If folks claim their home has been a great investment, ask to see their detailed financial records—and their degree in advanced mathematics.
FORCED TO SHELTER in place, I’ve used the time at home to organize my finances. I’d already read Marie Kondo’s Tidying Up. But I needed her new book, Joy at Work, to motivate me to organize my digital life. Sometimes, it helps to have a step-by-step guide to prod you to deal with such drudgery. Here are four tips I used to get myself organized:
1. Consolidate fixed costs.
AS STOCKS RALLIED last month, readers remained intensely interested in the financial markets—or so it seems from the articles they were reading. Here are May’s seven most popular blog posts:
The formula for investment success is very simple: Buy stocks. Diversify broadly. Wait patiently.
“Since the fall of 2018, the stock market has dropped 20%, gained 30%, dropped 35% and then gained 30% again,” notes Adam Grossman. Result? Ample opportunity for investor regret.
Sitting in cash but wanting to buy stocks?
IF YOU HAVE a surplus in your household budget, what’s the best use for it? Does it make more sense to pay down debt or to invest those extra funds? With interest rates at such low levels, this is a question I’ve been hearing with increasing frequency.
Suppose your mortgage rate is 3.5%. If you pay down that debt, it’s like earning 3.5%. By contrast, if you invested in the stock market, your annual return would be uncertain.
WHEN I WAS a teenager and bathroom walls were the equivalent of today’s Twitter, you’d often read that “100,000 lemmings can’t be wrong.”
It turns out that the bathroom scribblers were misinformed and that lemmings aren’t, in fact, given to mass suicide. Still, the scribblers’ confidence in the wisdom of crowds was spot on. If 100,000 lemmings did indeed commit mass suicide, there would likely be a good reason.
Which brings us to today’s stock market.
“TAKE FIVE” is jazz great Dave Brubeck’s most popular and enduring number—but it’s also a darn good piece of decision-making advice.
A few weeks ago, my son was struggling with exams and papers ahead of his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. Though he would go on to graduate magna cum laude, he was in a dark place. I said, “Imagine a time two weeks from now when you’re back home and can relax,
EARLY RETIREMENT isn’t a common goal among my friends. When I talk about my semi-retirement, many assume I either made a quick buck in the stock market or benefitted from some sort of financial windfall. I counter this misconception by narrating the magic formula: Financial freedom is frugality, multiplied by simplicity, compounded by patience.
My response often seems mysterious until I explain the two basic math concepts behind it. We learn them in school,
NO. 37: WANT to boost your happiness and that of others? Volunteer, give to charity and make gifts to loved ones. We’re often happier when we spend on others rather than on ourselves.
NO. 63: YOUR MIX of stocks and conservative investments drives your portfolio’s results. You can’t get stock returns from a money-market fund—and, fingers crossed, you won’t get money-fund returns from your stocks. Want to boost your long-run performance? Don’t try to pick winning investments. Instead, simply allocate more to stocks.
BUY A USED CAR. While leasing or buying a new car may be alluring, purchasing a used one is usually the better financial choice. By buying a three-year-old car, you’ll sidestep the steep depreciation that new vehicles suffer, but the car should still have plenty of good miles ahead of it—and you should have ample choice, thanks to all the cars coming off lease.
MOTIVATION. Early in our adult life, we tend to be extrinsically motivated, meaning we hanker after promotions, pay raises, accolades and the material markers of success, like the big house and the luxury car. But as we grow older, we often become more intrinsically motivated, preferring to focus on things we personally feel are important.
I’M PONDERING whether to make my biggest transaction in four years—and it might be the trickiest financial decision I’ve ever made. My quandary: Should I take advantage of today’s low tax rates to convert a big chunk of my traditional IRA to a Roth?
This financial navel-gazing was sparked by an article by John Yeigh, one of HumbleDollar’s contributors. As John pointed out, you can now have a much higher annual income and still avoid the top federal tax brackets,
I’M NOT THE TYPE of person who makes New Year’s resolutions. This year, however, I foresee some major changes in my life—and that’ll require some financial adjustments.
Now that my elderly parents have passed away, Rachel and I can live like a normal couple in our own home. As I mentioned in an earlier article, we will be moving into my parents’ house.
During the last several years taking care of my mother, I was constantly traveling from one house to another and living out of a suitcase.
I HAVE NEVER BEEN to Japan and can’t claim any special knowledge of the country—and yet lately it’s been much on my mind. Japan is today’s poster child not only for wretched long-run stock market performance, but also for what happens to economic growth when the workforce contracts. Still, Japan’s troubles make me an even bigger advocate of investing abroad. Below, I explain why.
Never Going Back
In late 2008 and early 2009,
WHEN WALL STREET builds a better mousetrap, investors are generally the mouse. Want to avoid getting caught by the Street’s costly, fad-driven selling machine? Here are a dozen principles that have served me well as I’ve helped folks manage their money:
Accept that markets are generally efficient. This means that, at any given moment, individual securities are priced correctly and incurring additional costs in hopes of finding a mispricing is wasteful—though apparent mispricings will often seem obvious in retrospect.
IN WINTER 2012, I experienced what every traveler dreads: a lost bag. Stranded without so much as a toothbrush, I had to replace everything—and fast. At first, this seemed like a pain. But in the end, I came to see it as a blessing. Why? Replacing everything—from head to toe, including the toothbrush—became an unexpected opportunity for a fresh start.
To be sure, all I’m talking about here are clothes and toiletries. Still, the experience made me realize that,
FORCED TO SHELTER in place, I’ve used the time at home to organize my finances. I’d already read Marie Kondo’s Tidying Up. But I needed her new book, Joy at Work, to motivate me to organize my digital life. Sometimes, it helps to have a step-by-step guide to prod you to deal with such drudgery. Here are four tips I used to get myself organized:
1. Consolidate fixed costs.
AS STOCKS RALLIED last month, readers remained intensely interested in the financial markets—or so it seems from the articles they were reading. Here are May’s seven most popular blog posts:
The formula for investment success is very simple: Buy stocks. Diversify broadly. Wait patiently.
“Since the fall of 2018, the stock market has dropped 20%, gained 30%, dropped 35% and then gained 30% again,” notes Adam Grossman. Result? Ample opportunity for investor regret.
Sitting in cash but wanting to buy stocks?
IF YOU HAVE a surplus in your household budget, what’s the best use for it? Does it make more sense to pay down debt or to invest those extra funds? With interest rates at such low levels, this is a question I’ve been hearing with increasing frequency.
Suppose your mortgage rate is 3.5%. If you pay down that debt, it’s like earning 3.5%. By contrast, if you invested in the stock market, your annual return would be uncertain.
WHEN I WAS a teenager and bathroom walls were the equivalent of today’s Twitter, you’d often read that “100,000 lemmings can’t be wrong.”
It turns out that the bathroom scribblers were misinformed and that lemmings aren’t, in fact, given to mass suicide. Still, the scribblers’ confidence in the wisdom of crowds was spot on. If 100,000 lemmings did indeed commit mass suicide, there would likely be a good reason.
Which brings us to today’s stock market.
“TAKE FIVE” is jazz great Dave Brubeck’s most popular and enduring number—but it’s also a darn good piece of decision-making advice.
A few weeks ago, my son was struggling with exams and papers ahead of his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. Though he would go on to graduate magna cum laude, he was in a dark place. I said, “Imagine a time two weeks from now when you’re back home and can relax,
EARLY RETIREMENT isn’t a common goal among my friends. When I talk about my semi-retirement, many assume I either made a quick buck in the stock market or benefitted from some sort of financial windfall. I counter this misconception by narrating the magic formula: Financial freedom is frugality, multiplied by simplicity, compounded by patience.
My response often seems mysterious until I explain the two basic math concepts behind it. We learn them in school,
NO. 37: WANT to boost your happiness and that of others? Volunteer, give to charity and make gifts to loved ones. We’re often happier when we spend on others rather than on ourselves.
BUY A USED CAR. While leasing or buying a new car may be alluring, purchasing a used one is usually the better financial choice. By buying a three-year-old car, you’ll sidestep the steep depreciation that new vehicles suffer, but the car should still have plenty of good miles ahead of it—and you should have ample choice, thanks to all the cars coming off lease.
NO. 63: YOUR MIX of stocks and conservative investments drives your portfolio’s results. You can’t get stock returns from a money-market fund—and, fingers crossed, you won’t get money-fund returns from your stocks. Want to boost your long-run performance? Don’t try to pick winning investments. Instead, simply allocate more to stocks.
MOTIVATION. Early in our adult life, we tend to be extrinsically motivated, meaning we hanker after promotions, pay raises, accolades and the material markers of success, like the big house and the luxury car. But as we grow older, we often become more intrinsically motivated, preferring to focus on things we personally feel are important.
I’M PONDERING whether to make my biggest transaction in four years—and it might be the trickiest financial decision I’ve ever made. My quandary: Should I take advantage of today’s low tax rates to convert a big chunk of my traditional IRA to a Roth?
This financial navel-gazing was sparked by an article by John Yeigh, one of HumbleDollar’s contributors. As John pointed out, you can now have a much higher annual income and still avoid the top federal tax brackets,
I’M NOT THE TYPE of person who makes New Year’s resolutions. This year, however, I foresee some major changes in my life—and that’ll require some financial adjustments.
Now that my elderly parents have passed away, Rachel and I can live like a normal couple in our own home. As I mentioned in an earlier article, we will be moving into my parents’ house.
During the last several years taking care of my mother, I was constantly traveling from one house to another and living out of a suitcase.
I HAVE NEVER BEEN to Japan and can’t claim any special knowledge of the country—and yet lately it’s been much on my mind. Japan is today’s poster child not only for wretched long-run stock market performance, but also for what happens to economic growth when the workforce contracts. Still, Japan’s troubles make me an even bigger advocate of investing abroad. Below, I explain why.
Never Going Back
In late 2008 and early 2009,
WHEN WALL STREET builds a better mousetrap, investors are generally the mouse. Want to avoid getting caught by the Street’s costly, fad-driven selling machine? Here are a dozen principles that have served me well as I’ve helped folks manage their money:
Accept that markets are generally efficient. This means that, at any given moment, individual securities are priced correctly and incurring additional costs in hopes of finding a mispricing is wasteful—though apparent mispricings will often seem obvious in retrospect.
IN WINTER 2012, I experienced what every traveler dreads: a lost bag. Stranded without so much as a toothbrush, I had to replace everything—and fast. At first, this seemed like a pain. But in the end, I came to see it as a blessing. Why? Replacing everything—from head to toe, including the toothbrush—became an unexpected opportunity for a fresh start.
To be sure, all I’m talking about here are clothes and toiletries. Still, the experience made me realize that,