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How About that Tax “Cut”?
Tax and economic policy is a key contributor to personal finance. And it’s important for us to know what kind of policy we’re helping enact when we vote – for our economic future and for our country’s...
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The U.S. Personal Savings Rate is Plummeting. But Yours Should be Rising.
Long-time readers here know that personal savings rate is one of my favorite personal finance metrics (along with safe withdrawal rate, crossover point, net worth, and “usable net worth”, to name a...
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The House Burning Down Exercise
Imagine that an uncontrollable fire has unexpectedly started to rage in the very back corner of your home or apartment. You have to act quick. You have enough time to safely remove 5 living creatures...
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The Cheapest & Best Tax Software Prep: a Comparison of 6 Programs
The tax deadline is fast approaching, and if you haven’t filed your taxes already, you’re probably looking for the cheapest and best tax software prep program out there. If you’re locked in to a...
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My Xfinity Mobile Review
Long-time readers may be quite surprised to find the subject header of Xfinity Mobile Review to hit their email inbox or feed, given my extensive collection of diatribes against Xfinity (Comcast) in...
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Last Minute Tax Deductions & Credits that can Lower your Tax Bill
The tax deadline is fast approaching, but there are still a few tools left in the tax toolkit that can be used to lower your tax obligation, even at this late stage. To be eligible for the vast...
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Environmentally Friendly Products that Actually Save you Money
In belated honor of Earth Day and as a show of appreciation for our one and only planet, I wanted to do a little something special. Reducing my negative impact on this planet and saving money are both...
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Should I Close an Old Credit Card I No Longer Use?
Do you have an old credit card just sitting unused in your wallet, sock drawer, or wherever you keep credit cards that has left you wondering “should I shut down that old credit card”? A...
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Lifestyle Creep Defined, its Calculated Impact, & How to Beat it
What is Lifestyle Creep? If you’re not familiar with “lifestyle creep”, here is my official definition: Lifestyle Creep (ˈlīfˌstīl krēp), noun: the very real, very unnecessary, and very self-defeating...
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Save for a Home or Retirement? A Look at First-Time Homebuyer Retirement Plan...
A few weeks back, I was having a chat with a younger friend who raised the following: “I was hoping to talk about 401K vs saving money to have disposable income to eventually buy a house in the...
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Maximum HSA Contributions for 2018 & 2019
The IRS recently published an inflation adjustment increase to the maximum HSA contribution for 2019, and there will be in increase over the maximum HSA contribution for 2018. More specifically, both...
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A Review of Sprint’s New $15/mo. Unlimited Talk, Text, & Data Plan (Limited...
I’m not big on amplifying promotions, but this one is for a limited time (said to be days or weeks) and seems big enough to have a deeper look and discussion on, as I’m sure more than a few readers may...
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Why Immigration is Good for your Finances (and the Country)
Like a large majority of Americans, I’ve been incredibly disturbed and saddened by the latest news cycle of documented torment reaped upon the families of our fellow humans that seek refuge in our...
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The Millennial Retirement Enthusiasm and Reality Gap
I’ve been following millennial savings and retirement trends for many years now, so I was excited to see that TD Ameritrade recently published findings from a new survey of millennials on these...
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Vanguard’s Commission-Free ETF List Expansion is About to Blow Up the...
Vanguard has long been one of my favorite investment brokers. Their customer-owned (versus shareholder-owned) structure has allowed them to deliver at-cost funds and ETFs to their customers for many...
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Warning: Avoid Health Care Sharing Ministries & Association Health Plans (AHP’s)
Ah, the good ole days of wild wild west individual health insurance plans of a decade ago… Illusive coverage plans that would miraculously find a reason to deny payment or service. Lifetime caps that...
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Money & Happiness: The Psychology of Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Goals
Money, when used effectively as a tool, can help you achieve some pretty phenomenal goals in life. Just to name a few: Get you out of debt. Get you out of a bad job situation and put you in a good one....
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The “Sale” = “Saving Money” Fallacy (i.e. Amazon Prime Day)
Another year, another Amazon Prime Day behind us. I watched with amusement as a number of news, life-hacking, and even personal finance websites I follow couldn’t withhold their excitement over the...
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Fidelity Launches Two Zero-Cost Index Funds & Slashes Fees to Beat Vanguard &...
Fidelity has monumentally raised its investment brokerage game. And the changes are so significant that all amateur investors may soon benefit. I’m excited. 🙂 Here are the big changes that Fidelity...
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Tax Reform Wage Gain Failure & the 20% Passthrough Deduction Mess
For MANY reasons, I am not a fan of the tax reform bill that was passed by Congress at the end of 2017. To summarize my dislike, it dramatically redistributes wealth to the top 1% in the form of income...
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