Strawberry Patch An original painting by Alex Ferrar On display at his restaurant Sobremesa, Antigua, Guatemala In this Q&A Edition IV we talk about: Setting up kids financially (and get to hear my own daughter’s take) Newsweek’s article on the whistleblower v. Vanguard lawsuit Explore the idea of getting a mortgage interest tax deduction by making a… [Continue Reading]
Archives for 2015
Seasons Greetings! and other cool stuff
Others like this one To my readers: Have a Wonderful Holiday Season and here’s to a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year! And for your amusement in between the celebrations…. Shiprock After graduating college it took me two years to land my first “professional” job. To make ends meet I worked for Ernie as a landscaper…. [Continue Reading]
Stockchoker: A look back at what your investment might have been
Back in February Mr. 1500 Days invited me to participate in his 10 Questions and a Pizza Place interview series. It was fun to do, readers seemed to enjoy it and the 1500 Days are cool folks. So of course I’ve been planning to steal the idea ever since. When I came across Todd Froemling and his newly… [Continue Reading]
Case Study #14: One Woman’s Journey to Financial Independence
Cinque Terre “Impossible!” That’s one of the less ugly responses you can expect from the typical American if you are bold enough to suggest that financial independence (FI) and early retirement is a realistic goal. Push a little further and you might get a grudging: “Well maybe. If you lead a perfectly smooth life and… [Continue Reading]
How to Live in a Hotel Full Time
I have always loved staying in hotels. Not all hotels all the time of course. But when they are done right I love just about everything about them. Business travel was always a regular feature of my working life and between that and our personal travels, over the years I’ve stayed in a lot of… [Continue Reading]
Mr. Market’s Wild Ride
Bad Market! Bad, bad, bad Market! Can’t I even go on a little vacation without you tearing up the place while I’m gone? I turn my back for one second (well, OK, maybe two months) and you start sliding? And then that 1000 point drop? What’s up with that? Yes, yes, I know. It was… [Continue Reading]
Gone for Summer, an important note on comments and random cool stuff that caught my eye
Courtesy of Noelle Hancock (more from Noelle at the end) The time to disappear for our summer travels has come. Happy Time! But it will get quiet here around the blog. So… This important note about the comments: From now until September I will be unable to answer your investing questions in the comments. So please… [Continue Reading]
Around the world with an Aussie Biker
The motorbike I found parked in my Guatemalan hotel lobby; here in the Moroccan desert In March 2014 I was spending the month in Antigua, Guatemala, where they will kill you for your shoes. Or maybe not. One day I returned to my hotel to find a motorcycle parked in the lobby sporting an Australian… [Continue Reading]
Case Study #13: The Power of Flexibility
The Stock Series here is designed to slice thru the Gordian Knot of investing. To debunk the idea that investing is too complex for mere mortals and to dispel the fear surrounding it and our financial security. Routinely, I hear from people who lament “I’m 32. If only I’d discovered your blog when I was 22.” “I’m… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part VIII: The 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA & Roth Buckets
So far in the stock series we’ve examined the market and looked at some sample portfolios built from our two key index funds and cash. Those funds are what we call investments. But in our complex world we must next consider where to hold these investments. That is, in which bucket should which investment go?… [Continue Reading]
