Life is balance and choice. Add more of this, lose a little of that. When it comes to investing, that balance and choice is informed by your temperament and goals. If I had it to do over, this blog would be likely named The Simple Path to Wealth after one of my very earliest posts… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XXII: Stepping Away from REITs
Last week I received a comment from a reader named Paul. In it he asked this very provocative question: “Curious why you view REITs as an inflation hedge any more than stocks are an inflation hedge.” As it happens, that’s a question I’d been pondering a lot of late. Regular readers will know, as described… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XXI: Investing with Vanguard for Europeans
Please Note: If you are outside Europe and the US, please be sure to read through the comments on this post. They have become a valuable forum for investors from all over the world. Who knew? Certainly not I. This all started when I wrote a series of letters to my daughter about financial stuff… [Continue Reading]
Stocks—Part XX: Early Retirement Withdrawal Strategies and Roth Conversion Ladders from a Mad Fientist
Albert Einstein in fine form I like smart people. People who can make me sit back and think: Hmmm, I never thought of that. Or I never thought of that in quite that way. In most fields where I have a lay interest, physics or anthropology or evolution or psychology for example, this is not… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part VIII-b: Should you avoid your company’s 401k?
Sometimes the universe has a way of telling us to look more closely or again at something we thought we knew. In my case, two jlcollinsnh readers have caused me to take another look at 401k programs. I don’t like what I see. Caution! Pickpockets at work. 401Ks were enacted into law in 1978. In… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XIX: How to Think About Money
Level I: It’s not just about spending Get yourself a nice, crisp one of these: Or one of these: Or one of these: Now prop it (or them) up on the table in front of you, or in your imagination, and give some thought as to what it means to you. For instance…. You… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XVIII: Investing in a Raging Bull
As I sit here typing this afternoon (note: this post was first published in 2013) the S&P 500 is trading at 1670 (4,483 in 2023!), up 14% since the beginning of the year. 27% over the last 12 months. The very definition of a raging Bull Market. Add to this the fact that it has… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XVII: What if You Can’t Buy VTSAX? Or Even Vanguard?
Today we’ll explore some alternatives In Part VI of this Stock Series, and in other posts on the blog, I recommend two specific mutual funds: VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund) VBTLX (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund) These are the funds I own myself. In each case they are the “Admiral Shares” version. As such… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XVI: Index Funds Are Really Just for Lazy People, Right?
Ah, no. Index investing is for people who want the best possible results. Over the last decade or so some of my investing ideas have drawn comment on other blogs and forums. Lately, I’ve noticed that even those folks seeking to compliment me sometimes frame my position on Vanguard and index funds as sound advice… [Continue Reading]
Stocks — Part XV: Target Retirement Funds, the Simplest Path to Wealth of All
Ok, so you’ve read the Smoother Path to Wealth and thought, “Aww man. Three funds? And I gotta rebalance them every year? That’s too much to keep track of!” But then you hit the link and went to the Simple Path to Wealth. As you read, you thought, “This is more like it. Only one… [Continue Reading]
