines. Instead of wiping out the retail branch, … [Read more...] about The (weird) optionality of Series EE savings bonds
Direct indexing and shareholder democracy
Become a Patron! The late Paul Volcker is famously said to have quipped that he hadn’t seen a worthwhile financial innovation since the ATM, which makes him slightly more cynical than even I am. In fact, I think we're on the brink of a real revolution in shareholder democracy. Mutual funds and direct ownership are competitors Vanguard has offered low-cost, commission-free, … [Read more...] about Direct indexing and shareholder democracy